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Saturday 4th November 2006
Crab apples growing by the roadside near Carlby - see "There
was a time . . . "
Maintenance of the fabric hangs like a millstone around
the neck of all who run our parish churches. There is always work to be done to
keep the buildings in good order but never sufficient funds to foot the bills
yet they still stand for although God may be the inspiration, it is the public
that provides.
The Abbey Church is the town’s only Grade I listed building but is in constant
need of attention and records since it was built in 1138 reveal an ongoing body
of work over the centuries with sporadic periods of major restoration when the
masonry was beginning to show its age.
Little work was done on the fabric of the church after the dissolution of the
monasteries (1536-40) until the late 19th century and since then there have been
successive attempts to maintain and improve the building with money from local
benefactors. One of the most important projects during this period was the
restoration of the west end of the church which was carried out in 1882,
financed mainly by Robert Mason Mills, founder of the famous mineral water firm
based in Bourne, and a brass plate in the church records his generosity.
The work was not completed without incident because on Tuesday 14th February
that year, John Darnes, one of the workmen helping with the alterations on the
west front, was badly hurt. Sections of stonework were being removed to install
three new windows when some of the pieces slipped and fell, smashing part of the
scaffolding where Darnes was standing and he lost his balance although his fall
was broken by planking lower down. A second man saved himself from falling by
hanging on to a protruding pole and escaped unhurt but Darnes suffered extensive
injuries and was away from work for several months.
A second major project was undertaken in 1892 when a new high pitched roof was
installed and the old style box pews replaced. The twin aisles also disappeared
and the floor was lowered and so the church began to take on the appearance that
we see today.
During the 20th century, further projects were carried out to strengthen the
south west tower. These repairs started in the autumn of 1934 after the
stonework had been found to be in a serious condition but the following January,
as the task was progressing, the full extent of the deterioration became
apparent. The architects, Traylen and Lenton of Stamford, said in their survey
report: "The imminence of the danger of collapse was even worse than
anticipated." They also discovered that in the west, south and east faces of the
tower, were four very wide cracks extending from the base mouldings through all
three stages.
An appeal for £2,000 was launched to pay for the restoration work and the entire
tower was encased in scaffolding and immense shores and timbers were built on
concrete bases to counteract any possible movement while the repairs were
carried out. This included washing out the disintegrated rubble core, inserting
metal rods to bond the inner and outer walls, the injection of a water and
cement mixture and the replacement of damaged stonework.
More restoration is now in the pipeline and although grants are expected from
the Historic Churches Preservation Trust and Lincolnshire Old Churches Trust,
further funding will be required and a £100,000 appeal is to be launched in
December to raise the additional finance during the coming year. There are
several priorities for the work in hand, particularly the south aisle roof, an
extension to the north-west corner of the abbey where new facilities are to be
installed, the repair of several windows and guttering, and restoration of the
vestry area.
Work on the roof poses a particular problem because there are bats in the
church that are protected by law and their nesting places may not be disturbed
but after advice from English Nature, the parochial church council is
considering installing bat boxes to protect their habitat.
Parishes depend on voluntary effort and a small band of workers who give their
time freely for the betterment of the Abbey Church are now busy with the details
of the latest restoration and although their efforts will go largely unsung,
those who appreciate this fine building will give thanks for their labours that
will help preserve it for the future.
The old grain warehouse in South Street that has been disused for more
than two decades has been sold and is to be restored for use as residential
accommodation. This is welcome news for that part of town for although the late
18th century red brick building is Grade II listed, continued disuse has
threatened to turn it into an eyesore.
The three-storey warehouse was originally owned by Wherry and Sons Limited, the
old established firm of seed merchants, and in recent years was acquired by a
local businessman but has been standing empty ever since and was put on the
market during the summer with a guide price of £500,000.
It stands opposite the War Memorial gardens in South Street, a prime and
sensitive location within the conservation area, and although the name of the
new owners has not been released, I understand that it has been acquired by a
local firm which plans to develop the warehouse and surrounding site for
housing.
This will need planning permission but there have already been encouraging
meetings with officials from South Kesteven District Council and although there
are many issues yet to be resolved, the town will be very much behind this
scheme that will retrieve a prominent building from possible dereliction and at
the same enhance its appearance with a sympathetic and useful development that
will secure its future.
Your Christmas cheer will come this year courtesy the People’s Republic
of China and although much of it will be festive season dross and throwaway
gewgaws you always have the consolation of the silver wheelie bin for recyclable
rubbish.
A freighter is due to dock at the container terminal at Felixstowe, Suffolk,
today carrying 45,000 tons of gifts and fare, the world’s largest ever single
delivery of Christmas cheer. The quarter-mile long mega ship, MS Emma Maersk,
launched only this summer, left the Chinese port of Yantian in early October
carrying 3,000 containers in the hold, each stuffed with around 14 tons of toys,
games, artificial trees, lights and decorations, for the Christmas market in
Britain. The consignment also includes 1.35 million boxes of crackers and
between now and Christmas Eve, the lot will be snapped up by customers at the
high street shops and carted off home for the annual celebration.
Few families will not buy something that has emanated from China, much of it
from Guangdong province where factories are staffed by predominantly Buddhist
workers who scarcely have any idea of the meaning of Christmas, churning out
baubles and tinsel for the Western market at a relentless pace, making up a
large part of the £16 billion worth of goods exported here last year, a 3,000
per cent increase on 20 years ago.
There is also evidence that prisoners in the country’s jails are forced to work
up to 20 hours a day making Christmas products such as trees and lights, getting
up as early as 4 am and not allowed to rest until the following morning at 1 or
2 am. Their work is based on the theory of absolute economic development with
many prisons, detention centres and labour camps in China making various
products for the global market despite repeated protests from international
human rights organisations.
The Emma Maersk will soon be heading back to China, again fully laden, this time
with waste plastic from Britain and Europe although much of it will be back
again next year in the form of decorations and toys in time for Christmas 2007.
What the local newspapers are saying: The festive season will also be
arriving in Bourne a little earlier this year according to The Local
which reports (November 3rd) that late night shopping is being combined with the
switch on of the Christmas lights to take place outside the Town Hall on Friday
1st December. There will be a Santa’s grotto in the Corn Exchange, a fun fair in
the car park outside, stalls along North Street and community carol singing
before the event. This is almost four weeks before Christmas and at the risk of
being accused of a Scrooge-like attitude, it is far too soon for many to start
spending money they cannot afford. Shopkeepers know this yet they continue to
appeal to the jingle bells mentality but then every day is another dollar even
though it is paid for with plastic money that has not yet been earned.
We should be thankful that this is not Spalding, our near neighbour, because we
learn from the Lincolnshire Free Press (October 31st) that the Christmas
lights were switched on at the Springfields shopping outlet on Thursday 26th
October which must be something of a record and shops will remain open until 9
pm on Thursdays and Fridays throughout December. Just how much money do
retailers think we have? But then shopping appears to have become the new
religion as will be demonstrated by the attendance at Christmas services
throughout the area which is bound to be a poor reflection of the crowds we see
in the shops. Come New Year, many will face the day of reckoning as their credit
card statements start to arrive about the same time the travel operators begin
touting their bargain summer holiday breaks on television and in the newspapers.
Where will this spending all end?
Town councillors grappling with the problem of disabled access to their
discussions are so desperate for a solution that they are seeking help from
Duncan Kerr, chief executive of South Kesteven District Council. The Local
reports (November 3rd) that he is to attend a meeting of the authority on
December 5th to discuss the situation which they have been debating for the past
four years. The council currently meets in the courtroom on the first floor of
the early 19th century Town Hall but this involves climbing stairs which is not
possible by some members of the public who are physically disabled and so
something must be done to accommodate them or move the meetings elsewhere. Mr
Kerr is a highly professional executive with a reputation for efficiency and no
doubt he will recognise the simple logistics of the matter and point our
councillors towards the obvious solution that has been staring them in the face
since this problem first emerged in 2002 by telling them to install a lift.
There was a time when the autumn abundance of our countryside was a
necessary part of our diet without which many large families would have found
life very difficult. At this time of the year, nature’s larder provides a
variety of fruit that can be gathered and preserved for winter use, mainly
blackberries, sloes, hazel nuts and rose hips, that have been the salvation of
the impoverished in past times.
Today, the very effort of walking out to distant hedgerows to collect this
seasonal offering is far to much bother when a trip to the supermarket to stock
the fridge is so much easier.
Seventy years ago, many families on low incomes living in rural areas depended
on this bounty to provide meals throughout the winter and we children were
despatched with baskets and bowls to collect all we could, often walking miles
to find the best on offer. The most popular crop was blackberries because they
could easily be turned into jam that spread on bread would provide tea and
breakfast for hungry mouths in the months ahead and after spending hours over a
newly installed and recalcitrant gas cooker, my mother soon filled the pantry
shelves with jar upon jar of the rich, dark mixture that would last us well into
the new year.
Crab apples had a similar appeal although they are sour to the taste yet when
treated by expert hands produce a jelly of sublime proportions that is always
welcome on any table but despite their culinary appeal, this fruit languishes on
the tree, ignored and untouched, because the very thought of unnecessary labour
sends most housewives rushing down to Sainsburys.
Thought for the week: Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes
every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.
- Elbert Green
Hubbard, U S philosopher, writer and publisher, who went down with the Lusitania
(1856-1915).
Saturday 11th November 2006
The new play area in the Wellhead Field soon after it was
opened in 2002
Seven years ago, a group of parents banded together to
bring much needed play facilities for the very young using the Wellhead Field, a
traditional venue for community activities in Bourne since the 19th century.
After a great deal of hard work, their dream finally became a reality with the
building of a play park for children under the age of six. The Playwell
Committee had spent three years on the task of raising the £32,000 needed for
the project which was officially opened in May 2002. The money came from many
fund raising events such as craft fairs and car boot sales and was supplemented
by grants from the local authorities, but it would not have materialised without
the persistence of committee chairman, Mrs Theresa Dimbleby, who began the
campaign and was appropriately asked to cut a ribbon at the opening.
Since then, the amenity has offered boys and girls a safe and secure space to
play, fenced in within the existing park area and equipped with a variety of
attractions including a slide, a climb, cradle swings, playhouse, picnic
benches, rubberised surfaces to help prevent nasty falls and seating for the
mums and dads who go along.
But all has not been well in recent months and many parents now feel it is
unsafe to allow their children use the facilities that this dedicated band spent
so much time in achieving. There have been complaints this week that the area is
regularly sprinkled with broken glass, litter and discarded cans which pose a
real hazard to young lives with the result that many are now installing their
own play equipment in their back gardens to ensure that their children have a
safer and more secure environment.
Regular checks of the area have been carried out in the past but now there is no
supervision and the play area is in danger of being left to deteriorate. The yob
element in our society will be blamed but in this case, the authorities also
appear to be equally responsible because regular monitoring has been abandoned.
The Playwell Committee has handed over responsibility to South Kesteven District
Council which leases the play area from Bourne United Charities which in turn
has jurisdiction over the Wellhead Field. Both organisations need to check on
their security and maintenance arrangements to ensure that they are adequate for
the safety of those who use this amenity for the good of our community. This is
not only their job but also their duty to the public.
The council announced this week that covert surveillance is planned to catch
householders who leave their rubbish out for collection too early in the week
and that offenders will be liable for a fine of £100. This is an indication that
the authority has the power and the resources to police the services under its
control and the public has every right to expect that this supervision be
extended to the Wellhead Gardens to ensure that
children come to no harm while playing in an area for which it is responsible.
Scaffolding has gone up on the western wall of the Methodist Church in
Abbey Road, yet another sign of the work that needs to be done to keep our
ancient buildings in good order. Last week, I revealed that a public appeal for
£100,000 is about to be launched to pay for repairs to the Abbey Church, our
only Grade I listed building, and now the Methodist Church is also in need of
attention, although the work will not be quite so extensive.
A leak was recently found in the roof with water seeping through into the
interior and although the repair and remedial work required is minimal, exterior
access was difficult and has required the erection of scaffolding and so what
began as a small problem will leave the church with a large bill for around
£8,000.
The Methodist Church is Grade II listed, erected in 1841 at a cost of £1,200, a
reflection of the declining value of sterling in the past two centuries. The work
was carried out by Thomas Pilkington, a Scotsman who had settled in Bourne, and
was opened the following year. In 1854, the chapel was registered as a Place of
Religious Worship and authorised for the solemnisation of marriages on 9th July
1862.
As with the Abbey Church, there has been a continuous programme of improvement,
notably in 1877 when the old pulpit was removed in favour of a modern platform
and the pews replaced by open seats. There was also major restoration in 1891
involving the roof, the ceiling and walls, much of the work being carried out by
voluntary labour.
Between 1958 and 1965 there were further alterations, mainly the addition of the
present schoolroom and church hall which was built on the site of the original
chapel and during the opening ceremony, an inscribed stone bearing the date 1812
was unveiled to remember the year when it was built at a cost of £200.
The final bill for these changes was around £9,000 and the debt was not cleared
until two years later but there were more problems to come. In 1988, surveyors
who checked the building found it unsafe. Close inspection revealed that the now
famous classical frontage with its huge Doric pilasters had a tilt of six inches
and the movement had affected the roof that, surprisingly, was made of
corrugated asbestos. A report from consultant structural engineers said: "The
chapel is in a potentially dangerous condition. The lateral movement of the
southern wall has affected the roof. All main frames have been displaced and are
significantly out of vertical. Action to restore the church to a safe condition
for long-term worship will be an expensive operation. It is very difficult to be
precise about the extent of this work without a more detailed study but the
costs at this stage are estimated at between £50,000 and £100,000, plus VAT."
The report alarmed church trustees who immediately applied to South Kesteven
District Council for permission to demolish the chapel and build a new one
elsewhere. The minister, the Rev Kenneth Town, said: "We are very attached to
this building but Bourne is changing rapidly and we want to change with it. The
church is people and we want a church for tomorrow and not for yesterday. If we
repair the building, we want to do it thoroughly in order that future
generations of worshippers will not find themselves in the same predicament."
But the application was refused. The council ruled that all listed buildings
should be preserved and that the answer to the church's predicament was repair
rather than demolition. The case went to appeal but the council's decision was
upheld by the Department of the Environment which was later revealed to be a
fortuitous decision because the chapel was subsequently repaired and refurbished
at a cost of £300,000 and remains in use to this day.
The latest problem is small in comparison and the minister, the Rev Colin
Martin, assures me that all will be back to normal within a few weeks. But
further major changes are in the offing and the final details are now being
worked out between church officials and the architects to ensure that the
building is continually maintained and improved and to remain a central point
for non-conformist worship in this town as it has been for the past two
centuries.
What the local newspapers are saying: On Sunday 22nd October, we were out
for an evening walk when we noticed water gushing up through a large crack in
the pavement along the cul-de-sac in Northfields, just off Mill Drove. This was
obviously a burst main which was reported to Anglian Water by residents who
expected it to be sealed on the Monday morning but The Local says that
it was not and despite promises that it would be repaired within five working
days, by Monday 30th October the entire roadway had been flooded (November
10th).
Water was therefore running to waste for more than eight days and using the
water authority’s own estimates that a garden sprinkler consumes 200 gallons an
hour, as much as a family of four does in two days, and that it was streaming
out of this hole at more than twice that rate, we can calculate that around
100,000 gallons were lost. Anglian Water replied to the delay with the following
explanation to the newspaper: “The leak was surveyed and given its small size
and the fact that it was not affecting any customer’s supply, it was prioritised
below other repairs and leaks that needed more urgent attention. It would have
been fixed under this very effective system of prioritisation within ten days of
the survey. It is unfortunate that in the meantime, the burst became bigger and
therefore more urgent but it was then dealt with very rapidly.”
The statement from Anglian Water is particularly disturbing because it infers
that burst mains are not repaired on Saturdays and Sundays, only on weekdays,
yet water from fractured pipes observes no timetable and runs to waste round the
clock. The authority also constantly urges home owners to save supplies by not
leaving the tap running when brushing your teeth, using a bowl to clean
vegetables, keeping a jug in the fridge for drinking, fixing dripping taps
immediately, economising with toilets and kitchen appliances, and, most
importantly, checking for leaks on a regular basis. Yet on this evidence, it is
not the consumer but Anglian Water itself who is the real culprit for wasting
water and when asked for an explanation, tries to cover up its inefficiency with
semantic nonsense.
There is speculation in the Stamford Mercury that Westfield Primary
School is to be relocated to new premises at Elsea Park, the massive 2,000-home
residential estate now under construction on the southern outskirts of the town
(November 10th). Discussions are at an early stage but there are favourable
signs from Lincolnshire County Council that such a move may well be realised
within a few years and has been welcomed by both parents and staff at the
600-pupil school. It will also bring a sigh of relief to those living around the
school where streets are crammed with vehicles twice a day during term time as
parents ferry their children to and from school, jamming roads and driveways and
creating such congestion that an accident is likely on any day.
If the move does go ahead, there are fears that the existing school premises may
be demolished and the land snapped up by developers and used for housing whereas
it is largely a greenfield site and would be far more beneficial to the
surrounding estate if it were retained as such.
The arrival of the wheelie bins is producing an unexpected benefit for
the social commentator by providing information about the habits of our
neighbours. We have discovered, for instance, that those who like to sleep late
put their bins out the evening before collection day because South Kesteven
District Council insists that they must be at the kerbside by 7.30 am. Husbands
who leave for work before that can be heard trundling their bins out as early as
6 am and it has not been unknown to see a housewife in her dressing gown rushing
out pushing the bin before her because both have forgotten what day it is.
The green bins for garden waste are still being emptied on alternate Tuesdays
and this extra collection day is throwing many households into total disarray.
When the truck arrived this week a little earlier than usual, many were caught
unawares and for a few moments there was an undignified flurry of activity along
the street as side gates opened and green bins were pushed to the kerbside by
husbands and some wives still in their night attire as they rushed to conform
with the council’s collection schedule. The new wheelie bin system may
eventually work well but the logistics will take some time for suburbia to
become totally accustomed and we may well see further scenes of dishabille
before habit kicks in.
Thought for the week: Be wiser than other people if you can but do not
tell them so. - Lord Chesterfield, the 4th earl, English statesman and
diplomat (1694-1773).
Saturday 18th November 2006
Householders queuing to dump rubbish at the Rainbow car park
in 2001
The waste recycling
centre off Pinfold Lane must be the
busiest place in Bourne, especially at weekends when householders are clearing their properties of garden refuse and other unwanted domestic detritus
and on Sunday morning the long queue of cars around midday meant a lengthy wait
but also demonstrated the ongoing need for such a public amenity.
It is therefore difficult to believe that we had to wait for this facility for
20 years yet the town could not now do without it. In those days, the only place
to dump excess household waste was a mobile skip that called once a fortnight at
the old cattle market site, now Budgens’ car park, and anyone turning up on a
Saturday morning had to take their turn because there was always a queue. Some
people therefore got into the habit of leaving their waste the night before yet
even these acts of desperation did not filter through to those who run our
affairs and when the site switched to the Rainbow car park, the situation became
even worse despite the frequency of the freighter collections being increased to
weekly.
The population of Bourne was growing and the queues were getting longer yet
everyone had to stand in line to chuck their bags and sundry items into the
yawning chasm at the back of the lorry and if you had brought more than you
could carry in one load then you had to go back to the car time and time again
to fetch it. A wait of twenty minutes or more to dispose of a heavy load was not
unknown and it was inevitable that tempers were frayed and piles of rubbish
often left behind by impatient householders while fly tipping abounded in the
countryside.
In December 1998, this column began campaigning for a permanent site but it was
to be more than four years before our councillors finally grasped the nettle.
The waste centre opened in May 2002, operating on a weekday basis, and the
following September the hours were extended to seven days a week throughout the
year. Today, with someone chucking rubbish into the various skips at all times,
it is impossible to understand why it took so long or how we could now do
without it.
The truth about the microchips in our wheelie bins has finally been
revealed by South Kesteven District Council in the latest issue of Sktoday,
the information guide delivered free to all households in Bourne (Winter 2006).
In a masterpiece of understatement, the article says that “There’s been quite
some coverage about the chip and bin issue so perhaps the time is right to state
the simple facts of the matter” and many people will be wondering why it took
them so long.
“By law, councils cannot charge for collecting rubbish”, says the article and
then goes on to describe in detail that the chips are there to permit each bin
to be identified and its contents weighed and without them the system will break
down. This will help the authority meet government targets for recycling and
enable it identify those streets, estates and villages where advice is needed to
increase output. The information can also help streamline the entire collection
system by recording the average bin weights per street, how many bins will fill
the vehicle, the length of the round and how near the truck is to the disposal
site when full.
The gathering of this information is quite acceptable to most people and we
wonder why the council did not explain it to homeowners in the first place
rather than deliberately suppress the existence of microchips and their purpose,
even from the majority of its own councillors, and then try to cover up the
omission with bluff and humbug.
The article also warns that if the chips are removed then the bins cannot be
emptied, such action being construed as wilful damage to council property and
here the council appears to be offering an olive branch to a notorious wheelie
bin rebel who did extract them as a protest and is suffering the consequences of
a collection boycott as a result because the article adds: “We’ll replace bins
at cost should someone reconsider their actions.”
By the end of the article, the writer goes totally OTT with the mission to
explain, because he (or she) tells us: “We want to do our bit in saving the
planet and making it a better world for the children of the future.” Just
remember that next time you dump your latest load of recyclable cans, bottles
and newspapers into your silver wheelie. Perhaps the council should have
programmed the chips to say thank you for helping to halt global warming and
world terrorism.
What the local newspapers are saying: Hard on the heels of the wheelie
bin fiasco comes another public relations disaster for South Kesteven District
Council with a front page report in The Local revealing that a staggering
73% of tenants voted against the proposed sale of council houses to a new
housing association (November 17th). The result of the four-week postal ballot
was a resounding rejection of the transfer which would have ended a century-old
tradition of council house provision for the less well off.
SKDC has 6,300 houses and flats, 535 of them in Bourne, and it was proposed to
sell them at well below market prices to the newly created South Lincolnshire
Homes which would then shift the responsibility of bringing them up to the
government’s Decent Homes Standard over the next five years to the new
organisation. The mere fact that a vote was held is an indication of how out of
touch the council is with its tenants yet it went ahead with the ill-advised
venture, spending a great deal of public money in the process in an attempt to
sway the vote in its favour with road shows, glossy brochures and even a DVD.
The Local says that the council spent an estimated £600,000 on the
consultation and voting procedure yet it was reported last year that the cost
would be £1 million (Stamford Mercury, 23rd September 2005), although the
final figure
may well be much higher. Wiser counsel would have ensured that such a large sum
be used to a greater advantage by investing it on improving the houses and flats under its control
but instead, many will regard the money as being squandered.
Yet another major shopping development is on the way for Bourne with a report in
the Lincolnshire Free Press that the Anglia Regional Co-operative Society
is to press ahead with plans for a new retail park on the corner of South Road
and Cherryholt Road to include a supermarket, DIY store, three other retail
units and parking for 365 cars (November 14th). The site is currently occupied
by Opico, the agricultural machinery suppliers, which will relocate elsewhere in
the town. The Co-op claims that the retailers they are hoping to sign up to take
space would be a different type to those who might be attracted to the new town
centre development which in any case is now two years behind schedule. The
existing Rainbow store in Manning Road will move to the new supermarket premises
and that site will be used for new housing, as if we did not know.
An election will be held on Thursday to fill a vacant seat on Bourne Town
Council created by the unexpected departure of long-serving councillor John
Kirkman who has represented Bourne East since 1979.
There are two candidates, Mark Horn, 44, a barrister and member of Lincolnshire
County Council, and Mrs Brenda Johnson, 51, warden at the Meadow Close sheltered
housing complex for old people. The town council is traditionally non-political
and although the party loyalties of both candidates are not a secret, the theory
is that they will be elected on their personal appeal to the electorate and what
benefits we may expect by voting them into office.
This election has attracted a great deal of discussion in the town because it
was hoped that more and younger candidates would come forward, particularly in
view of the outspoken views about the conduct of local affairs that have been
given media space in recent months, but it takes courage to stand and a
conviction that you can do some good and so, once again, it has been left to the
few.
Unfortunately, this apathy may also be reflected in the polls on Thursday for
although the election is costing the town council £3,500, it is quite likely
that the turnout will be extremely low, far lower in fact than that for the
local council elections in May 2003 when fewer than 30% of those eligible
bothered to vote for candidates seeking seats on South Kesteven District Council
while there was no vote at all for the 15 vacancies on Bourne Town Council
because only 14 nominations were received and so all those who put their names
forward were returned unopposed, mostly the old guard that has become firmly
entrenched in the council chamber. Such is the price of democracy.
There have been suggestions from some colleagues that if Councillor Kirkman had
held back his resignation until the local government elections next May, there
need not have been a contest and the town council would have saved the expense
of a by-election. It is also ironic that it was he who voiced the concern` of
many at the uncontested seats at the local government elections in May 2003
because he summed up this sad situation with a particularly apt observation when
he told The Local newspaper (Friday 4th April): "Over the years, people
criticise councillors but when the opportunity to make a difference at an
election presents itself, then no-one comes forward. It rather ruins the
democratic process."
Shop watch: Woolworths in North Street has reorganised its sweets section
and some old favourites are no longer available. Unable to find our regular
weekend treats on Saturday, we headed for Sweet Sensations in the Angel Precinct
for the first time and once inside, found a cornucopia of confectionery delights
to suit even the most discerning, the shelves filled with large jars containing
a wide variety of tempting candies and caramels, chocolates and butterscotch,
liquorice and nougat, all sold by weight and reminiscent of the sweet shops of
yesteryear. We can recommend the lemon sherbets and squares of rum and raisin
fudge which we chose for our accompaniment to an evening of television, both of
which have disappeared from the pick-and-mix at Woolies. There is something to
suit every taste, the prices are competitive and the service by the young lady
weighing out the bonbons and serving them in small paper bags informative,
cheerful and quite delightful.
The tarte au citron sold by Sainsburys won the Taste Test in The Times magazine
on Saturday 4th November 2006 with the following description: “The base has a
crunchy crispness, the texture of the filling is smooth and dense and, vitally,
it really tastes of lemon.” Price £2.46 and as it beat Prince Charles’ Duchy
Original at £3.99 into sixth place (Urgh!) it appeared to be an invitation to
try it. But on arriving at Sainsburys in Exeter Street on Saturday, we found it
priced at £3.29, almost £1 more than advertised and so we pointed this out to
the price check supervisor who is located near the tills, remembering of course
to take the newspaper cutting along with us as evidence. She agreed and nodded
our tart through the checkout at £2.46 although those remaining on the shelves
(we checked) were still priced at £3.29. The moral here is that all items of
shopping from whichever outlet should be closely monitored because many people
in Bourne who have recently bought a tarte au citron from this supermarket have
paid nearly 30% above the recommended price and if it happens at Sainsburys then
it happens elsewhere.
Thought for the week: Consumers pay for packaging twice. For every £50
spent on food by the average household, £8 goes towards packaging. Consumers
then pay again for the disposal of that packaging through their council tax.
- report from the Daily Mail, Thursday 16th November 2006.
Saturday 25th November 2006
The BRM P25 built in 1958
One of the famous championship BRM racing cars built at
Bourne half a century ago has been put up for sale with a price tag of
almost £1 million.
The P25 model from the golden age of Formula One motor racing was produced at
the workshops in Spalding Road during the summer of 1958 with a 2.5 litre four
cylinder engine and finished in racing green and was completed in time to cross
the channel for Reims to take part in the French Grand Prix on July 6th.
Harry Schell was given the car for its first race and was placed sixth but
later, with the Swedish driver Jo Bonnier at the wheel, the P25 became famous
for winning the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix and subsequently carried the BRM colours
until the Goodwood International 100 race in April 1960 which heralded the end
of the front engine era. In all, it took part in 14 grand prix and other
international events on world circuits including Britain, France, Italy,
Morocco, Holland, Germany, Portugal and Argentina.
After the end of its competitive life, P25 was returned to Bourne and restored
before being used for promotional purposes from 1960 onwards. But in 1981,
following the death of the BRM founder Raymond Mays, the company was closed down
and its entire stock sold and the car was bought by the Honourable Amschel
Rothschild and raced successfully for the next twenty years. After his death in
2001, it passed into the ownership of noted historic racer and display pilot
Spencer Flack and he used it for various events until losing his life while
racing in Australia and so the car has been put on the market by a specialist
firm at Bradford in Yorkshire with a reserve price of £995,000.
This would be the perfect chance for Bourne to acquire one of the celebrated
cars that made this town famous. We even have somewhere to put it on display,
the Heritage Centre at Baldock’s Mill in South Street where the life and times
of Raymond Mays (1899-1980) is celebrated by a Memorial Room containing the
magnificent array of silver trophies won during his career. Unfortunately, this
is but a pipe dream for motor racing aficionados because finding the £1 million
necessary for such an investment will be well nigh impossible.
What the local newspapers are saying: Money left to this town by the late
Len Pick (1909-2004), farmer and businessman, is already being distributed to
good effect because The Local reports that Bourne Town Football Club has
received sufficient funds to open a new clubhouse that has appropriately been
named after its benefactor who was also a lifelong supporter (November 24th). He
bequeathed £100,000 towards improving facilities at the Abbey Lawn where the
club plays its matches and this has helped finance the new building which has
been supplemented with a £20,000 loan from the Football Association and will
replace the old clubhouse that was built in 1969. A match between Bourne and
Peterborough United marked the opening which also included a tribute to a former
Bourne player who died in a road accident and whose name will be remembered with
the Kevin Morris Bar.
The Grade II listed Greyhound at Folkingham which was placed on the list of
buildings at risk by English Heritage earlier this year will be saved after all.
The Stamford Mercury says that a Peterborough firm, Taylor Developments,
has bought the former coaching inn for £300,000 and plans to spend a further £1
million on turning the building into a dozen one and two-bedroom luxury
apartments (November 24th). This is welcome news for conservationists who feared
for the future of the once elegant Queen Anne property which has been standing
empty for some years and it is now obviously in the right hands because the new
owners have acknowledged the need for a sensitive conversion while preserving
the exterior appearance and the many historic interior features. A planning
application is now being prepared and work is expected to start in the spring.
A relic from the railway age may now be under threat with the news that Toft tunnel
near Bourne has been closed to the public. The Local carries photographs
of it sealed off with iron fencing and notices warning of the danger from
falling masonry (November 24th). The tunnel was opened in 1893 as part of the
rail link between the Midlands and East Anglia but the line was closed in 1959
and in 1993 became part of a nature reserve administered by Lincolnshire
Wildlife Trust, so providing a renewed interest in the surrounding wildlife
corridor through its abundance of flora and fauna. The interior brickwork in the
tunnel has become unsafe through continued neglect and as the closure comes
within a few weeks of a decision by the British Rail Board to demolish the old
bridge over the Bourne to Essendine line at Carlby, there is a suspicion that
this is the prelude to pulling down this spectacular reminder from the hey-day
of the Victorian steam age.
The town council is asking Lincolnshire County Council to improve the
street lights along a dark path between Hereward Street and Recreation Road in
Bourne, an indication that our highways need to be illuminated at night for the
safety of the townspeople. But it was not always so for although today we take
our street lighting for granted, it dates only from the late 19th century and
began with gas as the power supply.
The town's gasworks were opened in 1840 but it took some years before it was
used to light the streets. In 1878, new and much larger mains were laid as far
as the Market Place where a junction was formed with the old mains, thereby
affording consumers a more adequate supply. By 1878, coal gas was not only being
used for heating and lighting in homes, shops and business premises, but also
for the streets and there were 56 public incandescent gas lamps at various
points around the town.
Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire reported in 1885: "The town consists
principally of four streets diverting from the Market Place, all remarkably
clean and lighted with gas." In February 1898, the parish council, who footed
the bill for street lighting, asked the gas company to ensure that the lamps
were lit on every dark evening and that they were left on all night on Saturdays
and Sundays.
Outlying areas of the parish had to wait much longer for a gas supply and it was
not until 1934 that the service was extended to Dyke when Bourne Urban District
Council laid a mains pipe to the village from Bourne and the streets were
lighted with gas lamps for the first time, the switching on taking place on
Saturday 1st September. Until then, twelve oil lamp standards had been used for
illuminating the highways but these appliances were replaced by gas burners and
the number reduced to nine because their increased brilliance required fewer of
them. The old system of lighting and extinguishing the lamps by hand was also
abolished in favour of an automatic clock system that switched them on at night
and off in the morning.
The gasworks closed in 1957 but by then, electricity had taken over the power
supply for street lighting and by the close of the century, most had
been switched to the fluorescent system that we have today.
The members of Bourne Choral Society are in full voice practising
Messiah, the Handel oratorio that has become a concert warhorse for amateur
groups ever since it was first performed in Dublin more than 250 years ago. This
is public entertainment at its very best for not only are we able to listen to
great music and a libretto selected from the scriptures, but also sample the
enthusiasm of a dramatic musical and religious presentation by singers anxious
to give their best to an audience on their home ground, usually within the
hallowed walls of the local church.
Bourne Choral Society has been associated with this town since the 19th century
when like-minded citizens were also giving regular performances to entertain
although a varied programme of Victorian drawing room ballads and instrumental
solos were more popular then than oratorio is today.
On Tuesday 23rd May 1882, for instance, the society gave its annual grand
evening concert at the Corn Exchange with music and song that delighted a packed
audience. Among the items were a pianoforte duet, Hungarian Dances, played by
Miss Bell and Mr Lewis; a part song, The Vikings, and Come into the Garden Maud,
sung by Mr Dunkereton; a duet, Una Sera d’Amore, sung by the Misses Farebrother;
a song, Ehren on the Rhine, sung by Miss Maud Farebrother; violin solo, Gerard’s
Sonata in F, by Mr Bertollé; the song When the heart is young by Miss Bell; the
song Tom Bowling by Mr Dunkerton and an encore How to ask and have; Anderton’s
Cantata The wreck of the Hesperus performed by the Choral Society, the solos
being taken by Miss Hobson, Mr Dunkerton, Mr Belton and Mr Stubley; the song
Some day sung by Miss Maud Farebrother together with an encore Mistress Prue; a
part song, You stole my love, by the Choral Society; the song Goodnight beloved
by Mr Dunkerton and an encore, Pretty Jane; a trio, Memory, by the Misses
Farebrother and Miss Bell; and finally a ballad by Mr Lewis followed by God save
the Queen.
The concert was a tremendous success and the following Friday, the Stamford
Mercury reported:
The singing of Mr Dunkerton, who is
principal tenor at Lincoln Cathedral, was especially worthy of praise and was
received with tremendous applause. Mr Dunkerton has a splendid compass of voice
together with a remarkable sweetness of tone which is rarely excelled and which
was shown to special advantage in his rendering of Tom Bowling. The concert
throughout was of a highly interesting character, the choruses by the society
fully maintaining the reputation obtained by Mr Lewis as a conductor, and
considering the small number of members, Mr Lewis is to be congratulated upon
his success.
The present Bourne Choral Society was known as the Abbey Consort
for a spell between 1980 and 2002 when it reverted to the old established name.
The present Director of Music is Malcolm Smith and the accompanist Liz Murphy
and there are 20 singers, although numbers have been as high as thirty and the
search is always on for new talent. The society sings for evensong at
Peterborough Cathedral once a year and also presents annual concerts in the town
around Easter, in midsummer and at Christmas, this year‘s seasonal presentation
being Messiah with orchestra, organ and soloists in the church at 7.30 pm on
Saturday 2nd December when it is certain that the production will be as
enthusiastically received as it was in years past, an indication that music
making is still alive and well in our town.
Message from abroad: This is an absolutely beautiful web site, the
photographs are wonderful and the navigation is quite simple. I feel as if I
could just step through the screen and visit. Excellent job! - email from
Elizabeth Bourn, Oregon, USA, Sunday 19th November 2006.
Thought for the week: Gritting lorries that keep our roads safe in winter
weather were blessed during a service at the county council highways depot at
Thurlby, near Bourne, on Monday. Afterwards, Paul Elliott of Lincolnshire
Christian Police Association, said: “This initiative is unique to Lincolnshire
and is the fourth time it has been taken, having begun because of the appalling
toll of deaths and other casualties on roads around the county. Since we have
been doing this blessing, road casualties have gone down by 41%.”
- report
from The Local newspaper, Friday 24th November 2006.
Note: Photograph of the BRM P25
courtesy
Speedmaster Cars,
Bradford, Yorkshire
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