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Saturday 4th July 2009
Raymond Mays' warrant card - see "Few people realise . . . "
The impasse between
the town council and the Bourne
Preservation Society can only now be solved at a meeting between the two which
should be called immediately to avoid further delay in restoring the Victorian
chapel in the cemetery. The public perception is that the authority has been
dragging its heels over implementing a business plan and pre-lease agreement and
only a rapid relinquishment of control will change that assessment.
Blaming the legal niceties is unsatisfactory because the law’s delays merely
dampen the voluntary zeal to restore this Grade II building which the council
tried so hard to demolish and it should now be accepted that the town wishes to
see it preserved by lending its support and speeding up the handover process.
The society was formed in April 2008 in an attempt to succeed where the town
council has failed, by bringing the chapel back into useful life. For many
years, there have been sufficient funds to keep the building in a good state of
repair with as much as £40,000 in the kitty that could have been spent to
preserve it in a far better condition than it is today, yet the council failed
to do so and preferred instead to pull it down, a move thwarted by outside
forces which prevented this course of action with English Heritage followed by
the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) intervening to protect the
building through the listing process.
It is the society’s intention to protect not only the chapel but also other
buildings in the town that may be at risk and perhaps enhance the Conservation
Area, last designated in 1977 and now in need of a reappraisal. Unfortunately,
their plans have been repeatedly thwarted and so the entire concept that was
originally assumed to be so appropriate founders on the rocks of bureaucratic
delay which is not good for those with such admirable intentions because
enthusiasm wanes in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles and the
original impetus is lost.
Had the society been given carte blanche from the start, without the need to
fill in forms, sign declarations or draw up a business plan, then the chapel
would now be well on the way to a new lease of life and might even have been
back in use in a different role. As it is, the entire project has been immersed
in a flood of legal scrutiny that not only runs up the lawyers’ bills but also
drowns the real objective and so we are back at square one where the town
council remains in charge and is planning to spend £535 on repairing the roof of
the chapel which has been leaking for some years and may have been a factor in
its closure to the public in 2004 when the building was deemed to be
structurally unsafe. This appears to be a stable door policy and only enforced
now because the building has been listed which confers a duty of maintenance on
the authority.
A statement from the treasurer, Jonathan Smith, to a meeting of the town council
last week, outlined the society’s frustration because he claimed that barriers
had been put in their way to prevent a smooth takeover. “Councillors see the
chapel as a liability as it is in need of expenditure running into hundreds of
thousands of pounds”, he said. “However, the council’s rejections of our
business plan and amendments to the pre-lease agreement are not allowing the
project to proceed and enable us take over responsibility and restore the
building for future generations.”
The public and even some councillors are baffled as to what is going on and a
face to face meeting between both sides should be called as a matter of urgency
to sort this out once and for all. Fortunately, the recommended advice of the
mayor to this effect has been accepted and it is hoped that this will result in
a smooth handover of the chapel very soon, certainly before the summer is out,
if the enthusiasm of those wishing to save the building is to be encouraged
otherwise we could soon be in a situation where demolition is back on the
agenda.
What the local newspapers are saying: By all accounts, the Bourne Classic
Car and Bike Show last month was a tremendous success marred only by the
appearance of the setting in which it was held, the Wellhead Field dominated by
St Peter’s Pool. There were many complaints from visitors on the day about the
state of this ancient source of water and one was spurred into putting his
thoughts down on paper with a letter to the Stamford Mercury (June 26th).
“What a shame that the thick green scum almost covering the surface of the
neglected pool was seen by hundreds of people who flocked to the show, a great
success blessed with glorious weather”, wrote Brian Green of Needham Road,
Morton. “The scum is too dense for the mallard to swim through and they use the
‘leads’ - channels of clear water as seen in melting pack ice - to get about the
pool surface.”
Unfortunately, the unsightly appearance of the pool has been the subject of
continual complaints over the years and although the banks have recently been
cleared of weed, the entire area is still in need of major maintenance work to
bring it up to the status it enjoyed in past time as the town’s leading beauty
spot. The pool is administered by Bourne United Charities and many wonder if the
trustees ever go down to take a look because it is their responsibility to keep
it in good order yet the years go by with little or nothing being done.
Volunteers were spotted this week cleaning out the Bourne Eau where it runs
through the Wellhead Gardens which is also the responsibility of BUC and perhaps
their efforts will be turned next to St Peter’s Pool. As with the cemetery
chapel, the time may have come for stewardship to be passed to others who
recognise the importance of this site in our history and would be prepared to
exercise more care over its appearance.
Few people realise that Raymond Mays was at one time a policeman. He is
best known for his career in international racing as a driver and designer and
both the ERM and BRM cars were produced at workshops near to his lifelong home
at Eastgate House in Bourne.
He was born there on 1st August 1899 and after a spell at Oundle School he went
to the Guards Officers Training Establishment at Bushy Hall where he was
commissioned as a subaltern in the Grenadier Guards in May 1918 and sent to
Chelsea Barracks in London. The following October, he was posted to France and
after the Armistice was signed on November 11th, he went to Germany with the
army of occupation but he did not take to military life and returned to Bourne
the following year after resigning his commission to pursue his passion for
motor racing.
His only other time in uniform was on 1st March 1939 when, with another world
war looming, he was sworn in as a special constable for Lincolnshire. By this
time he was 40 years old and unlikely to have been called up for military
service. He became Special Constable No 269 and his official warrant card has
just been given to the Heritage Centre for safe keeping although little is known
about his duties after that or whether he actually went out on patrol in the
streets of Bourne or assisted at public functions.
Raymond’s only previous contacts with the police were through infringements of
the law connected with his motor racing which he regarded rather lightly and was
summonsed on at least two occasions. In October 1959, he was fined £10 for
speeding at Preston in Lancashire but there was a far more serious charge almost
40 years before when he appeared before magistrates at Peterborough on Wednesday
10th October 1923 accused of dangerous driving. He was represented by local
solicitor Mr Arthur Mellows and pleaded not guilty but the evidence offered in
his defence may appear to be rather light-hearted. Police told the court that
Mays had been seen driving his car near St Paul's Church [in Lincoln Road] where
there were crossroads "at a speed of fully 30 miles an hour".
Mr Mellows, in his defence, reminded the magistrates that Mays was a well-known
racing motorist and had passed many stringent driving tests and was not in the
habit of using the main roads for racing. During the past eight years, he had
driven about 20,000 miles and had not scratched a mudguard or knocked anyone
down. No complaints had been made against him. "His car", said Mr Mellows, "is
so built that it looks to be travelling faster than it really is." But despite
this ingenious defence, Raymond was found guilty and fined £3 (about £150 in
today's money) and ordered to pay costs.
Plastic charity bags continue to arrive through the letterbox from
optimistic organisations that seem to think we have an unending supply of old
clothes, shoes, books and other unwanted items that might make a few bob for a
good cause. Yes, we are prepared to help when we can but there is a limit to how
much we throw away and in the present economic climate we think that this
particular market is practically exhausted.
More bags are delivered as each week passes and we regularly scour the house for
items that have passed their useful life but the latest search has revealed
absolutely nothing that we can do without and might be of help to the
inhabitants of the third world. In fact, given the decline in the value of
retirement incomes and pensions, our own needs are now becoming just as
important and as charity begins at home, anything that might make a few bob is
more likely to end up on eBay rather than one of the three bags that currently
lie in the hall bearing collection dates in the coming days.
Trade magazines are also becoming more frequent and at the last count we
are regularly receiving three unsolicited and purporting to cover Bourne, one
called Bourne Market Place, another Bourne & Village Lincs and a
third Bourne Trade. All are glossy publications delivered free but
containing little more than display advertising which seems rather pointless at
a time of household economy. But there is a trend towards adding editorial to
stimulate reader interest while at the same time our established local
newspapers are concentrating on more advertising and so perhaps at some time in
the future they will all look the same. In the meantime, the trade mags continue
to headline bargains and prizes in the hope of catching the eye but a close look
at the contents will reveal the real state of the retail trade with shops
desperate for business offering big savings on everything with discounts as much
as 50% in some cases.
Do we need to be bombarded with this sales literature week after week and is it
really necessary? The proprietors will claim that they are providing a service
although the real reason is that they are making money and so the answer is
quite definitely no. My experience in the newspaper business over more than half
a century suggests that prestige advertising such as this brings little benefit
other than to keep the name of the company before the public but the income so
generated will not pay the bill and with three trade magazines now plying for
custom in a shrinking market, it is doubtful if all will survive the recession
which will mean less weight in the silver wheelie bin.
Thought for the week: Promise, large promise, is the soul of an
advertisement. - Samuel Johnson, British lexicographer and writer (1709-84)
whose Dictionary of the English Language appeared in 1755.
Saturday 11th July 2009
Quite by chance, when calling in at the Post Office in
West Street last week, I learned that first class post can no longer be
guaranteed to be delivered the following morning but will now take one to three
working days with second class mail three to five days. As this excludes
weekends, you may post a first class item on Friday and it may not arrive before
Wednesday while it could take more than a week for a second class item to pass
through the system.
No announcement appears to have been made about this and nothing is said at the
counter unless you ask and so we may assume that they are stealth changes in
order not to upset customers following the ending of Saturday collections last
October, again without any public declaration of intent. Added to this is the
current turmoil over government indecision involving the future of the Post
Office and you have a once proud organisation which pioneered postal services
throughout the world struggling to survive while those who depend on it take pot
luck.
Monopolies such as the Post Office have for too long taken their customer base
for granted and it is true that people have to be tested to the limit before
they complain but even the most tolerant among us must now admit that enough is
enough and that sending a letter or package is no longer an economic
proposition. To be told that it might take a week when in past times it was
delivered overnight demonstrates either inefficiency or sheer incompetence in an
age when new technology has streamlined the service of sorting and despatch and
any organisation that fails to reach the standards required by a modern and
changing society deserves to fail.
The extent to which the Post Office has declined may be judged by studying the
mail habits of yesteryear when the entire country could keep in touch by merely
sending a letter or postcard. It became a national habit to walk down to the
post box in the evening knowing full well that it would be delivered next
morning while the reassuring sight of the postman out on his morning deliveries
became as much a part of our life as the milkman on his rounds, both now scenes
from an England long gone. Our milk comes from the supermarket and you rarely
see a postman before midday.
In times past, the postal service in England was second to none, fast, efficient
and always on time and it is worth looking back in the records to see just how
dependable it was. In 1860, for instance, the speed of delivery was reflected in
this news item which appeared in the Stamford Mercury on Friday 9th
November:
The day delivery of letters in Bourne, which
previously took place shortly after 3 o’clock in the afternoon, now commences
about 11.30 a m. The train, which heretofore was due at Bourne at 10.58 a m, is
now timed so as to reach Bourne at 11.20. By this alteration, a letter posted in
London early in the morning may be delivered at Bourne the same day about noon.
In 1905, when the postal service had become universally popular
and extremely well used, the arrangements are quite surprising when compared
with today and Kelly’s Directory for Lincolnshire that year recorded the system
operating in Bourne:
Letters from London, by mail cart, via
Peterborough, arrive at 4 am and are delivered by 7 am. A second mail arrives at
11 am and is delivered to callers at 11.30 am. A third mail arrives by rail at
2.27 pm and is delivered by 3 pm and a fourth mail at 6 pm and is delivered by
7.20 pm. Letters from Folkingham arrive by mail cart at 7.45 pm and despatched
thereto at 4 am. Letter box closes for town and district at 5.45 am, for general
despatch at 10.30 am, at 3 pm for all parts, 5.30 pm for Dyke, at 6 pm for
Wales, Scotland, Ireland, North and Midlands counties; London and all parts at
7.20 pm and 7.55 pm; Folkingham at 8 pm. Sundays boxes cleared at 7 pm. Wall
letter boxes: Eastgate cleared at 8.55 am, 2.30 pm and 7.05 pm; South Street at
8.35 am, 2.20 pm, 3;15 pm and 6.45 pm; West Road at 7.50 am, 4.30 pm and 6.50
pm; North Road at 8.45 am, 3.50 pm and 7 pm.
Tales abound of the confidence the public had in the post office
and any collector of old postcards will know of frequent messages on them
telling of an arrival later that day, the card having travelled on the train
only a few hours earlier. As more people turn to email for their letters and the
courier services for their parcels, it can only be a matter of time before the
Royal Mail is consigned to history.
What the local newspapers are saying: The current system of nominating
trustees to serve on Bourne United Charities is questioned in the correspondence
columns of the Stamford Mercury suggesting that the town council
regularly selects its own rather than follow the recommended procedures observed
by other organisations to find the best talent available (July 3rd).
This is no idle speculation because the letter comes from a former councillor,
Guy Cudmore, of Meadowgate, Bourne, who served for eight years from 2000-08 and
therefore knows what goes on in the council chamber. He claims that over the
years several people have told him that they would like the chance to serve and
make a difference but their efforts have been blocked. “They have been told that
there are no vacancies”, he writes, “but somebody else has been appointed
instead.”
Bourne United Charities has 15 trustees and under the existing rules the town
council is invited to nominate five of them to serve for a period of four
years. The nominations are made first at a meeting of the finance and general
purposes committee and then approved by the full council and each time the
agenda item expressly states that “the person nominated does not have to be a
member of the town council”.
Yet retiring councillor-trustees are always re-elected or colleagues named as
successors to those who have left or died in preference to others who wish to
serve and might be more suitable candidates and on those occasions that the
system has been challenged the majority have shown no inclination to depart from
it even though it denies the wider choice. The letter from Mr Cudmore therefore
airs a subject that it is time for public debate and a closer study of the current
rules and regulations governing these appointments.
In past cases, candidates have even been nominated by serving
councillor-trustees while others have voted in support whereas it would have
been in the interests of transparency if they had all declared an interest and
taken no part in the nomination and election procedure, as recommended in the
council’s Standing Orders, and if there is a doubt over whether this ruling
applies, then they should err on the side of caution. Those councillors who have
connections with various organisations in the town, such as the Butterfield
Centre and Bourne Preservation Society, are not usually allowed to participate
in debates on issues affecting them let alone vote and so it should be in this
case.
BUC is our wealthiest and most influential charitable organisation administering
money and property that has been left by various benefactors for the good of the
town since the 17th century. It currently oversees assets worth in excess of £12
million with an annual income of £667,000 (2007 figures) and is responsible for
many amenities, notably the Abbey Lawn, the Wellhead Gardens, the West Street
almshouses, the Red Hall and distribution of weekly payments to almost 200 needy
pensioners. Trustees therefore have greater responsibilities than councillors
and their appointment is far too important to pass through on the nod without
searching for the very best talent available. Yet the practice has been the same
since the town council was formed in 1974 and whenever a vacancy has arisen, not
a single outsider has ever been considered despite the explicit ruling that the
person nominated does not have to be a member of the council.
The terms of reference are quite clear, that the council may select an outsider
who may be better qualified but members have repeatedly elected their own, thus
giving the impression that they consider themselves above anyone else who may be
prepared to serve. Instead, they should be casting around the wards they
represent for candidates of intelligence, perception and wisdom and recommend
them whenever a vacancy arises.
Town councillors may be a worthy choice and in most cases have served us well
but persistence in the present parochial procedure is not in the best interests
of the town and perhaps in the future, younger candidates from the wider area
who can provide a diverse pool of knowledge and experience will be considered
rather than giving preference to those who sit in the council chamber as though
this is the finest that Bourne can offer, a practice that has led to a situation
in which all five of the present councillor-trustees are old age pensioners.
Under the existing arrangements, there are ten other trustees apart from the
five nominated by the town council, one is the vicar by tradition and the other
nine are appointed through mutual agreement at its monthly meetings in the
boardroom at the Red Hall. But overall, the entire method of electing trustees
to the board is considered by many to be unsatisfactory and there cannot be any
objection to a stricter observance to the guidelines laid down by the Charity
Commission which regulates charities in England and Wales and disapproves of
appointing trustees by word of mouth or personal recommendation because it is
more likely to narrow the field and does not provide such a thorough means of
finding the right people for the task. Such methods are also likely to work
against having a varied trustee board from a range of ages and social and
economic backgrounds and the commission suggests that greater diversity is an
important factor for accountability and promoting public confidence.
Their recommended solution is to use more inclusive and visible methods of
recruitment such as advertising, which can be an effective way of reaching a
wider group of people possessing the particular skills required, and even the
short listing of available candidates and final selection by interview, none of
which is carried out under the present system observed by either Bourne United
Charities or the town council, whereas the administration of this organisation
could not fail to profit if these methods were employed in the future to secure
the very best candidates available to deliberate on matters of such vital
importance to the town.
Closer examination of the approved method for the recruitment, selection and
appointment of trustees who sit on charitable organisations such as BUC will
reveal that careful consideration of candidates is high on the list and that any
system which defers to Buggins’s turn is frowned upon.
Mr Cudmore’s letter suggests that there is now the opportunity
to hold a referendum on issues of local interest which would require the town
council to face up to its obligations to electors and that in September, after
the holidays are over, this would be the time to organise one. Certainly people
power has a long and honoured history in Bourne but public apathy is on the side
of officialdom as those who insist on side-stepping accepted procedures well
know, and if a referendum does materialise, then it will be interesting to see
just how much support will surface for a system that has long been in need of
change.
Thought for the week: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who watches the
watchers?) – Decimus Junius Juvenal, Roman satirist (60-130 AD).
Saturday 18th July 2009
There has been some speculation in the Bourne Forum about
the possible phasing out of the bus station, a perennial topic because it is
well known that South Kesteven District Council would like to sell off the site
for redevelopment to bring in more income to meet its ever increasing commitment
for salaries and pensions. The latest hare started running after someone noticed
that steps had been installed at bus stops around Bourne to assist the disabled
and this was interpreted as a prelude to its closure.
Contributors overall were against such a move, most acknowledging the fact that
closing the bus station would be a major
setback for Bourne because it was built entirely as a result of increasing
traffic through the town and in the years that have passed since then, vehicle
flows have multiplied tenfold, perhaps even more, and so any problems we had
then would escalate commensurately.
Forty years ago, Bourne was a quiet country community but
becoming busier and as the weekly street market was then held in the town
centre, which was also a stopping place for buses, some regulation was needed
and on Monday 11th June 1973, the first traffic lights were installed at a cost
of £10,000. There were also attempts at this time to move the market off the
streets because of the dangers being created by stalls erected alongside the
pavements in North Street and West Street, so narrowing the space available for
passing traffic although it was to be several more years before this was to
become a reality. But it was obvious at this time that buses could not continue
to use the market place with the kerbside as their terminus and so the
construction of a new bus station was undertaken.
The chosen site was at the corner of St Gilbert's Road and North Street and the
new facility came into use in the autumn of 1974 and although it meant a longer
walk for bus passengers arriving in town for a day's shopping or business, it
was an obvious and rational development. Shortly before Christmas the following
year, a new town service was inaugurated with buses travelling at intervals on
circuits through many parts of the town.
The bus station is still in regular and busy use and a covered waiting area has
since been added. Long distance coaches between London and the north call here
daily as well as a number of others from various coach companies as this form of
transport enjoys a new popularity in the face of rising rail fares. Apart from
providing a convenient picking up and dropping off point, the available space
enables coaches wait and adhere to their schedules which was not possible at the
kerbside where large vehicles parked for any length of time were liable to cause
problems for other traffic.
The first signs that the town might lose the bus station came during the autumn
of 2000, when it was proposed that one of the parking bays was to be removed to
make room for a new supermarket planned nearby and so after more than a quarter
of a century, the bus station was perceived to have outlived its original
importance to the town. This development never materialised, mainly because the
North Street terrace that had been earmarked for demolition, was saved through
public opposition and is now part of a new red brick housing development called
Marquess Court that does credit to that part of town. Yet official persistence
to close the bus station continued with SKDC continually quoting “a widespread
view” that the bus station is under-used although this supposed intelligence is
totally unfamiliar to the people of Bourne.
Then in 2006, the council leader, Linda Neal (Bourne West), told the Stamford
Mercury (January 6th) that although they had been considering selling the
bus station on the grounds that it was surplus to requirements, the facility
would remain for the foreseeable future. She added: “In the light of recent
comments and public opinion, I can confirm that it will not be going anywhere
unless another site can be found.” In July that year, it was revealed that SKDC
had identified the site as being within an area for major housing or commercial
development “at some time in the future” and the following May, the public
lavatories were pulled down which was regarded as the first stage in clearing
the bus station in readiness for sale to a housing developer.
There the matter
rests but for how long? It is the duty of our local authorities and especially
councillors to create a climate in which the people are prepared to pay their
council tax without protest but that guiding principle does not benefit from the
continual phasing out of valuable public services and amenities.
What the local newspapers are saying: Two items on social behaviour have
appeared in the same issue of The Local yet despite their common ground,
were published on different pages (July 10th) whereas a judicious editorial
juxtaposition would have given them the impact they deserved.
The front page of
the newspaper was devoted to a story of under-age drinking in public places,
conjuring up scenes of bacchanalian revelry in the Wellhead Gardens by
youngsters of 15 and 16, their transgressions revealed next morning by a trail
of empty alcopop bottles and spent lager cans which the police kindly collected
for a photo shoot to illustrate what had been going on. The alarm was raised by
local forklift truck driver Mark Howlett, aged 39, who walks his dog, Roxy,
through the park twice a day but on Saturday and Sunday mornings the grassy
areas are regularly littered with broken bottles and he had often helped the
groundsman clear up. “The culprits would not do it in their own homes and I
wonder why they do it to spoil such a beautiful park”, he said.
Police are now appealing to parents to help tackle the problem and are stepping
up patrols. “These teenagers are acting irresponsibly”, said Constable Steve
Smith. “They are making it very difficult for us and it seems to be getting
worse every year. The problem is also a difficult one in the villages and we are
urging people to report under-age drinking.”
This is in direct contrast to another item which appeared in the same issue of
the newspaper in the From our Archives feature on Page 8 which reported from
1999: “A police crackdown on under-age drinking in public places such as the
Wellhead Gardens and the Abbey Lawn was working, according to Inspector John
Fisher. High visibility policing using regular and special constables led to
less youngsters wandering around with alcohol and less complaints from
residents.”
The impetus of ten years ago was therefore not maintained and anyone who has
followed events in Bourne in recent years will know that far from being
controlled, the excessive intake of alcohol by young people in public places,
often fuelling cases of unruly behaviour and criminal damage, has increased.
What therefore has happened? Either the authorities have failed to win hearts
and minds over the past decade or some of our teenagers have become so
completely undisciplined that they are now beyond the control of parents,
police, school and society and the verdict appears to be obvious.
Perhaps these incidents are an indication that behaviour related to over
indulgence might benefit from a return to the more restrictive social code of
past times. The recognition that the excessive consumption of alcohol was
directly or indirectly linked with moral and physical evils became manifest in
England during the 19th century when the temperance movement flourished and had
a far reaching affect on personal conduct.
Some organisations, mainly religious, placed the proportion of social evils from
this cause as high as 75% although a closer examination of the records would
reveal a more moderate figure. Recent analysis indicates that intemperance was
responsible for only 14% of cases of destitution and that people drank because
they were poor, not that they were poor because they drank. Statistics from the
period also suggest that 10% of lunacy cases, a state that covered a multitude
of mental malaise, were directly attributable to excessive drinking and that
intemperance was widely regarded as a potent cause of secondary poverty.
The temperance movement originated in 1826 with the object of prohibiting the
use of alcohol as an option not as a necessity, placing the liquor sales under
official control with the profits being used for public purposes, the
introduction of counter attractions, high licence fees and taxation.
Prohibition, as introduced in the United States from 1920-33, was never favoured
by the English temperance organisations except as a long term policy and the
main direction of the campaign was to persuade the individual to abstain of
their own free will, usually by the popular act of declaring total abstinence,
popularly known as taking the pledge, often in public at temperance meetings.
Public witness was a favourite method of avowing the giving up of alcohol
because the stigma of over indulgence was, in many cases, deeply felt. For
instance, in the autumn of 1854, Thomas Fracey, a fruit and fish hawker trading
at Bourne market, was brought before the local magistrates accused of
drunkenness and abusive behaviour while running his stall on market day and was
fined five shillings. The sentence was not unusual but Fracey was mortified by
his conduct and the following week, asked the Stamford Mercury newspaper
to publish an apology on his behalf which they did on November 10th adding: "It
is hoped that he will forthwith enrol himself a member of a teetotal society".
The archives are full of other examples of heavy drinking although the majority
involved adults from the working classes, that is those who earned their living
by manual labour rather than the professions, the teenage drunk being a
phenomenon of modern society.
The temperance movement continually claimed that its activities were having an
effect on the drinking habits of the population and an apparent reduction in the
amount of drunkenness in Bourne during the late 19th century is indicated by a
report in 1890 to the Brewster Sessions, the annual meeting of the magistrates
sitting as licensing justices to consider the conduct of public houses and to
renew or refuse licences for incoming landlords. The police produced figures
showing a dramatic decline in convictions for drunkenness in the town during the
previous 12 years and the Stamford Mercury reported: "These figures will give
the temperance party in Bourne unqualified delight."
Abstinence became such a strong force in English life that most
towns soon had a hotel which did not serve liquor and they became known as
temperance hotels. Such an establishment called the Willoughby opened in South Street in 1896 and apart from offering accommodation for
visitors, also provided a venue for local organisations to hold social
functions, such as meetings, dances, dinners, suppers and wedding receptions,
without serving alcohol.
But public attitudes changed and by the mid-20th century, social conditions had
improved and wages increased and the taboos associated with alcohol began to
disappear and drinking became an accepted practice in all walks of life. Today,
liquor in all of its forms, spirits, wine and beer, can be bought at a variety
of outlets including public houses and off-licences, which until recently were
the only available source, to supermarkets, grocery stores and even garages.
Intoxicating liquor, once damned as the demon drink in a succession of plays,
films and books, is no longer a mark of ostracism and deprivation but an
integral part of our social fabric provided its use is kept within bounds.
Unfortunately, there is a degree of responsibility required by those who drink
which is not always observed by those of less mature years and so wayward
conduct from this age group becomes a condemnation for us all.
Thought for the week: The first thing in the human personality that
dissolves in alcohol is dignity. - author unknown.
Saturday 25th July 2009
Waste recycling banks will soon be gone -- see "As predicted .
. . "
The Queen now has an allotment, thus following a long
tradition perpetuated by the working classes to grow their own fruit and
vegetables. According to BBC Online (June 13th) Her Majesty’s sustainable
plot has been dug inside the 40-acre grounds of Buckingham Palace where the
royal table will soon benefit from runner beans, leeks and beetroot in an
attempt to promote self-sufficiency throughout the nation. Other prominent
royals are following suit and even the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, is reported
this week to be reaping the benefits of fresh produce from the garden at No 10.
Allotments are currently enjoying a boom, especially in the capital, and are
eagerly sought while here in Bourne where they have always been popular, there
is a long waiting list and the town council has recently tried to reduce the
demand by dividing its larger plots into two.
These small areas of land let out at low rents to enable families grow
vegetables have become part of the British way of life and the butt of music
hall jokes for more than two centuries and they survive today as a regular
source of both fresh produce and rich humour. The higgledy-piggledy collection
of sheds, shanties and lean-tos that have sprung up around these places are
claimed to be the refuge of henpecked husbands anxious to escape their nagging
wives and there may be a grain of truth in this but they also contain the spades
and forks and other equipment needed to tend the land and to grow the cabbages
and carrots, the parsnips and potatoes, with which they invariably return home
after a Sunday morning's hard labour.
The allotment is defined by law as a piece of land not more than five acres in
area that is cultivated as a farm or garden, in other words, a miniature
agricultural holding. There was a time when each cottager had his own small
parcel of land which he cultivated for the benefit of his family and in addition
had the right to graze his cattle, pigs and geese on common land, but such
rights were denied under the Enclosure Acts of the 18th and 19th centuries and
by way of compensation, gardens were reserved for them in many districts. This
was a benevolent intention that failed in practice because during the mid-19th
century, almost half a million acres of land were enclosed but a mere 2,000
acres set aside for the poor.
Allotments were regarded as an inducement to keep agricultural workers in the
countryside and to stop the drift of much needed labour from the land to the
towns and the Parish Councils Act of 1894 provided this stimulus and during the
first four years of its working, almost 15,000 acres were allocated to 32,000
tenants. This impetus was reinforced by the Small Holdings and Allotments Acts
of 1882 and 1908 which gave compulsory powers to local authorities to provide
allotments.
Many city dwellers took on allotments during the Great War and by 1918 there
were 1.3 million of them producing vegetables at the impressive rate of
2,000,000 tons annually. As a result of later legislation, the system was here
to stay, particularly the act of 1919 that enabled councils acquire land for the
purpose of letting it out in small plots and, more specifically, the act of 1925
that empowered a borough or an urban district council acquire land with the
approval of the Ministry of Agriculture.
When the Second World War broke out in 1939, a campaign was launched in Britain
under the slogan Dig for Victory when local authorities turned parks and
wasteland into allotments and even commandeered private garden lawns.
Exhibitions were organised, demonstration plots established and millions of
information leaflets distributed. The pros and cons of the allotment were
discussed in talks on the radio, vicars were urged to stress the virtues of
growing food in their sermons and some authorities appealed to the competitive
spirit of their communities with prizes for the best vegetables and even the
best compost heap.
In Bourne, allotments were provided in the past at many locations by benevolent
landowners, notably the Earl of Exeter (Lord of the Manor of Bourne), William
Ann Pochin (Lord of the Manor of Bourne Abbots), Lord Aveland and Lord
Willoughby, a particular pioneer of allotments for working people who addressed
a public meeting on the subject at the Victoria Hall [now demolished] on
Saturday 16th March 1889. The terms of agreement provided for sixteen cow
pasture allotments of two acres each in Bourne Fen, with an annual rental of £2
per acre, payable half-yearly. There were also 17 one-acre allotments in two
fields near the Auster Wood with an annual rental of £1 per acre, also payable
half yearly. This was a very popular move by his lordship and there were 33
applicants for the large holdings, the first experiment of its kind in this part
of Lincolnshire, and 51 applicants for the smaller holdings, and all were
subsequently let.
Today, there are two areas of allotments in Bourne but their size is far less
generous than those of the 19th century. The smaller of these, owned by Bourne
United Charities, is at the corner of Meadow Drove and Spalding Road and is
divided into 13 plots that are all occupied. The other larger area of land is in
South Fen Road and administered by the town council. Both enjoy the benefits of
a rich, black soil and producing annual crops of vegetables for those who
cultivate them at a fraction of the price they can be bought in the shops but
far more importantly, providing a hobby for those with little garden space at
their own home while also maintaining the tradition of self sufficiency.
Bourne Town Council purchased the land on South Fen Road from Lincolnshire
County Council in March 1982. The total area was just over 4½ acres and was
originally divided into 89 various sized plots, all of which have since been
occupied. Every allotment holder signs an agreement at the beginning of their
tenancy and pays a small amount of annual rent during January. Approval is also
given for tenants to erect a small shed not larger than 4 ft x 6 ft for the safe
keeping of tools and gardening equipment. A contractor is regularly maintaining
the car parking area and roadways and there is also a water supply but it is
turned off during the winter months.
There has always been a keen and friendly rivalry among allotment holders and
since 2002, the town council has been organising an annual Best Kept Allotment Competition to keep
this spirit alive. The recent popularity in growing your own fruit and
vegetables has also increased the demand for plots and by this summer, the town
council had a list of 66 names of people wanting allotments with a possible wait
of three years before they get one and with no further land available to create
more, the authority has began splitting up the larger plots as they become
vacant to meet the demand with the result that the original 89 plots have now
been increased to 92. The popularity of the allotment in Bourne is therefore
assured for the foreseeable future.
As predicted by this column last month, the waste recycling banks that
have become a familiar sight in various places around the district are to be
scrapped (June 6th). South Kesteven District Council has decided that because of
the response to kerbside collections through the silver wheelie bins issued to
households, they have become unnecessary and will be phased out.
There are several of these green-painted metal containers around Bourne, notably
in the supermarket car parks at Sainsburys and Rainbow and on the spare plot of
land behind Wake House, and they always seem to be in use and filling up
whenever we pass by. But the council says that since the kerbside wheelie bin
scheme was introduced, more than 25,000 tonnes of waste has been redirected from
landfill to recycling and composting and this has had a dramatic affect on the
amount collected from our recycling banks which are based at village
halls, car parks, schools and retail outlets. “We therefore think this is the
right time to ask residents if this service still offers value for money,
considering it costs between £60,000 and £70,000 a year to provide”, said a
spokesman.
The writing has been on the wall for these community amenities for some time
after the recycling banks outside the Tesco supermarket in Market Deeping, near
Bourne, were closed in December 2007 on the pretext that an assortment of
unwanted items had been left there in breach of the regulations and it was
forecast then that this was the beginning of the end.
But the council does not appear to have taken into account that these recycling
banks are a positive addition to the waste collecting process especially as many
large families find the silver bin totally inadequate for the amount generated
during the two weeks between collections. Phasing them out therefore will
constitute yet another cut back in our well used public services, a policy now
being pursued by many local authorities that has already cost us our weekly
kerbside collections which were axed for the first time in more than 100 years
when the wheelies were introduced in the autumn of 2006.
The authority claims that the decision was taken after a public consultation in
which the views of residents were sought and a statement issued this week said:
“We asked you if the service was a good use of taxpayers’ money. We received a
lot of feedback and although many of you thought it was a valuable service, over
half of those who responded said they could understand why we were thinking
about stopping the service.”
This appears to indicate public approval which is not the case because the
relevant statistics of the consultation exercise which the council provided
yesterday on request does not support the closure decision because there were
only 26 replies from residents to their questionnaire and only 30% of them
supported a withdrawal of the service while almost 40% did not and did not
understand why the council was even considering it. A total of 77 parish
councils were also consulted and of the 47 that responded, half did not support
closure and did not understand why the council was considering it while only two
of the six supermarkets consulted replied and both said there was some interest
in supporting recycling.
Support for the withdrawal of the recycling banks therefore appears to be
non-existent and there is a distinct feeling abroad that the so called public
consultations are merely a prelude to the curtailment of this service or that, a
smoke screen to conceal an unpalatable decision that has already been taken. No
doubt we will soon be getting one over the proposed closure of the bus station.
The Bourne connection can be found throughout the world, particularly
North America where this web site is read in practically all 50 of the United
States. An email from Denver, Colorado, this week showed that interest is
particularly keen in our motor racing tradition and Scott Carlin has sent us a
fifty year old poster reminding us of the competitive days of the BRM.
He writes that his father was involved in motor sport during that period and
later amassed a small collection of memorabilia including this advertising
announcement of the 1962 meeting in which the V8 made its debut. The car was
developed by the company established by Raymond Mays (1899-1980), international
driver and designer, at his workshops in Eastgate and given outings at various
meetings before eventually winning the world championship later that year with
Graham Hill at the wheel.
The poster refers to the International Lombank Trophy Formula One meeting at
Snetterton, Norfolk, on April 14th with various drivers competing including
Stirling Moss, Innes Ireland, Roy Salvadori, John Surtees, Graham Hill, Richie
Ginther, Jack Brabham and Jim Clarke driving the V8 which won the trophy event.
In other years, the race was also won by Innes Ireland (1960), Jack Brabham
(1961), Jim Clarke (1962) and Graham Hill (1963) and the magnificent silver cup
for which they competed is now in the Heritage Centre at Bourne together with a
huge collection of other racing trophies from that era. The poster that has
arrived from America has now been printed out and framed and will be preserved
with them as a reminder of those exciting days on the track and the prestige
they brought to Bourne.
Thought for the week: We rarely think people make sense unless they agree
with us. - François de La Rochefoucauld (1613-80), French author of maxims
and memoirs and an example of the accomplished 17th-century nobleman.
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