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Saturday 1st April 2006
Rare parchments found among the ancient timbers of
Baldock’s Mill in South Street have finally established the existence of a
castle in Bourne almost 1,000 years ago. One of them contains an early drawing
of the battlemented fortification favoured during Norman times and is believed
to be the work of a monk who lived at the abbey between the time of Hereward the
Wake (1070) and Geoffrey of Bourne (1292), a noble knight and one of the first
lords of the manor.
The discovery is particularly important because it reveals for the first time
the design and layout of the castle, details that have eluded antiquarians and
archaeologists in recent centuries, with a moat, palisade surrounds, a gateway
and solid interior fortifications, much the same design as that envisaged by the
archaeological dig of 1861 and the geo-physical survey carried out above ground
at the Wellhead Gardens this month by a specialist team using the latest
electronic equipment to test what actually lies below the surface.
The painting was among several documents found by Jim Jones, custodian of the
mill, while laying new electrical cables for the computers that have been
recently installed for the benefit of visitors. He climbed up into the eves to
complete the wiring and quite accidentally brushed against the roof between the
timbers and a large section fell away to reveal a dried sheepskin pouch
containing several documents bound together with horse hair.
He took the pouch down into the office and was astounded at what he found inside
and, realising the importance of the discovery, the Civic Society, which
administers the Heritage Centre housed at the mill, immediately contacted the
British Museum. Experts from their mediaeval manuscripts department have since
visited Bourne and the documents have been taken back to London for further
investigation but Professor Johannes Unsinn, a former lecturer in early European
fortifications at the University of Cologne, has already issued a
report on their findings.
Preliminary examination reveals that the documents date back to the 12th century
to that period after the Norman invasion when the conquerors were consolidating
their victory with a busy period of building castles at various vantage points
throughout England and in view of the importance of Bourne, the town was an
obvious choice for a battlemented fortification to help keep the population in
order. It is also believed that the drawing of the castle and surrounding
settlement was the work of an Augustinian canon who was resident at the abbey
and who specialised in illuminated parchments and that he took his panoramic
view from the top of the church tower which shows its position alongside the
river, now known as the Bourne Eau, and the related waterways encircling the
site, thus proving the theory of a motte and bailey much favoured by past
investigations.
The painting reproduced above is thought to have been completed circa 1190
because the accompanying text is written in the same style as that employed by
Orm the Preacher, the scholar and writer of homilies who flourished here circa
1175 and who may have been tutor to the artist. It shows the layout as it was
soon after construction with the castle dominating the site and a large number
of dwellings for serfs and servants and those who provided for their needs,
small merchants and suchlike, as well as a long house for meetings, for it was
this settlement that provided the basis for the Bourne we know today.
Professor Unsinn is particularly surprised at the condition of the painting
because it has retained the vibrant colours in which it was originally executed.
“It has hardly seen the light of day since it was completed and has not
therefore deteriorated in any way”, he said. “Although painted in the naïve
style of the time it does give us a good idea of how Bourne looked in the 12th
century and should settle once and for all the debate about whether a castle
existed on this site during that period.”
The painting is to hang in the mediaeval section at the British Museum but a
copy has already been made available to the Civic Society and is now on display
at the Heritage Centre.
What the local newspapers are saying: A third primary school for Bourne
is finally on the way, according to the Lincolnshire Free Press which
quotes Councillor Martin Hill, leader of Lincolnshire County Council, that the
required number of pupil places will eventually warrant the development at some
time in the future (March 28th). The new school is being financed by developers
as part of the planning gain for the 2,000-home Elsea park estate and is
intended to ease the pressure on the town’s two other primaries, the Abbey (605
pupils) and Westfield (620 pupils).
Councillor Hill however, does not envisage that the new school will be needed
for several years and he comes up with some very strange statistics to support
his claim, suggesting that each 100 houses produce only 20 children and
therefore the requirement for additional classroom accommodation is some way
off. These calculations appear to have been made on the back of an envelope
because they indicate that four out of five homes are childless whereas it is
doubtful if there is a single housing estate in this country that would measure
up to such an acid test.
There does appear to be a continuing disparity between our local authorities,
with South Kesteven District Council handing out planning permission for new
houses like so much confetti while Lincolnshire County Council, which is also
the education authority, continually drags its heels over the provision of new
schools, in this case blaming the surplus of places at rural schools for their
reluctance to plan for the explosion that is undoubtedly on the way for those
urban areas that attract the greater density of new residential estates.
Apart from Elsea Park, there are many other smaller developments currently
underway or being planned for Bourne and totalling around 500 more new homes and
so now is the time to build a new primary school in order that it is up and
running when needed rather than wait for two or three years when parents will be
clamouring to admit their kids to our two other primaries only to be told that
the classrooms are bursting at the seams.
Meanwhile, planning officers at South Kesteven District Council have recommended
approval for another 121 houses on the controversial Wherry factory site in
South Street, Bourne. The Local reports that although a final decision
rests with councillors, the official line is that the new estate will vastly
improve the area (March 31st) despite a mass of protest about the effects that
such a large scale, densely packed development on the very edge of the
conservation area will have on the infrastructure and that it will ruin the view
of the historic Red Hall, a Grade II listed building dating back to the early
17th century.
This again is an example of the local authority ignoring public opinion because
not a single voice has been raised in support of the project while objections
have been lodged by Bourne Town Council, the Civic Society, Lincolnshire
Wildlife Trust, and the people themselves. From a financial point of view, it is
in the interests of the district council to approve every residential planning
application that comes along and in this case the new estate will bring in an
estimated £142,000 a year in additional council tax and a possible £390,000
contribution towards educational facilities for the area which appears to be
where we came in. There may well be further huffing and puffing over this issue,
but as money will be the motivating factor, the cause would appear to be all but
lost.
Another instance of policy inconsistency between local authorities is revealed
on the front page of the Stamford Mercury which reports that South
Kesteven District Council’s licensing committee turned down a scheme to relocate
the taxi bay in the town centre to the South Street car park, thus thwarting
preliminary work by the Town Centre Management Partnership which is busy with
the major task of upgrading Bourne town centre (March 31st). The intention was
to create additional space to improve the area and make it more attractive for
shoppers by widening the pavements and introducing seating and flowerbeds but
the committee’s decision means that the project will come to nought after some
months of hard work and the entire scheme will have to be redrawn.
This is a blatant example of one hand not knowing what the other is doing and
the waste of time and man hours involved with all of the inherent paperwork and
meetings could have been avoided by a little more consultation between the two
organisations. The council spends an inordinate amount of time on disciplining
councillors who are deemed to have transgressed yet officers appear to escape
without censure whenever inefficiencies of this magnitude surface. This
particular change to the street scene was intended to be the beginning of a
major £27 million redevelopment for the town centre and there is now a worrying
notion that if progress is to be hindered by similar delays in the future, then
completion will be a very long way off indeed.
Regular readers of this column will know that we follow the cuckoo and
listen out each year for the sound of its familiar call from out there across
the fen announcing that bright days are here again. Cuckoo Day is traditionally
April 14th when we can expect to hear it in these islands for the first time
although there is not any hard and fast rule but we in South Lincolnshire are
rarely so blessed and it is usually a week or two afterwards, often even later,
that we hear it across the countryside to remind us that they have arrived after
their marathon flight from Africa where they have wintered in warmer climes.
But it is a fading sound that may soon be no more in these parts where its
numbers are in such drastic decline that it could soon join the list of our most
endangered species because research from the British Trust for Ornithology
suggests that the bird is unlikely to return to many of its favourite annual
haunts.
When we moved to this house overlooking the flat landscape on the very edge of
Bourne more than 20 years ago, our favourite migratory bird sang early and late
most days. In fact, there were several of them and their song delighted the
neighbourhood morning and evening for many weeks because the call of the male
cuckoo makes this one of the best known though least seen of our summer
visitors. I made a note in my diary and the date was 22nd April 1983.
Since then, the cuckoo has become an even more elusive bird because its numbers
are being seriously reduced and its song at this time of the year can no longer
be guaranteed as an annual delight. The BOT reports that forty years ago there
were some 35,000 breeding pairs spread throughout Britain but the population has
now dropped to between 10,000 and 20,000.
One possible reason for the decline is a shortage of foster parents because, as
most people know, the cuckoo lays its eggs in the nests of others and leaves
them to rear the chick, usually the dunnock, the meadow pipit and reed warbler,
but their numbers have dropped dramatically in recent years. Coupled with this
has been the drought in north east Africa where the cuckoo spends the winter
months, the loss of caterpillars and insects due to intensive farming practices
in this country and the reduction of many natural habitats, all of which adds up
to a poor prospect for one of our favourite springtime birds.
No sound is more eagerly awaited than the loud, ringing, repeated song because
it heralds the arrival of spring and our life after the bleak winter months
would be the poorer if it does disappear from the countryside. The outlook is
not good but conservationists are hoping to reverse the trend to ensure that the
cuckoo’s charismatic sights and sounds will not be lost to our rural landscape
forever.
From the archives: Clocks throughout Britain were put forward by one hour
at 2 am on Sunday 21st May 1916 to launch daylight saving time, as it was
officially known. Britain was then involved in the Great War of 1914-18 and the
government told MPs that hundreds of thousands of tons of coal would be saved by
the change in an attempt to help the war effort. The prospect of lighter
evenings was widely welcomed, with the clocks being put back again in October,
although not everyone was happy with the new arrangement as the Stamford
Mercury reported on Friday 26th May 1916: "Farmers in the Bourne district
are not putting the new Summer Time Bill into operation but are retaining the
former times for commencing and leaving off work. In all other business
concerns, the new times have been worked with general advantage. Various
comments had been made as to the proposed change, there being some who declined
to alter their clocks and looked upon the proposal with suspicion that it meant
another hour’s work a day with no corresponding recompense."
Thought for the week: The lateness of spring has given an unpleasantly
extended opportunity for looking at bare roadside hedges and seeing how
appallingly they are cut by mechanical trimmers. The machines rip, rather than
cut, leaving an impression of torn fingernails across the landscape. `- Charles Moore writing in The Spectator, Saturday 25th March 2006.
Saturday 8th April 2006
If asked how many councillors are required to turn a
small problem into a major difficulty then the answer would be fifteen because
that is the number that sit on Bourne Town Council, currently wrestling with the
dilemma of a giant sycamore tree that threatens the stability of an ancient
stone wall in the town cemetery.
This column gave the solution six weeks ago (Diary 25th February) and that is to chop down the tree but this appears to be too
simple a remedy for the bureaucratic mind because councillors are planning to
take the advice of a working party that could have come straight from the pages
of William Heath Robinson.
The recommendation is that the dangerous section of the wall made unsafe by the
roots of the tree should be removed and the resulting bricks used to build
supporting pillars and then a trellis with climbing plants be erected to fill
the gap which would serve the dual purpose of looking attractive and stopping
people walking through it. My goodness, what a pig’s ear of a solution and one
that certainly sounds like the last resort of a working party burning the
midnight oil yet still totally bereft of bright ideas.
Councillors have all but rejected the obvious answer that as the tree is causing
the difficulty it should be cut down. It is a self-setter anyway while the red
brick wall is part of the cemetery’s history, dating back to 1855, and should be
protected at all costs as a fine example of Victorian craftsmanship. Perhaps
councillors do not think a wall worthy of protection, even one so old, but I can
assure them that were a survey of our listed properties carried out today then
it would be the subject of a preservation order and to stifle any cries of
disbelief, we should remember that when the last assessment was carried out in
Bourne during the summer of 1977, the wall and gateposts at No 29 South Street,
the former Red Hall gatehouse, were given a Grade II listed status and cannot be
demolished no matter how many trees grow up around the base.
It has been suggested that councillors are powerless to act because the sycamore
is subject to a Tree Preservation Order but these are merely a guide to good
practice and can easily be rescinded in the interests of the public and the
environment. A little common sense would therefore settle this matter rather
than resort to a complicated scheme that is neither practical nor visually
acceptable and at the same time save councillors from further public censure and
even ridicule.
It is regrettable, but our councillors do not have a good record over the
stewardship of the cemetery in recent months and appear to have a predilection
for trying to resolve problems by demolition, demonstrated by their proposed
solution to the cemetery chapel, now in an advanced state of decay through
continual neglect, and rather than seek imaginative ways of conserving it for
future use, the majority view is to pull it down. Their approach to unsafe
memorials has a similarly destructive ring because the town council has warned
that any found to be unstable will be laid flat.
Here, they are wrong yet again and even the official mind is having second
thoughts about the toppling of tombstones in cemeteries across the land after
local authorities began checking them for stability to find out if they are
likely to fall over and injure or even kill unsuspecting visitors.
The check was ordered by the Health and Safety Executive which issued a report
in 2004 saying that there had been three deaths and 18 serious accidents from
unstable stone memorials in five years and requiring every council in the
country that administers a burial ground to expend time and money on a safety
inspection that has become known as the topple test. If the headstone is unsafe
then it must be laid flat irrespective of the effect this may have on relatives
of the dead or the appearance of the cemetery.
The survey is currently underway at the town cemetery in South Street, a slow
and painstaking task by the clerk and her assistant although some stones have
already been laid flat by maintenance staff when they were deemed to be
dangerous in years past but the present checks will be far more stringent and
therefore affect a large number of memorials.
I wrote a year ago (Diary 12th March 2005) about the widespread damage that could be done to the appearance of our cemetery
and now the Local Government Ombudsman, Jerry White, has reinforced these doubts
in a report that warns of official vandalism by over enthusiastic councils. “The
laying flat of a large number of memorials”, he says, “is unlikely to be
appropriate and is almost always avoidable.”
Gravestones should not automatically be laid down if they move, says the report,
but a risk assessment carried out to see if there are alternatives such as
temporary support, more frequent inspection or warning notices.
The city council at Stoke-on-Trent which caused an outcry by laying down 2,000
memorials has already discovered that only 60 were at such a high risk that
warranted being laid flat and many other local authorities are also likely to be
found at fault. The councils, says the ombudsman, should strike a balance
between public safety and public outrage and added: “We recognise that certain
memorials pose an immediate danger. But we hope they will recognise that action
other than large scale laying down will almost always be the most appropriate
remedy.”
The cemetery administered by the town council is a quiet and peaceful place that
contains 150 years of the town’s history, an archive in stone of those who have
gone before. In 2004, a working party was appointed to assess the safety of the
tombstones and it recommended that £10,000 be set aside to pay for carrying out
remedial work on those which were found to be unstable but after a lengthy
debate, councillors rejected this advice and decided that relatives who are
still alive should foot the bill, otherwise they will be laid flat.
There is no doubt that the cemetery is looking at its best this spring and is
not only neat and tidy but also a pleasant place to spend a few moments in
contemplation, away from the hustle and bustle of a busy life. In fact, the town
council is hoping to recapture past glory by entering the annual nation-wide
best kept cemetery competition which was won in 2002, mainly through the efforts
of an excellent cemetery supervisor, Peter Ellis, and on the present standard of
maintenance, it may well stand a good chance for the first time since he left.
But in view of the local ombudsman’s new guidance, councillors ought to
reconsider its decision on tombstones as a matter of urgency and at the same
time ensure that the red brick wall is protected for posterity because the
current policy on both issues will certainly not enhance the appearance of this
peaceful place.
What the local newspapers are also saying: The Lincolnshire Free Press
gives prominence to the findings of the Adjudication Panel for England that has
banned Councillor Ian Croft, who represents Bourne Castle on Lincolnshire County
Council, from holding public office for 15 months (April 4). While serving as
council leader, he is alleged to have undermined and demeaned the council’s
chief executive, David Bowles, and tried to force him to quit after he gave
damning evidence against his disgraced political friend Jim Speechley, another
council leader who was jailed for misconduct in April 2004.
The tribunal chairman, Chris Hughes, told Croft that he would have faced a
longer disqualification had it not been for his 21-year record of public service
and a belated acceptance that he had acted improperly. The suspension will mean
that Councillor Croft will now have to quit as the member for the Bourne Castle
ward and a by election to fill the vacancy is likely in the coming weeks. The
ward has been a Tory stronghold during his tenure but an election will decide if
that confidence has been eroded and whether an outside candidate may have a
chance, a prospect that conjures up the possibility that Councillor Guy Cudmore,
the deputy Mayor of Bourne, might stand as an independent. We will have to wait
and see.
Last week’s announcement that a new school for Elsea Park would
be going ahead is followed this week by a front page report in the Stamford
Mercury that the project is to be scrapped altogether (April 7th). Falling
pupil rolls have been blamed and the prospect that a new school would create
problems of surplus places at our two existing primary schools, the Abbey and
Westfield.
The new school was due to be completed by September 2007 as part of the planning
gain approved with the developers, Allison Homes, for the building of the
massive Elsea Park estate, and reckoned to be worth around £1½ million. But the
question is now what will happen to this money? Presumably it is tied to the
Section 106 agreement, the legal contract formalising what will and will not be
provided by the developer for the new community, but whether it can be applied
elsewhere is a matter of speculation. Councillor Linda Neal, leader of South
Kesteven District Council, told the newspaper that the money could perhaps be
spent on providing new facilities for the town’s two primary schools but added:
“I am not sure this will be possible.”
A letter is published by both The Local and the Stamford Mercury
from one of our senior town councillors, John Smith, defending the record of the
authority and no doubt he was stung into action by criticisms from a reader
in the correspondence columns of The Local last week (March 31st) in
which councillors came under scathing attack for recent decisions and asking him
to enumerate exactly what they had achieved. His defence however misses the
point because the fifteen reasons listed as indicators of their performance are
mainly the result of hard work by an extremely capable and resourceful clerk and
do not accurately reflect the efforts of councillors, some of whom appear to nod
their way through meetings in the committee room and council chamber.
The successful application of administration may be an accomplishment but does
not signify progress. Councils do not exist for their own sake and must be
accountable and answerable to fair criticism at all times and it was this point
that was being made by the writer. The decision, for instance, to overturn
thirty years of tradition by passing over the deputy mayor, Councillor Guy
Cudmore, as the choice for our next first citizen, was taken in the face of
overwhelming public opposition but councillors did not listen despite a volume
of opinion being ventilated throughout the media and resulting in one the
largest postbags on any single topic in recent years.
This cavalier attitude will continue to earn disapproval, as it should, and
although Councillor Smith appeals for respect from his colleagues at all times,
to officials, organisations and each other, a respect that was sadly lacking
towards Councillor Cudmore who had already been censured for his transgression,
he should not forget that their first duty is towards the people and start
listening to what they have to say.
The great and the good can no longer expect to be remembered for their
role in public life in the columns of the local newspapers. Too often the deaths
of prominent people are now being overlooked either through pressure of space in
favour of paid advertising or total apathy by editorial staff. Ray Cliffe, a
local tradesman from a prominent family who had served this town well, died on
Saturday 25th March at the age of 81. He had been mayor twice, a town, district
and county councillor for varying periods, and until recently, a driving force
behind the switching on of the Christmas lights when his infectious enthusiasm
for this festive occasion brought a special appeal to the annual event outside
the Town Hall. Now he has gone and his passing does not even rate a mention in
the columns of the Stamford Mercury that carries a slogan under the
masthead saying “Serving Bourne” which on this showing it does not.
The obituary columns are among the most widely read sections of our newspapers
and therefore editors should nurture them and ensure that everyone from their
circulation area, certainly those who have achieved some status in life, is
remembered in some detail, not only as a mark of respect for the dead but also
as a memorial for the future because as time passes, their pages become an
archive to be consulted by social historians and even descendants tracing their
family trees in years to come. Accounts of the lives of those who have passed on
are worthy of publication because a well written obituary encapsulates someone’s
entire existence on this earth and most hope that when they too depart, there
will be space for them to be remembered for posterity, no matter how small their
contribution may have been.
Department of useless information: On Wednesday of this week, at two
minutes and three seconds after 1 a m, the time and date was 01:02:03 04/05/06.
This will never happen again.
- round robin email from King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, Tuesday 4th April
2006.
Thought for the week: Many of Britain’s best-loved wild flowers,
including the humble primrose and the bluebell, are under threat. According to
the nation’s most extensive ecological woodland survey, the numbers of species
in 103 locations across England, Scotland and Wales have seen a marked decline
since they were first surveyed in the early seventies, showing a staggering fall
of 36% with characteristic woodland plants faring the worst.
– report from
The Countryman magazine, April 2006.
Saturday 15th April 2006
New roads mean more new houses, according to Councillor
Mark Horn, the Bourne Abbey representative on Lincolnshire County Council, who
paints a gloomy scenario of improved links for the town. The Stamford Mercury
reports that the latest transport plan for the county suggests that a much-needed
bypass for the main A15 trunk road, which runs north to south through the town
centre, could be at least 15 years away after funding was ruled out until 2021
at the earliest (April 3rd).
Councillor Horn told the newspaper that the town was in dire need of new roads
but he was pessimistic about getting the cash needed to construct them. He
added: “The main budget for road building comes from central government but the
money is just not available. The only way a bypass is likely to be built is as
part of a deal with developers who would want to build more houses in the town
and even then the improvements would only come in stages.”
Judging by our past record, even fifteen years
would appear to be an optimistic estimate. The need for a bypass was first
highlighted in 1909 when horse drawn vehicles began creating problems on this
road and as traffic flows increased in the following years, the project was
mooted and scrapped on half a dozen occasions. The last time was in 1991 when
Lincolnshire County Council announced that work was due to start on a Bourne
by-pass in April 1994 with a completion date of October 1995 but those plans
were also shelved and now there is little possibility that it will ever be built
as Councillor John Kirkman, the previous holder of the Bourne Abbey seat
(1989-2005), explained on this web site in July 2004.
Cash is short at county headquarters because the large amounts
collected by our continually rising council tax are being eaten up by salaries, pensions, holiday entitlements and
administrative costs for an ever increasing staff. No private business could
survive with a similar ratio between workforce and budget yet there are no signs
that this disparity is being addressed and indeed new and obscure jobs are on
offer every month. The provision of employment is now paramount and services are
fast becoming a side issue of local government function.
What the local newspapers are also saying: The developers engaged to
regenerate the town centre at Bourne are due to sign a legal agreement endorsing
the £27 million scheme, according to the Stamford Mercury that predicts
that work should start next year (April 14th). The final design, says the
newspaper, is expected to include up to 20 shops, leisure spaces and affordable
housing in that triangle of land bordered by North Street, West Street and
Burghley Street, but there is no mention of the controversial additional deck of
parking for the car park behind the Burghley Centre that was suggested when the
scheme was first announced last year, even though it is not within the core
development area.
There is a groundswell of opinion in Bourne that this particular aspect of the
development should not go ahead but there is no guarantee that it will not.
Councillor Mrs Linda Neal, leader of South Kesteven District Council, told
The Local which also reports on the story: “We are not going to come up with
a scheme that will satisfy everyone. We do not live in an ideal world but we do
want the best that can be possibly delivered.”
Final plans for the scheme will now go to public consultation and the
developers, Henry Davidson Developments of Nottingham, will make a presentation
to the Local Area Assembly at the Corn Exchange in Bourne on Wednesday 19th
July.
Car boot sales are booming. They are springing up
everywhere and last Sunday morning, the car park outside the Rainbow supermarket
in Bourne was a testament to their popularity.
These community sales are based on the age-old premise that one person’s rubbish
is someone else’s necessity, an equation that ensures few things will ever be
thrown away. On Sunday, dozens turned up after scouring attics, spare rooms,
garages and garden sheds for unwanted dust gatherers that might bring in a few
bob. Trading was brisk, bargains were struck and everyone was happy with what
they got because there was no pressure to buy. What a perfect way to do
business.
Itinerant sales such as this may be regarded as part of the black economy, a
communal market where the individual citizen is able to trade free from the
restrictions of traditional commerce such as taxes and tariffs. Whatever is sold
is at a profit and although the current inland revenue regulations require a
declaration of all income on the annual tax returns, it is debatable whether a
few pounds made on spare books, CDs and the odd item of garish pottery and
glassware comes into this category and doubtful whether a case could be made
that the profit should be taxable. But there are some who are making a healthy
living through the car boot market by running their weekly stand as a business
and this might be attracting the attention of the Whitehall tax gatherers.
Governments are always looking for new ways of imposing duty and as anything
popular soon comes up for consideration, the Chancellor must have cast an
envious eye over the car boot sales that proliferate throughout Britain. A tax
on each table would bring in a hefty annual contribution to the public purse but
it would also be self-defeating. Sunday morning sales are not only a social
event but also a means of stimulating the economy because the money taken is
almost immediately poured back into the system by being spent on other consumer
goods and little luxuries. It is a merry-go-round for the pound and taxation
would soon bring it to a halt.
There is room in all well ordered societies for exceptions, the car boot sale
being one of them, and the rumblings in this house are that we may well be in
the Rainbow car park for the next one, along with our good neighbours next door,
flogging off boxfuls of unwanted gewgaws that would otherwise end up at the
skips in Pinfold Lane. They are then, not only good for the economy, but also
the environment.
Most councillors in Bourne seem to be reluctant to use the Internet to
keep the electorate informed about what they are up to, a sad state of affairs
considering that more than 70% of the population is now online.
Only one of the 15 members of Bourne Town Council, Guy Cudmore, makes regular
contributions to the Forum and none of the six members of South Kesteven
District Council, even though all have been issued with £1,000 laptops. There
has also been total silence from our two county council members, now reduced to
one, but all is not lost because another member of Lincolnshire County Council,
Phil Dilks, has promised to fill the gap even though he represents Deeping St
James, nearly ten miles away.
Phil Dilks, aged 54, was born in Northamptonshire and educated in Lincolnshire,
later working as a journalist in Sleaford and Louth before emigrating to Bermuda
in 1974 but returned to newspaper work in Lincoln five years later. He has since
been a press officer and copywriter and is now Head of Regional Media for the
Labour Party. He is married to Gill and they have two grown up daughters, both
primary school teachers. A parish councillor for ten years, he was elected to
LCC in 2001, holding the Deeping St James seat in the 2005 elections despite a
strong Conservative challenge, and is now opposition spokesman for education and
a member of the Lincolnshire Police Authority.
Councillor Dilks, who also has his own web site, made his first
contribution to the Forum last week, signing in as Fair Deal Phil, the name he
used on the ballot paper when first elected, and he has promised to keep us up
to date with what is going on in the corridors of power, his first subject being
the latest developments over the planned primary school connected with the Elsea
Park development, now cancelled. "I will certainly be raising a series of
questions on the Section 106 legal agreement connected with the planning gain",
he writes, “and I will keep you posted."
The Bourne Forum is the busiest and best informed discussion group in
Lincolnshire and this is a refreshing change from the total silence we get from
our own councillors at district and county level and a damning indictment of
their lack of regard for Internet users whose numbers increase daily. Welcome
aboard, Phil.
A little bit of democracy dies each day, particularly at national and
local government level where the freedoms we have enjoyed in years past are
gradually being eroded. I am reliably informed that South Kesteven District
Council, the authority that administers our planning affairs and collects the
council tax, has amended its constitution and the result is to disadvantage our
elected councillors.
In future, members of the Development Control Committee, which among other
things handles applications for new houses, can no longer give a straight vote
to reject a plan against the advice of officers. They have to indicate that they
are minded to reject and then give the officials valid planning reasons for
rejection within five working days when the application goes back to committee
to be ratified before being put to the full council.
The reason given for this major procedural change, which will effectively deter
all but the most persistent, is that a rejection of official advice lays the
council open to a public inquiry and a hefty legal bill if it fails. Planning
applications for new houses therefore have been given an added impetus and the
authority of councillors has slipped down another peg.
From the archives: The freedom to leave home or job and seek a new life
without retribution is a common phenomenon but in past times anyone who
absconded or ran away from family, work, an apprenticeship or the authorities,
was likely to be hunted down and punished. This was the time before photographs
were available and so detailed descriptions were published in the local
newspapers listing the physical appearance and clothing of the wanted men in an
attempt to assist in their capture. The following absconders were among those
who appeared in the Stamford Mercury during the early 19th century:
(1) Absconded, John Wright, of Morton, near Bourne, cordwainer and private in
the South Lincolnshire Militia, about 5 ft. 7 in. high, rather stooping, fair
countenance with small hazel eyes, dark hair and a partial impediment in his
speech, leaving his wife and family chargeable to the parish. Whoever will
either apprehend or cause the offender to be so apprehended as to be safely
committed to His Majesty’s gaol at Folkingham Castle shall receive five guineas
reward from the Overseers of the Poor. – Friday 24th November 1820.
(2) Absconded and left his wife and family chargeable to the parish of Bourne,
Samuel Sharp, about 30 years of age, stands 5 ft. 8 in. or 9 in. high, is of
slim build with sandy coloured hair and whiskers, and marked across the throat
from a cut. The said Samuel Sharp took with him the wife of Samuel Poxton.
Whoever will apprehend the said Samuel Sharp and lodge him in any of His
Majesty’s gaols, shall receive from the Overseers of the Poor a reward of two
guineas for their trouble and all reasonable expenses. – Friday 18th July
1823.
(3) John Wade, clad in a velveteen jacket and high tops [boots], escaped whilst
under examination for a felony at Morton, near Bourne, on Tuesday last. He is 5
ft. 10 in. high with a fair countenance, athletic build with sandy colour
whiskers and tender eyed. Whoever will bring the offender to justice shall
receive from William Dewey, Constable of Bourne, a reward of two pounds two
shillings. - Friday 29th August 1823.
Thought for the week: Nature does not owe us a meaningful life. It is up
to us to make it so.
– Richard Dawkins writing in The Spectator, Saturday 15th April 2006.
Saturday 22nd April 2006
The civic opening of the Charles Worth Gallery takes
place at lunchtime today when Baldock’s Mill in South Street will be packed with
visitors to see the latest addition to the Heritage Centre that was established
there more than twenty years ago.
Since then, there has been a continual drive to add new attractions, archives,
artefacts and displays that will stimulate interest in the history of this town
and the latest imaginative project has come about mainly through the work of Mrs
Brenda Jones, chairman of the Civic Society which administers the centre, and
her husband Jim, custodian of the mill, who is responsible for much of the
maintenance. It was their idea to commemorate Charles Worth and it is largely
through their efforts that it has come to fruition.
The original idea was to create an exhibition that would appeal directly to
women, in sharp contrast to the other main display room on the first floor
devoted to the life and times of Raymond Mays (1899-1980), the motor racing
pioneer who was born and worked in the town. Her conception was to mount a major
exhibition commemorating the work of another of our famous sons, Charles
Frederick Worth (1825-1895), son of a local solicitor from Wake House, North
Street, who left home as a boy to become the world’s most famous fashion
designer and founder of haute couture.
Her vision was, and it was then little more than a pipe dream, of increasing the
scope of the displays with examples of the magnificent costumes Worth created at
his Paris salon where he dressed the world’s most famous women. The perfect
solution would have been to purchase an original dress but they are virtually
unobtainable and all surviving examples are scattered around a dozen museums in
Europe and America.
But photographs exist and last July she appealed though this web site for
seamstresses to copy one of the costumes and she was pleasantly surprised by the
result because several ladies with suitable qualifications replied. Within
weeks, three of them, Claire Hart, Leslie Wade and Deborah Hallam, had begun
regular meetings at the centre, planning the project in minute detail, the
materials, the sewing and the means of display, and by Christmas the project was
well underway. Lady Jane Willoughby, president of the society, contributed two
tailor’s dummies from the attic at Grimsthorpe House on which the dresses could
be displayed against a mural of Bourne market place, painted by Bourne art
student Luke Ochrombel, aged 17, and all enclosed in a floor to ceiling glass
frame made by local craftsmen. The cost was soon escalating and the Civic
Society is not a wealthy organisation but Jim and Brenda were determined to see
their project completed and, although nothing was said publicly, quietly
contributed a substantial amount towards the final cost from their own pocket.
The dress that has been copied, using material from the period and specially
bought from London, is a style known as Visite and made from off white
silk with braid and bead trimming, originally designed by Worth in 1885 and
bearing the label of his salon at No 7 Rue de la Paix in Paris. This is the
centrepiece of the display with two additional dresses, together with other
costumes and accessories loaned by members and friends including an original
jacket bought from the House of Worth in Paris. Cabinets were added to the new
gallery on the first floor to accommodate all of the exhibits, new shelving
fitted and the walls covered with framed photographs and documents illustrating
Worth’s life and career while a computer in the foyer has been specially
programmed to play a continual pictorial record of his dress designs.
The result is extremely effective and one that merits the civic opening that
will be performed at midday today by the Mayor of Bourne, Councillor Judy Smith.
A coveted blue plaque on the wall of Wake House, erected by English Heritage in
December 2002, already commemorates the birth of Charles Worth and the new
gallery is a most impressive innovation for the Heritage Centre, telling
visitors about the life and times of our famous son. It is also a highly
commendable personal achievement for Jim and Brenda Jones.
What the local newspapers are saying: Tenants are being urged to fight
the sale of their council houses with organised opposition, according to a front
page report in The Local which says that South Kesteven District Council
is pressing ahead with the scheme despite widespread public protest (April
21st). The controversial sale means that 6,500 houses, flats and maisonettes,
535 in Bourne, will go to a housing association for around £5,500 each and the
authority will then escape the responsibility of high maintenance and
modernisation costs. A £1 million public consultation exercise is currently
underway while a protest group set up six months ago is urging every tenant to
vote against the idea although anyone who does not reply to the questionnaire
will be deemed to be in favour which will give the council an unfair advantage.
By coincidence, I received an email this week from one of the protestors asking
if I knew of anyone in Bourne with some free time who would be prepared to pop
printed notices through the letter boxes of council tenants outlining the case
against the sale and seeking their support but unfortunately, I could not help.
The problem is that most people are reluctant to devote their free time to
anything that does not bring a reward and distributing leaflets, no matter how
worthy the cause, does not come into this category. The sale of council houses is not in the interest of tenants
but it will go ahead because the authority has an important ally and that is
public apathy, a factor that is so well known in the corridors of power at Grantham
that South Lincs Homes, the association that will take over, has already been
created.
The multi-storey car park planned as part of the town centre redevelopment has
not, as we thought last week, disappeared from the radar with the pending
signing of the £27 million contract. Although it was not mentioned in the
statement, the idea is very much alive and the Stamford Mercury reports
that at least one of our senior councillors is in favour (April 21st).
Councillor John Smith (Bourne West), who is also the South Kesteven District
Council cabinet member responsible for economic regeneration, told the newspaper
that the car park outside the Budgens supermarket would make a good spot for it,
adding by way of an excuse that the site was not an area of outstanding natural
beauty. No one, of course, has suggested that it is, but that is no reason why
it should be turned into a monumental eyesore.
The present car park is one of the few open spaces in the town, planted with
trees and shrubs, and a multi-storey would fill it with concrete and car fumes
and create a magnet for every potential ASBO in the neighbourhood. The
structure, which is likely to be fifteen or eighteen feet high, might also
breach the right of light for those home owners living in the row of red brick
cottages along Hereward Street that are likely to lose the sunshine for much of
the afternoon and evening. These properties were built well before the twenty
years required to qualify for the legal right to light, entitling the owners to
oppose planning permission if the development is likely to put their houses in
the shade, and so it might be a worthwhile exercise for them to take legal advice
to determine whether they have redress before the scheme is presented to them as
a fait accompli.
Lincolnshire County Councillor Mark Horn (Bourne Abbey) recognises the
difficulties of survival for our clubs, societies and other organisations
because he told the Stamford Mercury that they need to advertise their
presence more to ensure that membership and support is maintained (April 21st).
He suggests an annual open day at which each could be present to demonstrate
what they have to offer and to recruit new members and helpers. This is an
excellent idea, especially as the Bourne area currently has well over 140
organisations catering for all ages but they need a continual flow of support to
keep going. “New arrivals in town do not know how or where to join and an open
day with all of the clubs and societies represented in one place would be their
introduction and help boost membership”, said Councillor Horn. “The event would
also demonstrate that Bourne is a small and friendly community with a lot going
on.”
How did you spend Easter Monday, a traditional day to be out and about
enjoying the Bank Holiday? Visiting one of the many attractions around the
county, perhaps. Or walking in Bourne Wood. Pottering about in the garden or
just lounging in front of the telly with your feet up. Any of these leisure
occupations on a day when most of the country is off work would be in sharp
contrast to one person in our town who deserved a break, the Mayor of Bourne,
because she volunteered for duty at the Heritage Centre at Baldock’s Mill in
South Street, giving a welcome to visitors who dropped in.
Councillor Judy Smith is the 34th mayor of Bourne since the office was
inaugurated in 1974 and she has brought a new dignity to the role, working far
harder and fulfilling more engagements than any of her predecessors, always
willing to meet and speak with people and constantly ready with words of
encouragement. She has become a familiar figure in the past twelve months
hurrying about the town between appointments as our first citizen, often two or
more on some days, yet when the Bank Holiday comes around, instead of taking a
well earned break, she is only too ready to help the Civic Society which,
despite its membership of more than 70, frequently has difficulty in finding
volunteers to staff the Heritage Centre during opening hours.
Bourne is full of people with time on their hands, many of them born and brought
up here, yet they do nothing except complain. The mayor should be a role model
for those who continually grouch and gripe but refuse to become involved because
she has demonstrated in no small measure that there is a quiet satisfaction in
helping others that far outweighs any personal inconvenience but this is
something that can only be learned by experience. Giving up her time on a Bank
Holiday when everyone else is out enjoying themselves is the perfect example of
altruism and perhaps her unselfish service this week will spur others on to join
that small but dedicated band of people who keep this town going.
Primroses have always been a well-loved wild flower in England and were
once planted on graves which is probably how they arrived in so many churchyards
over the centuries. They were once highly regarded for their medicinal
properties and during mediaeval times, an ointment made from primrose leaves
boiled with lard was used by woodsmen in the New Forest to treat cuts while on
May Day, bunches of primroses were laid on the floor of cowsheds to protect
cattle from witches at a time when they were considered to be at their most
active.
In the west of Britain the primrose (Primula vulgaris) begins to flower
soon after Christmas and by this time of the year it can be seen in the woods
and hedgerows, along the banks of waterways and in old grassland throughout the
country, the best place in this area probably being St Andrew’s churchyard at
Irnham which has a grand display this year. However, do not pick them because
the primrose is a protected species yet is often scarce near towns because of
the number of people who have selfishly transferred the plants to their own
gardens.
The plant grows 2-8 inches high and has a rosette of bright green, corrugated
leaves with pale yellow flowers and deep contrasting centres, although
sometimes, but less often, they have pink flowers. They are among the most
delicate of our spring blooms with a fragility that is fleeting which is why we
should treasure the primrose while it lasts.
A new booklet has just been published by South Kesteven District Council
giving an accommodation guide to that area of south west Lincolnshire covered by
the authority. It is grandly called The Heritage Vales of Lincolnshire embracing
Stamford, Grantham, Bourne and the Deepings.
It is beautifully produced showing visitors how to get here and what to see when
they do but I am afraid that if they start looking around Bourne for a church
with a spire and surrounded by acres of green buttercup meadow, then they will
be disappointed because the picture chosen to illustrate our town is of West
Deeping, ten miles away.
We do not know how much public money the council spends on promoting tourism but
the least it can do is to get it right, otherwise the investment is wasted. For
those who are not sure, the Abbey Church in Bourne only has a tower.
Thought for the week: In the real dark night of the soul it is always
three o'clock in the morning. - F Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist (1896-1940).
Saturday 29th April 2006
The debate over the wisdom of building a multi-storey on
the car park in front of Budgens supermarket in Bourne continues and although
there are denials of any decisions being taken over the issue, there does appear
to be a mindset in favour by at least one of our local representatives.
Councillor John Smith (Bourne West), who is also cabinet member for economic
development at South Kesteven District Council, told The Local this week that
there were advantages in the scheme for a site that he did not consider to be
“an attractive open space” (April 28th).
No one has suggested that it is attractive but it is an open space and it is
exactly what our councillors made of the old cattle market site after approving
the building of the Burghley Centre complex which opened in 1989. To fill it
with concrete and car fumes would make it positively unattractive and Councillor
Smith appears to acknowledge this because he told the newspaper: “It could be
masked by landscaping.”
A straw poll conducted this week among a dozen people around and about
revealed that not one wants to see a multi-storey car park at this location,
that it would be a hideous addition to our town and, traders please note, drive
shoppers away to Stamford, Spalding and Peterborough. There is also the problem
of access, with Meadowgate taking the bulk of the vehicles using it even though
this once quiet residential street is already choked with traffic at peak times
and any additional burden will create further road hazards and seriously affect
property values. Yet Councillor Smith is aware of this public displeasure
because he told The Local: “People do not like the idea of a multi-storey
car park but would they rather we sold the bus station for parking?”
The bus station has nothing to do with it. This is not a question of choosing
between two evils but of finding the best course of action that is in the
interests of the town and its people. Instead of using those facilities we
already have as a bargaining counter, we should be coveting and even adding to
our assets as an attractive market town and not considering closing them down in
favour of other doubtful advantages.
The problem is that plans for the town centre’s core regeneration area submitted
by the selected developer, Henry Davidson Developments, do not appear to include
any car parking spaces and as the bulk of the Burghley Street car park will
disappear when work gets underway, the 91 spaces lost will need to be created
elsewhere, outside the designated area, hence the suggestion that another deck
be added to the car park in front of Budgens supermarket, some distance away.
Proposals from the other two developers clearly provided for car parking spaces
within the core area, S Harrison Group (125 spaces) and Dencora (120 spaces), and
so we are left with the unthinkable. Perish the thought, but perhaps SKDC has
chosen the wrong scheme.
What the local newspapers are also saying: Controversial
plans to build 121 new homes on the old railway station site in South Street,
Bourne, have been dropped for the time being. A report in the Stamford
Mercury says that the scheme was thrown out on Tuesday by the development
control committee at South Kesteven District Council against the advice of
planning officers who had originally recommended approval but changed their
decision after a site inspection (April 28th). There has been a mass of protest
about the effects that such a large scale, densely packed development on the
very edge of the conservation area would have on the infrastructure and that it
would ruin the view of the historic Red Hall, a Grade II listed building dating
back to the early 17th century, although at the meeting, the main reason for
objection was that traffic turning right towards Peterborough on to the main A15
trunk road which runs past the site would create a danger to other road users.
But the battle is not yet over because Dan Wherry, speaking for Wherry’s Seed
Merchants, the company which owns the land, told The Local that they were
reviewing the situation and even considering an appeal and added: “We are
confident that permission will be given in due course.”
It would therefore appear that we may be facing yet another costly and
protracted battle with developers, similar to that experienced with the planning
application for meadowland surrounding The Croft in North Road. This began in
1993 and ended last December after a public inquiry when the inspector ruled
against residential development but the owners indicated that they might submit
yet another planning application. Town councillor Trevor Holmes obviously had
this in mind when he told The Local: “It would be a sad day and a
terrible waste of public money if the district council had to resist an appeal
for an unnecessary and unwelcome development.”
It is now three years since the parlous state of the Old Grammar School
was revealed in this column and nothing has been done since to save the ancient
building. During that time, it has deteriorated even further and the roof now
appears to be in danger of caving in with a tree growing through. Were that to
happen, the problem would no doubt solve itself because the building could then
be demolished, a popular remedy in Bourne for unpalatable problems.
The school is one of the oldest secular buildings in the town and was put up for
sale last year for an undisclosed sum by the Bourne Educational Foundation, a
registered charity that has been responsible for its administration in recent
years. It is located in the churchyard a few yards away from the Abbey Church
and has been standing empty for three years after a structural survey revealed
that it was unsafe because of a lack of maintenance. It was estimated that at
least £20,000 was needed for repairs but because of continued neglect that
figure is now likely to be much higher although it is Grade II listed and
therefore protected from demolition or drastic change.
Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire has scheduled the school as a building at risk
because of the crumbling brickwork and collapsing roof. Potential buyers are
advised that because of its unique setting, options for alternative uses will
need to be closely monitored by council planners. There is pedestrian right of
way across the churchyard from Church Walk although no form of vehicle access
and this may well be a constraint for some uses and could therefore deter
potential buyers.
The school was a gift to this town in the 17th century when William Trollope, a
local landowner, left a bequest in his will that provided for an endowment of
£30 a year to maintain "an honest, learned and godly schoolmaster" in a free
grammar school incorporated by royal charter. His will, dated 16th November
1636, stipulated that it should be called "The Free Grammar School of King
Charles in the town of Bourne and County of Lincoln, of the foundation of
William Trollope, gentleman."
The single storey building was completed in 1678 with a red brick superstructure
over a solid stone foundation but it is not certain whether this stonework is
from Trollope's original school or whether it dates back even further. Repairs
and alterations were carried out from time to time, particularly in 1858 and
again in 1876 when new outbuildings and two new end windows were added. Five
years later, a new stove chimney was erected and repairs carried out to the
floor, dado boarding was fitted and when the ceiling was removed, the oak roof
became visible.
The school closed in 1904 because of a declining number of pupils and there were
several unsuccessful attempts to reopen it but it was eventually replaced by the
present Bourne Grammar School in 1921 and two years later, in January 1923, the
old building was sold to the board of governors for the nominal sum of £100. It
has largely been unused since except during the Second World War of 1939-45 when
the premises became an ambulance station and a headquarters for the girl guides
who continued to use it to store their equipment and for meetings during the
summer months although notices posted on the door in April 2003 have now banned
entry because the structure is unsafe.
There has been talk of committees and meetings and even of raising cash for
repairs but all good intentions have foundered on the rocks of inactivity, even
indifference, and so one of our oldest buildings appears to be doomed to
become a pile of rubble.
The money needed is around but the resolve to obtain it for this particular
project is lacking and approaches to raise the necessary funds will need
enthusiastic support from councillors and community leaders if they are to get
lottery funding or even grants from our local charities. There seems to be no
shortage of organisations in Bourne who could use the space on an evening per
week basis, including perhaps the church, but such a scheme could not come to
fruition without firm leadership for its conservation. Unfortunately, a disused
old building that stands in an isolated location, crumbling and forgotten, does
not raise sufficient passion among our public leaders to provoke a campaign to
save it and so the outlook is bleak indeed.
Tomorrow, April 30th, is International No Hitting Day or, as they prefer
to call it in the United States, Smack-Out Day, a politically correct occasion
that originated in 1998 to end the chastisement of children who, I am afraid to
say, often deserve the odd clout.
I was brought up in the 1930s and my parents were not heavy handed but that did
not preclude a clip round the ear or a rap across the knuckles, a frequent
occurrence at school where rulers and canes were employed by teachers to dole
out this type of punishment and I cannot say that I have been emotionally
scarred by the experience, much that I disliked six of the best across the
backside for classroom transgressions. But at least justice was swift and far
more acceptable than 100 lines that took up valuable time when we should have
been outdoors enjoying ourselves. Furthermore, whatever the reason for this
chastisement, I am sure we deserved it.
Those days have long gone and parents are now being urged to find different
methods of discipline for their children through reading and reflection although
the organisers of this particular campaign have not come up with any
alternatives. They only suggest that corporal punishment, a very strong term for
a very small act in most cases, is a negative habit that can be broken. In other
words, the onus is on parents to ensure that children’s rights and needs are
observed.
There is no mention anywhere of the responsibilities of children in respecting
their parents who are often aggravated beyond endurance into physical
retribution. No Hitting Day is a good idea if it spreads the word of
non-violence but it is of little use if the policy is forced upon the caretakers
of children when all the kids see when they switch on their television sets are
adults around the world blowing each other up.
Shopping can be an enjoyable experience when you are frequenting
favourite outlets, particularly the small shops in Bourne where you have become
familiar with the owners and assistants and are perhaps even related or are
among their friends. This is one of the benefits of living in a small town that
turns a chore into a pleasure.
The big sheds have changed all that because the competition between them means
that the calibre of staff they employ is not always of the highest and many
appear to have flunked out of charm school. Fortunately we have none in Bourne
at the moment but the experience of those in Stamford and Peterborough may be a
foreboding of things to come once the new town centre multi stores are opened.
Assistants are often surly, badly dressed and unhelpful, when you can find them
that is, because they frequently slink off down the nearest aisle when the
prospect of being called for assistance becomes imminent.
High on the list of disagreeable shopping experiences is Focus and Currys at
Stamford followed by PC World and Staples at Peterborough but there are many
more and I am sure that you will have your own tales to tell about stores that
should be avoided whenever possible. Fortunately, all those mentioned provide
the widest range of goods at the best possible prices and so it is worth
remembering that in shopping wisely and successfully you must bite the bullet
and be prepared to suffer the service in silence, the pocket being more
important on these occasions than your pride.
From the archives: The odd and unconventional is deeply embedded in
English social history and many are remembered solely because of the way they
lived their lives outside the mores of the time, doing harm to no one but
preferring to follow their own inclinations, no matter what the neighbours might
say. Deviation from what is considered to be normal conduct has had serious
consequences in the past, especially during mediaeval times, when strange
behaviour often ended in death but generally those who preferred to follow a
different drummer were quietly tolerated by the communities in which they lived
and when they passed on, their life was duly acknowledged.
The Stamford Mercury reported one such obituary on 17th March 1837 with
the following notice: “Death. Died at Scottlethorpe, near Bourne, on Sunday
last, the 12th instant, aged 64 years, Robert Whiles, a well known eccentric
character.”
We are not told the reasons for his reputation but I imagine that he must have
lived and died a happy man.
Thought for the week: Goodness springs from within to cast a warm glow
over all the harsh realities of life. – Paul Johnson writing in The
Spectator, Saturday 22nd April 2006.
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