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Saturday 4th March 2006
Another of our old
buildings is to be converted for use as a food and drink outlet, this time No 30
North Street, one of the many solid 19th century properties to be found in the
town centre.
The imposing shop premises were built with bricks made at Castle Bytham around
1840 when the Regency frontage reflecting a uniformity of style and symmetry was
still in fashion, hence also the flat roof and balustrade, a particular
architectural fancy of the time. The yellow brick is also typical of the period
although the shop display windows on the ground floor have been altered several
times over the years.
The property has had a chequered history and during the 19th century it was used
by Arnold Pick and Co, a wholesale and retail ironmongers and implement agents,
with an adjoining blacksmith's forge underneath the arch. They were operating
from this building in 1885 but when Mr Pick died, the business was taken over in
April 1891 by Mr Ernest Foley who moved to the town with his brother George from
Driffield in Yorkshire. He expanded trade to cater for the increasing popularity
of the motor car and when he died in 1926, the premises were acquired by T A
Stocks, motor agent, a firm established six years before with branches at
Lincoln and Boston, and they called the building Motor House, specialising in
the sale of motor cars from the Austin, Hillman, Humber and Singer companies as
well as after sales servicing and trading under the name of Stocks (1920) Ltd.
They were still in occupation in 1937 when the A15 which ran past the front was
becoming busier with motorised traffic. There was a petrol pump outside with an
arm that was swung out over the road to supply fuel for passing motorists and a
sign on the outside wall with the name Stocks (1920) Ltd that has survived in
faint lettering. The premises were later used by Davies, the ironmongers, and in
more recent years by Rowland's, the Sewing Centre, which opened in 1977,
although the old forge under the arch has also been a herbal dispensary, a cut
price electrical retailers, a doll's house centre called Miniatures and more
recently a shop dealing in pottery and porcelain.
The building has now been acquired by Mick Thurlby, a businessman who is doing
much to rejuvenate the town centre, notably by the purchase and conversion of
Smiths the Grocers opposite into a popular drinking place, and he plans to use
No 30 as a cafe-style wine bar, appropriately called Stocks Bar, due to open in
June. It is not, as the Stamford Mercury suggested last week, a Grade II
listed building, but it is within the conservation area and as its imposing
period façade enhances the street scene at this point, it is reassuring to know
that it is being preserved in this way. “The bar will be split level and during
its conversion we aim to keep as many original features as possible to reflect
the history of the building”, said Mr Thurlby.
His other scheme next door is also underway, demolishing Number 32 to make way
for two new shops and five flats and the two developments are costing around £1
million between them, an investment that will bring a much needed improvement to
an area of North Street that has been blighted for more than a decade.
What the local newspapers are saying: The County News continues to
churn out a monthly diet of self-adulatory articles on behalf of Lincolnshire
County Council, the latest issue (March 2006) telling us that the people have
had a major impact on shaping the budget for 2006-07. We would all like to
believe that our opinion counts but unfortunately the drop in the ocean
telephone surveys and evening meetings with residents quoted by the council as
its barometer of public opinion have little or no effect on such important
decisions that are actually shaped by financial experts guided by government
policy and to suggest that Joe Public has a say in fixing the level of the
council tax is quite disingenuous. If the man in the street really did play a
part in formulating council policy, perhaps we can be told why the authority
needs to employ over 12,000 people, many in obscure and highly-paid posts, and
why such a small proportion of its income actually goes on services, the rest
being eaten up by salaries and pensions for this enormous workforce, the largest
in Lincolnshire, while those who contribute still have to suffer the
inconvenience of potholes in the roads.
We are told that this is a free newspaper and although it is delivered without
charge to 314,000 homes, nothing could be further from the truth. A reader
querying the cost of publication in the Letters page is told that the projected
cost for next year is £381,380, much of this figure being offset by advertising
and the publication of its own public notices that would otherwise have to
appear in commercial newspapers, and as a result “this means that the County
News pays not only for itself entirely but also covers the cost of every
other Lincolnshire County Council publication". Whoever is responsible for this
financial sleight of hand is wasted in the shires. They should be down at
Westminster giving a much needed helping hand to Gordon Brown.
In the meantime, council tax is expected to rise by 4.5% in the coming financial
year, double the rate of inflation, and yet services are still being cut. The
Local reports that free school transport for sixth form students who live
three miles or more away, until now free of charge, is to be axed from
September, when parents will have to fork out £180 a year (March 3rd).
Lincolnshire County Council gives the reason for the economy as “budget
pressures” and excuses the decision by suggesting that families who cannot
afford to pay could apply for assistance. The Local also gives front page
coverage to a report that the county police force, also a beneficiary of the
council tax, is in financial difficulties, and with a funding shortfall of more
than £4.2 million, a freeze on recruiting new officers is being imposed, vacant
civilian posts will not be filled and the opening hours of local stations
reviewed.
Daffodils have begun appearing around the town, a welcome sign that
spring is only a few weeks away. These beautiful golden yellow trumpeted flowers
grow wild in most European countries and are familiar in moist woods and country
gardens and you are also likely to come across them in the most unexpected
places.
They can be seen growing along the grass verges of country roads around Bourne
in springtime, a sight that often puzzles visitors who ask why they should be
there because, unlike the Lake District, this is not a locality that is known
for the wild variety. The answer however, is a simple one, because these are
what a gardener would call self-setters, bulbs that have been dropped during
loading and left to take root. Small colonies have thus become established in
the most unlikely places, around the farm gate and in small sections of
carriageway that have become isolated lay-bys, created when road improvements
have been made.
Wild daffodils (Narcissus pseudonarcissus), also known as Lent lilies,
have decreased considerably since the 16th century. John Gerard (1545-1607), the
gardener and apothecary who supervised Lord Burghley’s gardens at Stamford,
described them in 1597, as “growing everywhere through England” but they were
eventually overtaken by the cultivated varieties that now grace our homes and
the chance plantings at our roadside are not of recent years but occurred when
the agricultural land in this locality was used for bulb production, sometimes
tulips but more often daffodils.
Now, for economic reasons, it is mainly devoted to intensive cereal production
because this land has become part of the Lincolnshire corn belt. Bulb and flower
production continues in the fens where the rich, black soil makes it one of the
most fertile spots on earth but the industry is now confined to the area around
Spalding, thirteen miles to the east along the main A151, where tulips,
daffodils, narcissi and hyacinths bloom each spring in a vast carpet of
breath-taking colour that attracts visitors from all over the world.
As with most of our wild plants, daffodils have medicinal properties, much
prized and widely used in the days before Boots became the universal dispenser
of pills and potions and was the basis of an ancient ointment known as
narcissimum. Nicholas Culpepper (1616-54), the physician and botanist, whose
herbal remedies were used in the treatment of disease for many generations, also
recommended boiling the roots to make a posset drink which would cause vomiting
and could be used successfully against the onset of tertian ague [shaking fits] which was
frequently caught in springtime while a plaster made from the roots with parched
barley meal added dissolved hard swellings and imposthumes [abscesses or cysts].
Juice from the root was excellent for the discolouring of the skin while the
juice from the flower mingled with honey, frankincense, wine and myrrh, was good
against “the corrupt and running matter in the ears”.
These ancient remedies have long since fallen into disuse and daffodils today
are grown solely for ornamental purposes, their increasing popularity in recent
years replacing tulips as the most popular flower from this part of South
Lincolnshire where they are grown not only for the home
sales but also for markets overseas, in Europe and even further afield, and are
exported by air overnight to destinations around the world.
The bunch my wife bought for £1 at the Thursday market this week will be exactly
the same as that gracing a penthouse flat in Manhattan although the prices will
be considerably more in New York. The flowers look beautiful when they appear
and give delight to all who see them, but their time span is short. The hardy
daffodils that flower in the waste places where they fell around Bourne in years
past will last much longer and are a cautionary reminder that what is new is not
always enduring.
From the archives: An inquest was held on the 25th ultimo before the
coroner, Mr William Edwards, at Tongue End, near Bourne, on the body of Mr Dale
Fisher, a resident of that place, whose death occurred on the previous Friday
almost instantaneously. He had arisen that day in his usual health and spirits
and had partaken of his meals and while engaged in a cheerful conversation with
his son-in-law, he fell to the ground and was immediately a corpse. The jury
returned a verdict of “died by the visitation of God”. – news report from the
Lincolnshire Free Press, Tuesday 3rd December 1850.
Thought for the week: There can hardly be a reader who within a few
minutes’ walk from his own doorstep could not identify acres of land with a
crumbling building in the middle of it, often of no architectural interest at
all, which is locked and empty for most of the week or, when open, used to only
a fraction of its capacity. – Matthew Parris, writing in The Spectator on the
current under usage of our churches, Saturday 25th February 2006.
Saturday 11th March 2006
Folklore makes a powerful impression on
young minds and I am reminded of this by a discussion currently underway in the Forum about the origins of the name Kate’s Bridge, a small geographical
feature on the A15 three miles to the south of the town.
Paul Whyles suggests that it relates to the ghost of a lady called Kate who
hanged herself from the stone bridge that can be found at this point some years
ago and he goes on: “Legend has it that if you see a female behind you in the
rear view mirror of the car as you pass, a family member will die within a week.
I remember that a lad from school said there was a plaque somewhere on the
bridge with details on it but that was twenty years ago and it could be gone by
now.”
Years ago, I was told by a whimsical uncle, much to the annoyance of my parents,
that to relieve oneself of flatulence in public was a natural act and not the
bad manners it was thought to be. To prove his point, he assured me that a
plaque to this effect could be found on the new town bridge that had just been
erected over the River Nene on the southern approach to Peterborough. That was
in 1936 and for many years afterwards, whenever I crossed the bridge, I looked
for the plaque that he had described bearing the couplet
Let wind free where e’er you be
Church or chapel let it rattle
but the only one I could discover was a brass
plate bearing the city’s coat of arms and commemorating the bridge’s
construction, hardly the place to find instruction on the social etiquette
relating to breaking wind. There are many other examples of this particular
deception that have fooled generations of children, both young and old, and we
never seem to learn. Instead, they become deeply embedded in our subconscious
and we quote them continually as fact.
Paul even suggests that his fanciful tale about Kate is related in J D
Birkbeck’s excellent History of Bourne published in 1970 and 1976 but I can
assure him that it is not. No such plaque ever existed and the entire story
about Kate is a figment of someone’s vivid imagination.
A petrol filling station, a couple of houses and some business premises are the
only buildings at Kate's Bridge which marks a crossing over the River Glen at
that point. Nevertheless, it is a landmark and best known as a notorious
accident black spot because of a treacherous bend in the road and the strange
name does prompt many inquiries from visitors but does not, as is popularly
believed, stem from a woman called Kate who may have lived or died there in the
past.
Kate’s Bridge was first recorded in the early 13th century when it was known as
Catebrigg (1245) and later became Katebrigg (1275) and Káti’s Bridge (late 14th
century) from the Old Norse personalised noun Káti, probably a tribal
leader, and bryggja, the Scandinavianised form for bridge. Similar
corruptions involving the personalised noun exist elsewhere in Lincolnshire,
namely Cadeby and Caythorpe. The modern form of Kate’s Bridge is not documented
until the 18th century and had evolved through popular etymology.
Kate’s Cabin on the Great North Road near Peterborough, which has no connection,
has a far more recent and romantic origin in that the present transport café
that can be found there was once the site of the Kate’s Cabin Coaching Inn
during the 18th century and frequented by gentlemen of the road, including the
ubiquitous Dick Turpin. Prior to that, the original cabin was reputed to have
been a wooden hut from which a formidable woman called Kate dispensed gin to
passengers travelling on passing stagecoaches.
The truth therefore, is less romantic than the fiction but life would be
extremely dull without these tales that have become the very fabric of our
island folklore and although my version of Kate’s Bridge is the correct one,
that provided by Paul Whyles may well be given far more credence.
What the local newspapers are saying: Hope springs eternal in the human
breast and anyone reading a front page report in The Local about the
iniquity of yet another large increase in council tax might find solace in the
assurances from South Kesteven District Council that their money will be well
spent (March 10th). Then again, anyone who has listened to these vacuous
promises in past years will know full well that their money will again disappear
into the black hole of local government spending.
Council tax is set to rise next month by 4.99%, more than twice the official
rate of inflation, and the authority continues in its vain attempt to defend it
by insisting that households in this area are fortunate in that they are getting
a top ten of extras in return for their money. All of this will look good in the
glossy brochure being sent out with the tax demands but closer scrutiny reveals
the usual suspects, investment in recycling, street cleaning, affordable
housing, free bus travel for the elderly and a crackdown on anti-social
behaviour, all very commendable but nothing really changes and the value for
money slogan is merely a façade hiding the real truth that the
council has become little more than a job provider with a public service
commitment on the side.
Those who thought that the future of the bus station in Bourne was safe, as
previously reported, will find a story in the Stamford Mercury uneasy
reading because we are told that three options are still to be considered by
South Kesteven District Council later this year (March 10th). They are to close
the station altogether in favour of roadside stops, reduce it in size and sell
off part of the site or leave it as it is. The latter would not only be the
obvious solution but also the correct one because, as anyone who has followed
this controversy will know, there is absolutely no public support for its
closure.
Councillor John Smith (Bourne West), one of the six cabinet members on SCDK who
holds the economic portfolio, told the newspaper that he was against any moves
that would leave Bourne without adequate provision for the people to catch a bus
safely off the street but added: “It could be said that the bus station is too
large at the moment and the whole front area where the derelict toilets now
stand is just wasted space.”
The toilets occupy wasted space because SKDC closed them and allowed the
building to deteriorate despite repeated calls from the public to have them
renovated and reopened and it is for this reason that Bourne has the reputation
of a town where it is unwise to get caught short. We can therefore be forgiven
for thinking that this amenity was deliberately run down to make a sale of the
site appear to be an acceptable solution.
An example of what the people of Bourne are thinking about current changes to
their town is graphically described by David Smith of South Street in a letter
to The Local, taking as his starting point the ill-advised proposal to
build 121 new homes on the old railway station site and embracing other unwanted
developments while vital improvements to the infrastructure are ignored. “Every
new home is at least one more car to be accommodated on our crowded pot-holed
roads and parked in our over-stretched town centre”, he writes (March 10th).
“Another family to be found a doctor and a dentist. More children to attend our
over-subscribed schools. What are we going to get? A town centre development
with the promise of a seller of cheap household goods and a clothing outfitter
of dubious quality. And our elected representatives welcome this.”
If SKDC is listening to the people as we are told it is, then this letter should
be copied and circulated to all council members and officials as a reminder of
the current mood of the town they purport to serve.
Bourne is behind many other places in olde England in that is does not
have an age-old custom to observe every year. We do have the annual White Bread
Meadow auction and road race and according to Bob Harvey, writing in the Forum
this week, “a fine bit of ancient lunacy it is”. But he thinks that it falls
considerably short of dramatic appeal when compared with other country customs
elsewhere in England, such as tar barrel burning (Ottery-St-Mary, Devon), the
straw bear festival (Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire) and the coconutters dance (Bacup,
Lancashire).
"Why can't we invent a new eccentric tradition to commemorate some local event
of note? " he asks. "We could have a torch lit hunt the castle, drag a giant
model racing car along the bypass, burn someone in effigy or kick a giant ball
round the Wellhead. We need something to brighten the months of February and
March. Any suggestions?"
No sooner said than done and Brynley Heaven has come up with an annual tradition
for Bourne known as the Sealing of the Conveniences:
Every February 20th from 2007
onwards, the Mayor of Bourne leads the town citizenry in the solemn ceremony of
the sealing of the conveniences. The Mayor, dressed in full regalia, including
badger fur apron and leopard skin accessories, parades up North Street, South
Street and every other main road to ensure that all public toilets are ritually
locked and barred.
On being assured that none are available for the ungrateful public, the Mayor of
Bourne will intone the time honoured statement: "By the grace of God, and with
the practical assistance of many local authorities based elsewhere, it is my
humble and pleasant duty to report that if you need relief you may try a pub or
Sainsburys. Here endeth the solemn ceremony of the sealing of the conveniences."
At this dramatic and emotional climax to the ceremony, the loyal crowds of
townspeople, standing cross-legged, will then intone in unison to the Mayor:
"Your worship, we are but humble citizens who seldom venture out and do not
expect much out of life. We express our gratitude for the sealing of the
conveniences, safely for another year, to keep our lovely town free from lurkers,
perverts, tourists, shoppers, incomers, the middle class and other ne'er-do-wells.
Another contribution was posted on the Forum
yesterday, soon after the local newspapers appeared with reports of the latest
swingeing rise in council tax, and Tony Morland suggested an annual event to
commemorate these regular and soaring increases:
Once a year we could all line
up outside the SKDC offices, hold our wallets in outstretched arms, and chant
the ancient liturgy: "Go on then, take the bl**dy lot!"
These suggestions may be amusing but they reflect
an underlying anxiety that the people are not being heard, their opinions
ignored. On Tuesday, another local authority, the town council, meets to elect
the Mayor of Bourne for the coming year, a post traditionally filled for the
past 30 years by the deputy mayor, in this case Councillor Guy Cudmore. When the
deliberations became known of a secret meeting of councillors held in February, nominating
the less well known and junior in succession, Councillor Brian Fines, there was public outrage and an unprecedented volume of support for
Councillor Cudmore but we were relieved to hear from the current mayor,
Councillor Judy Smith, who made a public statement saying that nothing had been
decided.
The result of Tuesday’s meeting will be an indication as to whether our
councillors are listening to those they represent and are treating them with the
respect they deserve.
Parish magazines can be dull and often are but the small band of
dedicated churchgoers that has taken over the publication of the one for Bourne
is trying to redress the balance and their first efforts are proving to be quite
successful.
The new editorial team of the Bourne Parish News is headed by Margaret Shephard
and is publishing 1,000 copies each month, usually about 30 pages, which is
distributed throughout the town, as well as Cawthorpe, Dyke and Twenty, all of
which are within the parish, and it contains a mine of information and some
excellent features written by contributors from the congregation.
We have already been treated to a stroll down memory lane in the company of
Dennis Read, a nostalgic look at times past in the January issue, and in
February, Violet Pattison shared some of her experiences as a cook at the old
Butterfield Hospital where she worked for 40 years while this month, Betty James
interviews one of our local characters, Cyril “Ching” Clay, a council employee
for 51 years and the only man in Bourne reckoned to know where all the drains
are.
There is also a wide variety of other features including quizzes, cooking
recipes, notes about the various church organisations, forthcoming events and
services and letters from the vicar and the bishop, all adding up to a varied
package and making the magazine what we call a very good read. Anyone who
fancies themselves as a writer, now has their chance because the editor welcomes
contributions and so if you want to see yourself in print, this is the place to
be. If you call in at the Abbey Church you may collect a copy of the March
edition and see for yourself.
Thought for the week: You the householders decide if we provide value for
money.
– Duncan Kerr, chief executive of South Kesteven District Council, quoted by
The Local newspaper in a report that council tax is going up by almost 5%,
Friday 10th March 2006.
Saturday 18th March 2006
Compared with many other
areas of the country, Bourne escaped the worst of the bombing during the Second
World War of 1939-45. Enemy aircraft were often heard overhead at night, on
their way to industrial targets in the Midlands, and occasionally incendiary
bombs were dropped but little damage was done.
On one occasion, the Hereward Approved School, situated on the outskirts of
Bourne Wood, an area which is now Beech Avenue, was hit and one person injured,
but this was a rare occurrence and probably the result of a Luftwaffe bomber
jettisoning its load before returning home across the North Sea.
The disaster which hit the town at 11.52 pm on Sunday 4th May 1941 brought home
to the people of Bourne the real consequences of the war and it remained a
talking point for many years to come. The incident is now largely forgotten and
the crash scene cleared and occupied by new houses but many feel that what
happened should not be forgotten.
I have spent some months researching the events of that night and my detailed
and illustrated account with eye witness reports has now been placed in the
reference section at Bourne public library and a photographic display is
currently being prepared for the Heritage Centre at Baldock’s Mill in South
Street later this month. A condensed version also appears in this week’s edition
of The Local newspaper.
What the local newspapers are
saying: The controversy over the choice of the next mayor of Bourne has
finally been settled but in a most unsatisfactory fashion. In accordance with
the tradition of the past thirty years, the post should have gone to the deputy
mayor, in this case Councillor Guy Cudmore, but The Local gives front
page coverage to his letter of withdrawal blaming hostile behaviour of fellow
councillors during the selection process (March 17th). “I would be prepared to
carry on and give me best”, he writes, “but I have been undermined, not only by
the irrational hostility of certain councillors but also, and more particularly,
by the boorish manner in which it was expressed at the recent informal meeting.
It distresses me that had the normal courtesies been observed, then the outcome
would possibly have been similar, but infinitely less stressful and unpleasant
for myself and family, and less damaging for the reputation of the council and
its members.”
Councillor Cudmore also said that the current petty factionalism had to stop if
the council were to do its collective best for the town. “Only then will we
regain the respect of the people we represent”, he said.
The letter is a dignified response to the secret meeting held in January when
fellow councillors withdrew their support for his nomination as mayor and chose
instead Councillor Brian Fines, resulting in an unprecedented groundswell of
public support for Councillor Cudmore who was obviously the people’s choice. It
has been an unfortunate affair and one that will not be easily forgotten in the
history of the mayoralty of Bourne.
An electronic survey of the Wellhead Gardens in Bourne is underway in an attempt
to establish the existence of a castle there 1,000 years ago and, as with all of
the other explorations on this site in the past, the investigators are
optimistic. The Stamford Mercury reports that the team are using a state
of the art resistance meter to pass an electric pulse into the soil to detect
rocks and other remains and the initial findings are encouraging (March 17th).
However, field archaeologist Bill Manners who is in charge, also tells the
newspaper what everyone already knew: “We won’t have any conclusive evidence
until we dig some trenches and get to work on the ground.”
That is a wise analysis. It is difficult to understand how a box of tricks
generating a few electric currents could possibly end speculation on a topic
that has generated so much discussion over past centuries. Until irrefutable
evidence is obtained from a detailed dig supervised and carried out by qualified
archaeologists, proof of the existence of a castle in Bourne will remain
elusive.
It is remarkable how little some people know about their ancestors. Last
week, Thomas William Nowell, aged 86, went into the offices of The Local
newspaper in Bourne with an old photograph, date unknown, of a civic occasion
outside the Town Hall with his grandfather, William Nowell, standing on the
steps. He knew little about the man other than that he was a councillor and ran
a firm of agricultural merchants in the town.
“The photograph was among my father’s papers passed down through the family”, he
told the newspaper. “My father died 83 years ago when I was almost four and I am
interested in finding out more about my family’s history.”
We are happy to oblige. The photograph shows
the public proclamation of King George V in May 1910 when the
announcement was made by civic leaders from a dais that had been erected outside
the Town Hall in the Market Place. The building was decorated with flags and
after a parade through the town, large crowds gathered to hear the declaration
read while police were deployed in front of the platform to keep order. Every
vantage point was filled as spectators tried to get a better view while the
windows and steps of the Town Hall were packed and even the flat top of the bay
window at the shop next door provided a perfect place to watch the proceedings.
William Nowell was chairman of Bourne Urban District Council from 1910-11 and
therefore played an important part in the arrangements for the proceedings. He
headed the firm of agricultural engineers based in Abbey Road, Bourne, that had
been established by his father, Thomas George Nowell, during the 19th century.
But he also made his mark in public life and in 1903 he was elected a member of
Bourne Urban District Council at his first attempt, securing second place in the
poll.
In 1907, he was re-elected with the largest number of votes ever recorded for
any candidate in any previous election. He served on all of the council
committees, particularly highways of which he was chairman, and it was mainly
through his advocacy that the present playing field in Recreation Road was
purchased for the town. In 1910, he was elected chairman of the council for the
ensuing year during which time he earned a reputation as a man of tact and
ability.
In the spring of 1907, he became a trustee of Harrington's Charity, the biggest
of the many bequests now administered by Bourne United Charities, and during his
time in office, pensions paid from the proceeds were increased, a particularly
welcome benefit for those on small incomes prior to the introduction of state
old age pensions in 1908. Ill health forced Mr Nowell to resign from the council
in 1913 and he was soon unable to undertake any public work whatsoever. His
condition deteriorated and after four months being confined to his bed, he died
on Saturday 28th November 1914 at his home in Abbey Road at the age of 56. His
funeral service was held at the Congregational Church [now the United Reformed
Church] followed by interment at the town cemetery.
The pastor, the Rev J Comyn Jones, made a touching reference to the deceased
during the service. "He was a man who acted according to his convictions and
conscience", he said, "and in all things he did what he thought ought to be
done." There were many floral tributes, including a wreath from the officers and
colleagues from the Bourne and District Liberal Club of which he was a founder
member and former committee chairman. Mr Nowell's association with the
Congregational Church dated back half a century because he had been a scholar at
the Sunday School and in later life, continued as a regular worshipper. He left
a widow and six children and his name is remembered by Nowells Lane, a short
thoroughfare between Abbey Road and Recreation Road, once the site of his
business premises, that was named in his honour.
The stigma of giving birth out of wedlock in past times and the expense
of burying the stillborn lead to many mothers disposing of their babies in
rivers, the countryside and elsewhere. But those with Christian beliefs
preferred consecrated ground and as a consequence there were several cases of
unauthorised burials in churchyards and cemeteries.
On the morning of Wednesday 19th February 1862, a sad discovery was made in the
town cemetery at Bourne that led to an inquest being held at the Angel Hotel the
following Friday before Mr William Edwards, coroner. He was told that the body
of an infant child had been buried in the cemetery without the knowledge of the
authorities although the mother had not been traced.
The parish clerk, Mr Simon Benstead, lived at the cemetery lodge [now
demolished] and it was part of his duties to keep the grounds in good order. On
the morning in question, he was planting flowers on the newly made grave of Miss
Elizabeth Wherry [who had died on New Year's Day, 1st January 1862, aged 15]
when his spade came into contact with some obstruction and on examination, he
discovered a small box. He called the sexton, Mr John Gilby, who knew nothing
about the burial and it was not in that section of the cemetery that had been
set aside for stillborn children and no person had any right to carry out a
burial at that spot.
The clerk to the burial board, William Bell, was informed and the police were
called, an investigation subsequently being carried out by Superintendent
William Keep who opened the box with the assistance of the cemetery keeper,
Charles Christopher. It contained the body of a female child and had been buried
3-4 inches below the surface of the earth of a newly dug grave in which
interment had taken place only seven weeks previously. The body was that of a
fully grown child, 21 inches long and wrapped in an outer covering of flannel,
apparently part of an old petticoat, and next to the body was a piece of linen.
The box, 13-14 inches long and 6-7 inches wide, was made of wood and appeared to
be an old nail container. The lid was secured with a piece of thick cord being
tied twice around the middle.
Mr George Octavius Munton, surgeon, of West Street, Bourne, carried out a post
mortem examination on the body which had the appearance of having been born at
about the full period of gestation. Decomposition was far advanced. He told the
coroner:
On opening the chest, I found
it gorged with venous blood. The heart was distended and full of blood. The
lungs were also gorged and not occupying the full cavity of the chest. They were
placed in water and swam. On making some incisions in the lungs, they were found
to be solid, cutting like liver. There was no ligature upon the naval string,
nor had it been cut with a sharp instrument but was torn or lacerated. The test
of the lungs floating is not infallible but I am firmly of the opinion that the
child had never breathed. There were no marks of violence upon the body nor did
I see anything to induce the belief that the child was born alive. If
decomposition had not commenced before the body was interred, the process would
be very slow and from the appearance, it might have been buried two or three
weeks.
The coroner informed the jury,
under the foremanship of Mr Thomas Harrison, that as the child was not born
alive, it was not within their province to carry the investigation further. The
subject of the concealment of the birth would be within the jurisdiction of the
police authorities. The jury therefore returned a verdict to the effect that the
child was stillborn. Police took possession of the box and carried out an
investigation over the ensuing weeks but the mother was never found.
Thought for the week: Cats have been blamed for killing 5½ million birds
and 200 million other creatures each year. – news report from the Daily Mail,
Monday 13th March 2006.
Saturday 25th March 2006
There is a saying in public life that if you need to know
what is going on then ask the most humble underling in the employ of the
organisation to find out and although there is no reason for this, it usually
turns out to be true.
On Monday, I went to Stamford and parked in the small short stay car park below
St Leonard’s Street, I say below because you need to descend a steep hill to get
into it but as it is quite out of the way and largely unknown, you can usually
get in even on the busiest of days, even though it only has 31 spaces.
I remember when it cost 10p for up to an hour, Sundays and bank holidays free,
but following the latest price rise last year, it is currently 50p. Not for much
longer. After paying at the machine, a blue-overalled workman who had been
leaving leaflets under the windscreen wipers of other parked cars, approached
and handed me a copy, announcing that with effect from April 3rd, the new rate
would be 70p, an increase effective for all other car parks in Stamford with
commensurate rises according to the length of stay.
“It’s all down to higher wages for the staff”, he said by way of explanation and
I could not disagree, even though he was referring to those employees who were
directly responsible for the car parks, such as himself, whereas I was thinking
about the entire staff at South Kesteven District Council, currently numbering
720 plus 100 casuals, who will all be looking for a little extra in their annual
pay review, irrespective of whether productivity or services have been
increased, and you can bet your bottom dollar that they have not.
“This is quite a shock because I come from Bourne and we have free parking
there”, I said. He gave a wry smile. “Not for much longer”, he replied. “Those
days will soon be gone for good. You will all be paying the same rate before
very long.”
As someone who follows council affairs with great interest, I am sure that there
has been no official deliberation on this point since Bourne beat off the last
attempt to impose pay parking in May 2004. However, I also have sufficient
knowledge of the machinations of local government to know that many decisions
are made long before they reach committee or council stage and if as the essayist
William Hazlitt astutely observed, walls have ears, then it is quite possible
that the information I had been given is perfectly true. We will have to wait
and see but the prospect of charging to park in Bourne is not a welcome one,
especially for visitors and those motorists who regularly leave their cars for
long periods in the town centre because the new tariff also demands £5 for up to
four hours and £7 for the day.
The accusation by Councillor Guy Cudmore, the retiring deputy mayor of
Bourne, that the reputation of the town council is at a low ebb, has struck a
chord with many people. The recent
in-fighting in the council chamber has
reinforced popular opinion that the authority exists for its own sake rather
than the benefit of the community.
Local councillors are elected to serve and this is an honour although many see
it as a means of social advancement and that everything they do is acceptable to
those they represent yet nothing could be further from the truth. The prospect
of office is seductive because it elevates the individual to some prominence in
the community, a reputation often totally undeserved when their input is largely
ineffective and often non-existent.
Becoming a councillor bestows on them the importance of rising above their
fellow man and the maintenance of this façade overrides the real reason they are
in office, that of improving the environment, public services, and other matters
that come under their immediate control.
Few town councillors in Bourne in recent years have had the high profile enjoyed
by Councillor Cudmore yet he appears to have been perpetually at odds with many
of his colleagues. His outspoken, and it must be said, well-informed statements,
have excluded him from the club. He has not been one to toe the line and this
appears to be the reason why he has been rejected as our next mayor, despite a
thirty year tradition that the deputy should succeed. Common
sense would appear to be his driving force, a commodity that often languishes
outside the committee rooms and council chambers across the land and, as a
result, he has now learned that telling the truth in public life brings no
rewards.
It has also cost him dear because there are those who stride the corridors of
power, even at this low level in our democracy, with a rule book in one hand and
a big stick in the other, while the Standards Board for England, inaugurated by
the Labour government in 2001 to promote high ethical conduct in public
organisations, has given them a new impetus in the enforcement of the official
line, often at the cost of free speech.
All of this would appear to be a storm in the teacup of parish pump politics and
the fate of Guy Cudmore will be seen in the future as an unfortunate episode in
the history of the mayoralty while the denials of what he has said continue. His
colleague, Councillor John Smith, has an impressive record with the town
council, having twice been mayor, in 1978-79 and 1996-97, and is currently a
member of South Kesteven District Council where he serves as a cabinet member
with responsibilities for economic and planning matters. He would therefore
appear to be a reliable barometer of what is happening in Bourne yet he
challenged Councillor Cudmore’s disapproval and the strident voice of public
opinion by saying: “We have a good town council that has done a lot for the town
over the last year” (The Local newspaper, Friday 17th March 2006).
This is obviously a sincere assessment but many people will be mystified as to
what he means and we are not sure whether this is fact or partisan rhetoric.
Perhaps Councillor Smith can spell out exactly what the town council has
achieved for the benefit of Bourne in recent months or whether his claim is
fanciful optimism. He has been a contributor to the Forum in the past and we
await his prognosis on this issue for the benefit of the electorate.
What the local newspapers are saying: The proposed merger of Lincolnshire
county police force with those in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and
Derbyshire, to form a 10,000 strong super-force gets short shift from our MP,
Quentin Davies, who told the Stamford Mercury that this is great news for
criminals (March 24th). “Our policemen and women will be increasingly sucked
into dealing with the appalling crime problems in Nottingham at the expense of
our own locality where the crime rate is lower”, he said.
The merger suggested by the Home Secretary Charles Clarke would mean the end of
the Lincolnshire Police Force, founded in 1857 with just 129 officers under the
direction of the first chief constable, Captain Philip Blundell Pickett. Since
then the force has multiplied greatly in strength but in recent times has been
plagued by funding problems while recruitment has been frozen for the coming
year due to a shortfall of £4.2 million.
But The Local reports that these are not sufficient reasons for the
county to lose its police identity and the Mayor of Bourne, Councillor Judy
Smith, told the newspaper: “Many public services are becoming more and more
remote and I hope that the level of policing for the town will not be reduced as
a result.”
One of our local councillors, John Kirkman, is revealed as a music lover by the
Stamford Mercury which reports (March 24th) that he has commissioned a
piece to commemorate his year as chairman of South Kesteven District Council
from 2005-06. The work has been composed by Philip Spratley, Director of Music
at the Abbey Church, and will be premiered at the annual music festival due to
be held there in May. The composition is entitled A Seasonal Celebration and
although the newspaper does not tell us whether it is a cantata or concerto, a
bourrée or a barcarolle, it is being arranged for brass, organ and percussion
and so perhaps a trumpet voluntary might be an appropriate opus.
The spring equinox on Tuesday was a reminder that the garden beckons and
the season of planting and pruning is upon us. With the arrival of the warmer
weather, we will soon be looking around for some plants to enhance those
herbaceous borders and patios and, more importantly, the lawn will need its
first trim of the season and that means dusting off the mower.
Every year, I get the machine out with a certain amount of trepidation,
wondering if it will start or whether a visit to the workshops is needed but
somehow it always leaps into life at the first pull. It has become one of the
most dependable machines in the household and once the engine starts to splutter
and then roar, you realise that another season of mowing is upon us, although I
feel that this particular chore for me is still a week to two away. They used to
say that you could mark the arrival of spring by hearing the first cuckoo but in
suburban England the indicative noise is now the lawn mower that I heard at full
throttle from my neighbour’s garden on Tuesday evening.
I picked up the latest edition of the parish magazine while visiting St
Andrew’s Church at Morton, near Bourne, this week. These small publications are
a mine of community information, as I discussed last week, and this one is known
as the Ringstone in Aveland Parish News, also covering several other churches
with which I am familiar, Dunsby, Kirkby Underwood, Rippingale and Haconby, the
latter given as Hacconby which is many years out of date.
The name has been spelled with one “c” for almost half a century and to persist
in using the old version in the face of official change is little short of
eccentric. By all means, we should respect our history and heritage but refusing
to accept something that has already been decided by the majority is rather like
King Canute attempting to hold back the tide.
The spelling of Haconby with one "c" was officially adopted in 1960 after many
years of confusion. The Ordnance Survey were busy preparing new maps for the
area and on discovering the variation in spelling between Haconby and Hacconby
in previous publications, decided to seek the opinion of the local authorities.
South Kesteven District Council met at Bourne on Thursday November 17th to
discuss the issue but it was soon revealed that there was also a third spelling
in use in some places: Hackonby.
During the discussion, the clerk, Mr J Goulder, produced a letter from the Vicar
of Morton with Hacconby, the Rev E G Close, who had carried out extensive
research into the problem. "There seems to be plenty of precedent for retaining
the spelling most commonly used today, namely Hacconby", he wrote and he then
went on to quote four instances from literary and other sources in which
Hacconby was used: The King's England - Lincolnshire (1949); Lincolnshire (Cox
1916), Diocesan Calendar, and his own letters of institution as vicar under the
Seal of Lincoln in 1953. He said that the Church Commissioners also used
Hacconby.
Fifteen other cases of Hacconby from documents, letters and the like were also
mentioned by Mr Close against only five that favoured Haconby. The spelling was
also evident in the marriage, burial and baptism registers for the parish as
early as 1755 and in the Hacconby Highway Book containing payments by the
Overseers of the Poor and which began in 1807 although there was a short period
when Hackonby had been used. A similar variation could be noted in the parish
church which had Hacconby on the chalice of 1832 and Hackonby on the paten of
1834.
A letter was also received from Mr J Goodman who signed himself as Clerk to
Haconby Parish Council and which said: "My council has instructed me to write
that the name of this village should be Haconby" but Mr Goodman had typed his
address as "The Manor, Hacconby." Councillor H W Wyer said that he knew of only
one person in the village who spelled it Hacconby while Councillor C F Bates
thought it should be Hacconby by derivation although if the parish council
thought differently, he would abandon his original view.
When the issue was put to a ballot, three councillors favoured Haconby but the
votes for Hacconby were so numerous that they were not counted. In the event,
the final decision was taken by Kesteven County Council who chose Haconby, the
spelling that is in use today, although examples of Hacconby still survive on
old road signs and several tombstones in the churchyard.
Let us by all means remember our history but it is unwise to cling to the past
by denying change, especially when it causes so much confusion to others.
Message from abroad: I enjoyed reading the Eastgate plane crash
and sorry to hear no plaque was put up. It is important for our youth to
understand what our forebears endured to ensure a future for them. Thank you for
a great article and thank your wife and son as well. Certainly your website
should be required reading for the youth of your area. - email from Shirley
Baston Pearson, Muncie, Indiana, USA, Monday 20th March 2006.
Thought for the week: I see that the replacement of cremation with deep
freezing is being contemplated. British Gas should get the contract as they are
well into the job already. With their huge increases in the price of fuel, we
pensioners are half frozen to death as it is. – contribution from S E of
Cumbria to the BBC’s Dear Ceefax, Sunday 19th March 2006.
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