Bourne Diary - April 2009

Saturday 4^th April 2009

The restoration of the Ostler memorial by the town council is a commendable effort but one that raises questions over the future of all our old buildings. The Victorian drinking fountain in the town cemetery has been in the care of the authority since it was formed in 1974 yet despite being in a parlous state for many years, nothing was done until it was listed Grade II in July 2007 by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on the recommendation of English Heritage who made an inspection and decided that it was at risk.

The restoration has been, for local government, a speedy project in that it was completed within two years, and fairly reasonably, the cost being £9,000, of which £3,000 came in a grant from Lincolnshire County Council. Why then has the council dragged its heels over the other Grade II listed building in its care, the Victorian cemetery chapel for which it has similar responsibilities? Instead, councillors voted to pull it down and then, after a public outcry, reluctantly agreed to hand over the building to volunteers to do the work for them although Bourne Preservation Society has yet to make a final commitment by signing the lease.

The answer is, of course, money. The architectural and historic merits of the building appear to be of no concern to those who run our affairs. The bill for the Ostler memorial can easily be paid out of the cemetery development fund whereas the estimated £400,000 required to repair the chapel represents the entire council budget for the next four years and would therefore be an unthinkable expenditure. Similar scenarios are being enacted in all levels of government and with those organisations that administer our ancient buildings and it is those who run them who will decide if exorbitant costs on ongoing maintenance or vital repairs are a worthwhile alternative to demolition.

These problems have become more acute as the years go by and now, with the present economic recession, will be a major factor in deciding whether a listed property will survive but current experience does not auger well for the future. Our heritage may therefore become a victim of the gross inefficiency and unashamed greed in banking and elsewhere that has brought us to this lowly point in our recent history.

What the local newspapers are saying: Both of our main local newspapers carry a letter from the clerk to Bourne Town Council, Mrs Nelly Jacobs, putting the record straight on several issues that have been misunderstood and even misreported in recent weeks, a sad commentary on the lack of communication between the local authority and the public (March 27th). The issues she raises deal with the repair of the mayoral chain, grants to the Butterfield Centre, allowances for councillors and progress on handing over the cemetery chapel to the Bourne Preservation Society, all of which have featured in recent editions yet many people seem to have got hold of the wrong end of the stick.

Mrs Jacobs puts them right in no uncertain terms but we cannot help wondering why she is doing this rather than our fifteen nominated councillors. Unfortunately, most of them are reluctant to engage in public debate, being content to attend the odd council meeting and not even participate in the Bourne Forum, the lively discussion group dealing with our affairs on this web site which attracts 2,000 visitors a week, a golden opportunity for them to explain and give their views yet apart from a couple of notable exceptions, contributions from them are as rare as the proverbial snowballs in May.

Her letter to The Local and the Stamford Mercury highlights one of the problems that has created this situation because it says that the council would welcome more participation by members of the public who are invited to attend all meetings of the council and its committees and the point is well taken. Equally, we would prefer similar involvement from those councillors who totally ignore a facility literally at their finger tips which provides an opportunity to address and explain and at the same time break down the barrier that has sprung up between them and the people.

Unfortunately, many councillors seem to think that election to office sets them apart from their fellow man and they remain aloof from the crowd, shunning public discussion and debate, and it is the divide so created that causes the misunderstandings currently under review and which require the attention of their clerk to put right.

The protection of our heritage from intrusion by urban and rural expansion is a primary duty of our local authorities but one that is continually ignored as the requirements of developers are too frequently given precedence for controversial building schemes over objections by local people who see valuable reminders of their historic past jeopardised by unsightly intrusions.

The evidence is that those councils which control the planning regulations usually favour commercial and residential projects from the outset, no matter where they are sited, even though they themselves are responsible for the conservation areas and listed buildings within their districts yet the very terms under which they exist are frequently flouted in favour of the developers. There are many instances in and around Bourne with the result that old buildings particularly are now seen as a nuisance and likely to impede progress which in this instance has become a euphemism for making money, whether to capitalise on land or to approve new buildings that will bring more council tax into the coffers.

I started photographing the locality over ten years ago, defining my area to that within a ten mile radius of Bourne, thus embracing the town itself and some sixty villages and hamlets, a formidable challenge now completed. But many of the scenes I captured at the beginning have been changed forever and so I have determined that this summer I would repeat the exercise to discover just how much we have lost and the early spring weather of recent days prompted us to begin our quest.

Our first trip included Haconby which has the smallest galleried chapel of worship in England, a tiny building rather resembling an outhouse yet of tremendous historic interest and mentioned in most guide books and by South Kesteven District Council in its tourist information, most recently in its latest newsletter sktoday which is distributed to 58,000 householders in its area, the issue for February/March containing a photo feature on the village which includes a lengthy item singing the praises of the chapel. But to our dismay, we found that in the decade since I last photographed this unusual building, the council has granted planning permission for a housing development to the rear, thus destroying the visual impact of what has quite clearly become a tourist attraction.

The chapel was built in 1867 and is only 24 ft long and a mere 13 ft 6 in wide. It was originally intended to seat only 100 people on the ground floor but it was clearly too small because it was finished 18 inches shorter in width than was originally planned. The builder admitted that he was at fault and when told that he must remedy the error, he made up for the lost seating room by adding two galleries facing each other. They were so close together that worshippers could actually shake hands with each other if they so wished.

It was built of red brick and blue slate in the main street on a piece of land owned by Mr W Brown, Senior, the site being in the far corner of the grounds of the house where he lived and a brown plaque with white lettering over the door records his philanthropy. The chapel was originally used by the United Baptists and the Primitive Methodists, both non-conformist religious groups with a strong working class bias, but after thirty years, around 1899, the Baptists took it over completely. A peppercorn rent of £1 a year was paid to Mr Brown and later to his son, but when he died on 21st July 1932, his estate, including the chapel, was put up for sale.

The solicitors handling his affairs did not agree with the view that the chapel had been intended as a gift to the village and the auction sale of the property, held at the Angel Hotel in Bourne, was held up for fifteen minutes by discussion and argument over the issue. In the end, the chapel was withdrawn from sale on the condition that £50 was paid to secure the building for permanent ownership. The people of Haconby managed to raise the money and the chapel has been in public use ever since.

One would have imagined that this historic pedigree would have ensured some protection from encroaching residential development but the planners appear to have ignored this factor completely when making their decision. As a result, the chapel which was once isolated in a rural setting surrounded by trees now has the appearance of being hemmed in on the edge of a housing estate while the red brick wall at the front has been partly demolished to make way for the driveway to one of the houses. Planning applications should be subjected to the closest scrutiny and even when passed by council officers need the approval of individual councillors and we wonder just how many of those involved in this particular scheme actually went to Haconby to take a look at the effect new housing would have on the appearance of this unique building.

As our local authorities become less reliable for delivering public services, we would be advised to follow some of the principals of self-help proffered by eminent Victorians such as Samuel Smiles (1812-1904), author and social reformer, who was dedicated to the theory that advancement and change could only be achieved by one’s own efforts.

In a country where most activities were controlled by state and church, this was a radical assessment for the time and of course his thoughts were largely intended for government and politicians but the self-improvement he espoused can be equally beneficial today in much humbler circumstances where inactivity may mean a total denial of intended objectives. A contributor to the Bourne Forum, for instance, has been complaining that those responsible, whether it be the council or the developers, have neglected to trim the grass on a playground area in Betjeman Way, thus making it unusable by the children of the neighbourhood, and another contributor has wisely suggested that he get out the mower and do it himself.

There is another similar unkempt play area between Northfields and Stephenson Way, a parcel of grassland left over by the developers thirty years ago when the lush meadows to the west of North Road were enveloped by bricks and mortar to create the housing estate and since equipped with swings, a slide, bench and safety surface, and all enclosed with railings, but frequently in need of attention. Last year, local residents hoped to get a grant from a £1 million funding scheme for such projects announced by Lincolnshire County Council but with seven district councils chasing the money to spend on their own similar amenities there was little chance of success and with a dozen houses in the immediate vicinity, it would have been much quicker and simpler if the people who lived there organised a weekend gang of helpers and equipment to do the job and then drew up a rota for maintenance to be carried out on a regular basis.

Facilities that are neglected may well be lost because complaining is likely to prove fruitless while grumbling is as defeatist as the unfounded optimism that someone else will do the work. In the present financial climate, we can no longer depend on our councils as we did in the past while many developers cannot be trusted to deliver everything that has been promised and so the answer might be to roll up our sleeves and tackle the job ourselves.

Thought for the week: Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison (1847-1931), American inventor and businessman who developed many devices that have greatly influenced life around the world.

Saturday 11^th April 2009

Traders have warned that the weekly market in Bourne will close unless more people use it, a stark reminder of the changing conditions in the retail trade and perhaps, the current recession. A front page article in the Stamford Mercury appeals for more support from shoppers to ensure the continuance of this much loved amenity (April 3rd).

But the assertion that the market "has been going on for about 30 years" is incorrect. It has been held in Bourne for more than seven centuries under a charter granted by Edward I in 1279, and the original document is now preserved in the British Museum. The stalls were originally situated in the streets of the town centre, then known as the market place, latterly along the kerbside in North Street and West Street, but moved to its present location at a purpose built paved area behind the Town Hall in 1990 because increasing traffic flows were putting shoppers at risk.

The number of traders fluctuated during the 20th century with as many as 60 stalls in 1921 occupying a frontage of 225 yards and business on Saturdays continuing until late at night. In fact, trading was so brisk and noisy that residents living in the vicinity complained and the Marquess of Exeter, who then owned the market rights and collected the tolls, imposed a curfew and ordered that all stalls should be taken down on Saturday nights by 10 pm. However, in the years following the Second World War of 1939-45 numbers began to decline in direct comparison with the popularity of the supermarket and the changing pattern of shopping and since 1980 around 25 stallholders has been the average but despite forecasts on many occasions that the market would be forced to close when support waned, it has always managed to struggle on.

Although the future does look bleak in the current economic climate, it would be inconceivable that an ancient institution such as Bourne market might suddenly disappear but then we live in changing times and all retail outlets, no matter how well established, now depend entirely on competition, convenience and public appeal and cannot expect to survive on tradition alone.

The chief executive of South Kesteven District Council, Duncan Kerr, has departed after five years in the job yet the local authority prefers not to issue a statement giving the reasons why. The news surfaced with an item on the Stamford Mercury web site this week (April 7th) which referred to his “sudden departure” and “shock exit” and by the weekend all of our local newspapers were giving the event wide coverage but still no detailed explanation.

Mr Kerr made a controversial decision last year to take five months off for a cycle tour through Europe and Scandinavia, an absence which was endorsed by councillors although it found little favour with the public, the majority opinion being that if the authority could function adequately without him for such a long period then his presence was not as important as had been imagined. Whether this has anything to do with his abrupt exodus we do not know.

A special meeting was held at the council offices in Grantham on Monday afternoon to which the press and public were excluded and the only statement issued afterwards said that Mr Kerr was leaving that day “to take his life in a new direction”. This is far from satisfactory, especially as we are not being told why he is not working out his notice according to his contract or whether he will receive any financial remuneration for his departure. All of these issues are of importance yet councillors have decided that the 58,000 people who pay council tax will not be given the reason why someone with a salary of £96,000 a year is no longer in office.

This is a misguided decision and one that will lead to speculation and gossip that will reflect badly on the council and those who are responsible for its administration. The people have a right to know and councillors have a duty to inform. The enforced silence is already causing concern among members of other local authorities in the area and Phil Dilks, who represents Deeping St James on Lincolnshire County Council, told the Stamford Mercury that more information must be provided (April 10th). "Council taxpayers deserve to know how much it is costing us to see him mysteriously clear his desk and leave without even a day’s notice”, he said.

Matters of this consequence cannot be hushed up. There is no such thing as a secret when it is shared by more than one person and as the 58 councillors and 720 council staff are already whispering the details among themselves, it is only a matter of time before a whistleblower succumbs to the temptation of sharing what he knows and the affair is given coverage in the pages of Private Eye. That fact that we will have to wait to read of this in the columns of an investigative magazine rather than hear it from those we have elected and trust to keep us informed is not the way to conduct our affairs and unless a full and frank statement is issued by the council, its future activities will become clouded by a climate of suspicion and mistrust.

What the local newspapers are also saying: Despite widespread doubts and an eight year delay, South Kesteven District Council has again signalled that the £27 million redesign of Bourne town centre will be going ahead and their latest announcement in the Stamford Mercury reveals that they are continuing to buy up property within the core development area (April 3rd).

Last year, the council bought the old grain warehouse overlooking Burghley Street for £350,000 and another key parcel of land, the motor salvage workshops on the other side of Wherry’s Lane, has now been purchased for £285,000 together with two semi-detached houses, 15A and 15B Burghley Street. These acquisitions are vital to the proposed scheme, first mooted in August 2001, although more than 40 other properties will also be required before building work can begin. Nevertheless, the council remains optimistic and the leader, Councillor Linda Neal (Bourne West), told the newspaper: “This reaffirms our commitment to this project and our intention to acquire further sites as and when they become available.”

Whether or not the redevelopment scheme does go ahead, this purchase by the council may have another beneficial effect for the town in that the land involved includes a strip alongside Wherry’s Lane that has become a target for litter louts and fly tippers and has generated a flood of complaints over the past ten years. Councillor Neal has acknowledged the problem. “Until now, the council has been limited in its powers to tidy up”, she said, “but we can now go ahead with the process and clear up this terrible mess.”

The continuing property purchases may also indicate the end of another unsightly part of Wherry‘s Lane, the masonic hall owned by the Hereward Lodge to which many of our leading citizens belong. Built of brick with a flat roof and totally windowless except for a few panes of frosted glass at ground level, this property has been dubbed as the most unattractive building in Bourne and certainly it looks as though it has been exiled from service on some remote wartime airfield yet here it is within the town centre area in the midst of mainly historic properties that fit comfortably into the street scene. Fortunately, SKDC is currently talking to the owners with a view to buying it as part of the redevelopment scheme although no decision has yet been reached.

What the local newspapers are not saying: The major talking point in Bourne this week has been whether Lidl, the cut price supermarket chain, intends to take over the former Budgens store at the end of the Burghley Arcade, owned by Waitrose since the former owners vacated the premises a year ago but not of sufficient appeal for this quality chain to open up here.

There is much gossip in the town over whether preparations are in hand for Lidl to move in with sightings of men with tape measures and notebooks inside the premises as though sizing up the space in readiness for the stock. This property needs a tenant because the entire shopping area around it is becoming blighted and any company that offers quality food at prices lower than those charged by such as Sainsburys would be welcome in these straightened times.

From the archives: The streets are watered by a spring remarkable for the purity of its water, which turns three mills within a very small distance of its head and no doubt was the cause of the town being called Bourne, which signifies a stream of water. Here was formerly an abbey of which there are some small remains, which speak much for the antiquity of the place, if we may credit a date upon one of the stones, in the upper part of the wall, which is as early as the year 161. - extract from the Universal British Directory for 1793-98.

The number of charity shops in the town centre continues to increase with the opening of the Salvation Army in West Street and Break in North Street during the past few weeks bringing the number up to five but there is now a distinct danger that this is too many. There is, after all, a limit to how much people have to give away, the stock on which these outlets thrive, and there is also keen competition to collect it from the many other organisations that regularly leave plastic bags on the doorstep which is a far more convenient method of getting rid of the unwanted without having to cart it into town.

The other more serious consideration is the prices now being charged. This method of raising money on other people’s discarded items, a system that dates back to the 19th century but has proliferated in recent years, presented a distinct chance of finding a real bargain, of discovering something that had slipped through unnoticed, a situation beloved of those television auction programmes, but this now rarely happens because every item is vetted before being priced. No one wishes to deprive charitable organisations of their profit but charges do appear to have risen in recent months making it hardly worthwhile buying some items which may be obtained new for little more elsewhere.

Charity shops may therefore be killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Their initial appeal is to offer something for practically nothing and once low prices are no longer an enticement to buy they will lose their custom and rightly so. At the moment, these shops are busier than the traditional outlets in town but managers must not forget that their stock costs nothing and if the profit motive becomes too much of an obsession then they will soon find themselves as redundant as the items they are trying to sell.

Rising prices may be endemic in the retail trade, a manifestation of the current economic climate, with the result that many other businesses are putting themselves outside the spending orbit of their customers, particularly the elderly who have been badly hit by collapsing pension and annuity schemes and plunging interest rates on their savings. With spring upon us, the garden centres beckon, packed full of enticements to improve our little acre from peat and bark chippings to tools and equipment, pots, seeds and plants. Everything to ensure that the patio, lawn, herbaceous borders and vegetable plot are kept in trim for another year. But oh, the prices! We go every spring, sometimes two or three times, but visits are becoming fewer as the years go by and rather than pay what have now become exorbitant charges we are learning to love the dandelion.

Thought for the week: A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82), American essayist, philosopher, poet, and orator whose speeches enraptured thousands.

Saturday 18^th April 2009

Flooding in the Wellhead Gardens this year  - see "What the local
newspapers are saying . . . "

While in the cemetery this week pursuing my researches, I thought I heard the cuckoo and stopped to catch a more distinct note undistorted by my footsteps but a careful appraisal revealed that it was a collared dove on some far off rooftop whose cooing is often mistaken for the real thing. In any case, this was a little too early in the season for our much loved feathered friend.

It would have been a welcome sound but one that we hear less of in Bourne as the years progress, either because its numbers are diminishing or it chooses a more favourable habitat than the Lincolnshire corn belt where food supplies such as insects and caterpillars have been decimated through intensive farming and host nests, such as those built by the meadow pipit, dunnock and reed warbler are few and far between because the landscape has been made so unfriendly for wildlife by modern agricultural methods. Those breeding in this country are now down to fewer than 20,000 pairs, a decline in their population which recently led to them being placed on the list of species at risk.

When we moved to this house overlooking the flat landscape on the very edge of Bourne more than a quarter of a century ago, our favourite migratory bird sang early and late most days calling to us from across the fen, a distinctive cry wafting in from its song post on a branch of one of the scattered trees out there over the fen towards Dyke village and I paused in my gardening tasks and stood listening to that magical sound of spring. In fact, there were several of them that day 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.

Cuckoo Day is traditionally April 14th or 15th when we can expect to hear it in these islands for the first time although there is no hard and fast rule but we in Lincolnshire are rarely so blessed and it is usually a week or two afterwards, often even later, that their characteristic call comes to us from across the countryside to remind us that they have arrived after their marathon flight from Africa where they have wintered in warmer climes. No sound is more eagerly awaited than the loud, ringing, repeated song because it signals the arrival of spring and although many people have heard the cuckoo, few have ever seen one. They are quite large birds, well over twelve inches long, and they have a bad reputation because they do not build nests for themselves but lay their eggs in those of other birds and leave them to hatch them out and bring up the young. But despite this wayward conduct, they remain one of the best loved of our summer visitors.

A few years ago we were driving home across the fen one May day when we heard the cuckoo and then had a rare sighting as it perched on an overhead power cable in a field alongside Mill Drove, singing its heart out, but this was an unusual occurrence that stopped many passing cars and soon there were a dozen vehicles parked along the roadside verge, their windows wound down as the occupants sat enjoying the sound of this harbinger of warm and pleasant summer days ahead.

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. It has to face the shootists on the Mediterranean islands, particularly Malta, in Spain and in France, as it wings its way north on its annual flight to England, but once here it will find that its habitats are being denuded year by year because the intensification of agriculture and the urban sprawl persist at an alarming rate. Their decline is yet another example of man's uncaring attitude to the world around him and that if we continue on this destructive path, poisoning and killing all that was here before us, then nature will have its revenge because of the imbalance we have created in pursuit of profit, greed and so called sport.

What the local newspapers are saying: A harsh letter appeared in the correspondence columns of the Stamford Mercury about the current state of the Wellhead gardens detailing verse and chapter the shortcomings of this public amenity and taking Bourne United Charities to task for allowing the present situation to continue (April 10th). “It is time for the trustees to accept responsibility and resign en masse so that the people can elect others to take over and restore the pride to the Wellhead”, writes Guy Cudmore, of Meadowgate, Bourne

He cites the current drastic cutting back of the weeping willows that line the War Memorial gardens as a particular travesty but adds: “The neglect and dereliction goes much further than that.” He then goes on to describe dead trees lying where they were felled by the wind years before, unsightly stumps of past pruning, muddy river banks, flooding in various parts of the park, weeds around St Peter’s Pool, piles of rubbish left lying around and, worst of all, the quagmire path behind Baldock’s Mill that is badly in need of an asphalt surface.

These complaints are not new and can be heard almost any day down at the Wellhead where visitors are dismayed at the lack of activity in long term maintenance to preserve such a wonderful amenity that was bequeathed to this town during the last century. Yet nothing seems to be done, despite, as Mr Cudmore points out, BUC having several million pounds in their reserves. “Some of it could be used to restore the Wellhead”, he writes. “It is a disgrace to Bourne especially when there are summer events scheduled.”

This chapter of woe ought to make those who administer any organisation sit up and take notice and fulfil their obligations. But on past experience, it is doubtful if the trustees will blink an eye. Despite administering the money left for the benefit of this town in past times, they appear to inhabit a private fiefdom, make no public comments, issue no press releases and continue in their own way doing we know not what, totally oblivious of the real work outside while what should be our flagship amenity slowly deteriorates, much to the detriment of this town which is again bidding for success in the East Midlands in Bloom competition. Perhaps when the judges arrive during the summer to check on the appearance of this town, their hosts, the Bourne campaign committee, will quietly steer them away from the Wellhead to avoid jeopardising our chances.

Village histories continue to appear, their enthusiastic compilers aided by the computer and the Internet that provide unrivalled facilities for such projects. Once these are available, the band of volunteers to collect and collate the necessary information and illustrations are waiting in the wings and the book is as good as done. That may be a simple formula as to the way it really is but there is little doubt thay modern techniques have speeded up the process and few of the sixty villages and hamlets within a ten-mile radius of Bourne do not boast a modest publication to tell about their past and for those which do not then there is always A Portrait of Bourne which does.

The latest is Pickworth - A South Lincolnshire Village, a glossy cover book of some 144 pages which takes us through the past history of this small community nine miles north west of Bourne, produced by the Pickworth Local History Group and financed with the help of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The scope is described in the introduction: “This little volume is not a detailed history of Pickworth through the ages, rather it offers sketches of places and people as told in old documents, in recent memory and in observations of the present, a story of continuity of human occupation underlying profound changes in village life.“

One of the more fascinating chapters deals with the mediaeval wall paintings for which St Andrew’s Church is famous, originally executed circa 1380 and later painted over but rediscovered during the Second World War of 1939-45 when a bomb fell near the church and displaced large chunks of whitewash. They were all subsequently uncovered and are now a major tourist attraction, and as the book relates, even came to the attention of Prince Charles who came here in November 1988 to see them. However, the book omits to say that HRH had visited Pickworth on a previous occasion to see the wall paintings, arriving in 1971 while learning to fly as an officer cadet with the Royal Air Force at nearby Cranwell, but found the church locked and went away disappointed although his subsequent visit had a more successful outcome.

This book makes an excellent read for anyone interested in local history and is accompanied by a DVD of still photographs relating to past times in Pickworth. It has been produced by our own printers, Warners Midlands plc, and costs £11.95 which is excellent value and you may order one through the village web site whose address can be found in Bourne Links.

Local history is littered with tales of the imagination whose only relevance to our past is a persistence in the telling because once related they are repeated, printed and archived and so enter the realms of fact. Bourne has many such examples, the exploits of Hereward the Wake being the most celebrated, although there are others, all with the recurring ingredient of appeal to the curiosity, and although these narratives are blatantly untrue we cling to them with the notion that they are so well told then they ought to be genuine.

I stumbled across another recently, totally unknown to me despite ten years of intensive research into the town’s past, suggesting that a king of England was once crowned in Bourne. The monarch was Edmund Ironside (993-1016), the eldest surviving son of Ethelred II and Elfled, who as a warrior prince had earned himself the nickname of Ironside for his bravery against the Danes, attempting to oppose the invasion of Wessex by Canute in late 1015 but could not hold Northumbria when the invaders moved north the following year.

On his father’s death, Edmund was chosen as his successor by a council of the Anglo-Saxon kings and earls at a meeting in London and proclaimed in early 1016 but by that time Canute had already been elected by his own followers at Southampton. Edmund subsequently fought several battles and relieved a besieged London but soon his cause was lost and after defeat at Ashingdon in Essex was forced to surrender and after a meeting with Canute, agreed to partition England, he keeping the lands north of the River Thames and Edmund keeping Wessex. He died (some accounts say he was murdered) after a reign of only seven months from 23rd April to 30th November 1016 and was buried at Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset although his burial site is now lost.

When or exactly where his coronation was supposed to have been held is not known but for several centuries, the tale persisted that the ceremony took place at Bourne. This, however, would appear to be apocryphal, and was finally discounted in the late 18th century when an entry in the Universal British Directory for 1793-98 recorded: “Some say Edmund Ironsides was crowned at Bourne in 1016 but if we consider that this king swayed the sceptre but about nine months (sic) and was engaged in wars the whole of this time in the southern parts of the kingdom, this will carry with it but a small degree of probability.”

Thought for the week: All our ancient history is no more than accepted fiction. – François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), better known by the pen name Voltaire, French writer, essayist and philosopher.

Saturday 25^th April 2009

The new speed bumps - see "What the local newspapers are also saying . . . "

There is a poem by Rudyard Kipling which demonstrates the mercurial public attitude towards our soldiers because in times of relative peace we fail to recognise their worth or the debt we owe them.

O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”;
But it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins, when the band begins to play.”

The defence of the realm is one of the primary duties of government and this cannot be done without maintaining the armed forces but unfortunately some of our political leaders revel in unnecessary foreign adventures, thus attracting unwarranted criticism for which those who serve
are not responsible. The primary duty of the soldier is to obey orders and to hold him culpable for our involvement in war is to apportion blame to the wrong quarter.

The past century has proved that we need our army and the soldier’s worth has never been questioned, no matter that there has been needless slaughter on all sides, but there is a distinct feeling in the country at the present time that they are not being given the consideration due them, created no doubt because very few people today have ever been in uniform. A spell in the ranks is reckoned to be the finest training available as anyone who has served with the colours can attest because it instils a sense of discipline and self-worth with the added benefits of comradeship and loyalty to one’s country that cannot be acquired in any other walk of life.

The debt we owe our servicemen is therefore to be acknowledged in the future with the observance of an Armed Forces Day this summer, an idea put forward by our own M P, Quentin Davies, following widespread outrage last year when members of the Royal Air Force were asked not to wear their uniforms when visiting Peterborough, despite the close proximity of the Strike Command base at Wittering. This and several other similar incidents prompted the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to order an independent inquiry into the national recognition of our armed forces which was headed by Mr Davies and this event is one of the 40 recommendations put forward to ensure that we do not forget in the future.

The first annual Armed Forces Day will therefore be observed in Bourne and elsewhere on Saturday 27th June to celebrate the achievements of British servicemen and women to raise awareness and help improve public respect for the military. The town council has offered £500 towards the cost of organising the event based at the recreation ground and a further grant is expected from the Ministry of Defence. In a letter to The Local (April 17th), one of the organisers, Tim Bladon, of Wendover Close, Rippingale, gives a moving account as to why we should honour those who have served on this special day.

“The object of this celebration”, he writes, “is to bring about public recognition of the contribution these men and women have made to their country so that the nation as a whole is able to enjoy the lifestyle we have today. Many have been injured during their service and have been forgotten, yet casualties are still being incurred in Iraq and Afghanistan to the concern of the public and we feel that this will be a suitable occasion to do this. Every veteran has undergone both disciplinary and technical training which has been usefully absorbed and utilised into our economy after the completion of their service. We are hoping that this day will bring recognition of their endeavours and the value to the community brought by these veterans. This is a day of celebration from all sectors of the community whether they be young or old.”

Kipling (1865-1936) acquired his knowledge of the ordinary soldier while working as a newspaperman in India during the days of the British Raj where he observed their life and thoughts at first hand. His poem, Tommy, written in 1890, depicts the contemptuous way in which the British soldier was treated by civilians in peace time and feted when the need arose to defend or fight for their country, an ephemeral popularity fluctuating between jingoism and disdain. Ironically, it also raised public awareness for a change in attitude towards the soldier and this may well be achieved yet again to instil a new pride in our military by the introduction of an Armed Forces Day.

For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot.

What the local newspapers are also saying: The speed humps recently installed in Beech Avenue are already under attack even though the cement is barely dry. A report in The Local says that residents regard them as a nuisance and have called upon Lincolnshire County Council, the highways authority, to remove them immediately (April 17th). Workmen have just spent several weeks laying thirty of these concrete cushions along the road, the longest in Bourne, at a cost of £60,000 and others are planned for the Austerby and Mill Drove in an attempt to persuade drivers to keep their speed down to below the 30 mph limit. But residents claim that they have merely driven vehicles into nearby streets where there is a build up of traffic as drivers try to avoid them, an obvious development yet one that does not appear to have been considered by the planners.

One protester, Alan Brain, aged 51, who lives in nearby Poplar Crescent, told the newspaper: “The speed humps have made Beech Avenue an assault course and drivers are now using alternative routes which were not designed to take that volume of traffic and could cause long term damage.” His criticisms were echoed by town councillor Trevor Holmes (Bourne West) who said that although traffic along Beech Avenue had been reduced, the humps had merely moved the problem elsewhere.

There is another factor which was pointed out to me this week that any standard car has sufficient width between the wheels to avoid hitting the bumps if the driver positions his vehicle correctly and is therefore able to drive the length of Beech Avenue without hitting a single one, a calculation that proved to be quite correct when I tried it. The entire project therefore appears to have been a total waste of money and one that went ahead without any serious public consultation despite assurances to the contrary because the council’s highways manager, Kevin Brumfield, told the newspaper that the design of the humps had been widely advertised and comments from the public invited before they were installed.

There is no doubt that any public consultation over this issue comes into the small print category because the first that anyone knew about the scheme was after it had been approved by the council, the contract awarded and the workmen ready to move in, all too late for any changes to be made. Fortunately, the situation is due to be reviewed after 12 months and anyone with a complaint in the meantime may send it to the town council but the entire project does appear to have been a total waste of money. It had been hoped that the installation of speed humps in other streets would be put on hold until a more calm and considered appraisal of these controversial and often ineffective devices is made but that is unlikely because local government projects such as this whether right or wrong are unstoppable once in the system and work has already begun in the Austerby.

The use of incense on selected occasions at the Abbey Church is to continue, despite its unpopularity with some worshippers who are now choosing to stay away. The decision by the parochial church council follows a twelve month trial to test the reaction of the congregation to decide whether they found it agreeable before making it an integral part of services in the future. Unfortunately, it has not found favour with everyone and dwindling numbers are is a sign of its unpopularity.

The use of incense is part of the bells and smells of ceremonial more associated with Roman Catholicism rather than the Church of England and does not find favour with the traditionalists who prefer their worship simple and unadorned. But that which has been accepted in the past was overturned last February when the Vicar, the Rev Christopher Atkinson, suggested the experiment for high days and holy days, at those services which are celebrated at Epiphany, Easter, Whitsun, Christmas, and other special festivals. The reaction of worshippers would then be considered when the situation was reviewed at their meeting in February 2009 when despite the many objections, the council agreed a compromise with incense being used but on fewer Sundays than in the past twelve months. Last year, for instance it was used on 17 occasions but this year there will only be nine.

At first glance this would appear to be an acceptable solution except that the very people it affects, the congregation, has not actually been consulted. Even the vote of sixteen in favour and five against demonstrates the body of opposition to the innovation within the council itself and one that should have been considered far more widely in the light of the declining congregations that are being experienced throughout the land. Everyone who has attended church over the past year should have been asked to vote if not indeed everyone whose name is on the church register and it is certain that the decision would have been very different. Filling the church with incense may seem to be a good idea to those who favour more symbolism in their worship but will be of little use if the pews are empty.

The great Doctor Johnson had some scathing things to say about fishing and his scorn might well be applied to many other so called sporting pastimes such as shooting. To observe the participants at close quarters is to witness an unequal contest without reasonable explanation because we no longer need to kill for food and much of what is despatched is largely uneatable.

One day last week, I observed from my study window two old chaps wending their way along the edge of a newly drilled wheat field between Bourne and Dyke village, both dressed in camouflage jackets and jungle hats and carrying guns which I identified at a distance as small bore rifles, probably .22. They chose a suitable spot where the grass was knee high and a few hawthorn trees for cover and erected a netting barrier about four feet high and after placing a dozen or so pigeon decoys in a semi-circle around the field, all within easy range, they then settled down out of sight with guns at the ready, hoping that their decoys would do the business. By this time, their antics were being observed by many people living in a row of houses on the western edge because reports of any unusual activity in these fields is quickly passed on by telephone and so for the next few hours, the shooters had unknowingly attracted an audience.

They must have been there for three or four hours, certainly from before lunch and well into the afternoon, and we heard several shots and saw them picking up the odd dead bird. But for what purpose were they potting these pigeons, for the table or to reduce their numbers? Either objective was totally futile because the pigeon does not have a good culinary reputation and it is doubtful if they have a market value to the game dealer when pheasant and partridge is so freely available. We also dismissed the theory that they had been hired by the farmer to keep them at bay because this field was freshly sown only this week with not a green shoot in sight and in any case pigeons are so numerous out there that it would take a company of fusiliers to have even the slightest effect on the population.

The pair must therefore have been shooting purely for pleasure yet by no stretch of the imagination could this be called sport. Both gunmen had all the trappings of the hunter on safari despite their quarry being one of our simplest and most stupid birds that would have given themselves up for a few grains of corn. A bit like coarse fishing really.

Thought for the week: A fishing pole is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool on the other. - Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), English critic, biographer, essayist, poet and lexicographer.

Return to Monthly entries