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Saturday 4th September 2010
The latest government
initiative to reduce street clutter
is to be welcomed because unnecessary road signs, railings and advertising
hoardings are damaging the character of our towns and villages. Many signs are
unsightly and even unnecessary and leave motorists confused and the Communities
Secretary, Eric Pickles, has accused over-zealous councils of wasting money by
erecting them when all they do is blight the environment with the result that he
and Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, have written to local authorities
calling on them to begin removing them.
This is not the first time the problem has been addressed but the last such
initiative five years ago fizzled out through the inaction of local authorities.
Perhaps this time something will be done because the beauty of our small market
towns is gradually disappearing under a welter of traffic signs, ugly street
furniture and unsightly obstructions that are creating a visual chaos in places
that should be full of charm and history.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Bourne where successive local authorities
have been responsible for installing equipment in the most unsuitable places to
the detriment of the environment and the street scene. A walk through the town
with this in mind will reveal some of the nastier effects that have been foisted
on us by council planners with little thought for their appearance and the
motivation appears to be that if it works it will do, no matter how it clashes
with its surroundings or defaces the traditional appearance of a country market
town.
One of the worst examples of this official vandalism was the new system of
traffic lights erected in the town centre in the summer of 2004 at a cost of
£170,000 when the ugly and badly designed black supporting posts were erected
with little or no thought to their appearance with the result that more
depressing additions have appeared in our town centre, one of them even pressed
close to a Grade II listed building in the main street.
In 2005, English Heritage was well aware of what was happening in many of our
towns and cities and launched an initiative to make us more conscious of our
surroundings, although in the event it came to nought. The aim of the campaign
was to restore dignity and character to our historic streets, largely by
removing the blight of unnecessary signs, poles, bollards, barriers, hotchpotch
paving schemes and obtrusive road markings under which they were currently
suffering.
England's streets are important because they are the first thing visitors see
and so their appearance is how we are perceived by the world yet it is
astounding to discover that more than 20 different agencies, including the local
councils, are able to install equipment in them and unfortunately there is no
control and very little co-ordination over their activities, even where historic
and conservation areas are involved. In this way, buildings and thoroughfares
can be ruined overnight by unsightly additions and once in place, it is
difficult to get them removed.
Bollards, posts and signs therefore proliferate over time without anyone
actually determining whether each new addition is strictly necessary or
integrated into the wider area. There has been a great tradition in this country
of making and maintaining attractive streetscapes but in recent years we have
allowed them to be marred by swathes of unnecessary clutter, mainly to meet
national traffic and engineering regulations, and Bourne has more than its fair
share.
The campaign by English Heritage was aimed principally at streets in
conservation areas or those with historic buildings although almost every road
or lane can be dramatically improved within the law and without infringing
health and safety. There are many examples in Bourne in and around the
conservation area which was designated on 21st July 1977, which illustrate the
problem we have. English Heritage said that cluttered streets were often a
symptom of a community in decline and with low self-esteem and it would be
tragic if that is how we came to be regarded by visitors.
The prolonged discussions involving the handover of the cemetery chapel
have brought into sharp focus the question of whether or not we actually need a
town council. These negotiations have been going on now for more than 2½ years,
largely due to delays initiated by councillors, so prompting criticism that the
authority has become little more than a talking shop and it is this very phrase
that has surfaced in Grantham where the establishment of a town council is
currently being debated because surprisingly they do not have one.
The old Grantham Borough Council disappeared during the reorganisation of local
government in 1974 leaving the town the only one in South Kesteven without a
local authority at parish level. Ceremonial affairs, including the election of a
mayor, are in the hands of 16 charter trustees, all members of South Kesteven
District Council representing local wards, and earlier this year they voted in
favour of forming a town council which is likely to be the subject of a public
referendum this autumn.
Some members, however, are now having second thoughts which have surfaced during
a discussion in the correspondence columns of the Grantham Journal
suggesting that as the town has existed perfectly well without a town council
for almost 40 years, it is now far too late in the day to start and in any case,
there is no need because public services are adequately provided by South
Kesteven District Council (August 27th).
Mike Taylor, a cabinet member for South Kesteven District Council, one of those
councillors who has since changed his mind, told the newspaper: “I became fully
aware of the unnecessary cost to the council tax payer and that a town council
will become an expensive talking shop with very little power.”
There have also been misgivings from another councillor, Ray Wootten, who
pointed out that an examination of the viability of a town council had already
revealed that the cost was far too high to contemplate. He added: “Should the
people of Grantham vote to create a town council I will not support a large
increase in council tax to provide the same service that we receive now.”
The role of the town council is minimal which is accepted here in Bourne and our
own official web site acknowledges that it has relatively few responsibilities
apart from the cemetery, the allotments, the public lavatories in South Street
and the Christmas lights, while its annual budget of £165,000 is considerably
less than that of a corner shop. But it does have an input into the planning
process although objections to most schemes usually pass unnoticed, especially
in recent cases of housing development, much to the exasperation of many
councillors who feel that the town is being swamped with too much residential
development.
Business also seems to proceed at snail’s pace which is not only frustrating for
those awaiting a decision but also a factor in destroying the credibility of
many local authorities. This is the current complaint from Bourne Preservation
Trust that has been trying to get agreement over a lease for the neglected
cemetery chapel since April 2008, a delay that has thwarted their efforts to
begin work on the building before the onset of another winter.
Even if the Grantham referendum result is in favour of forming a town council,
government approval will be needed and as the present coalition government has
pledged to abolish all unnecessary authorities as part of its drive to curb
public spending, there is no guarantee that it would become a reality. This
would mean an uncertain future for those that do exist and as council chambers
continue to exude hot air rather than make firm and speedy decisions for the
benefit of the community, those councillors who press for the retention of their
particular authority will find little encouragement either from the government
or from the people.
A perennial question is when does old age start and the answer varies
according to who is being asked. The young consider anyone over 30 to be getting
on a bit while the popular maxim that life begins at 40 has become an
inspiration for many to do something silly to prove that they are still young at
heart. Anyone who reaches 50 has made the halfway mark while 60 is in sight of
the old age pension and those who continue after that have one foot in the
grave.
These yardsticks have a certain truth but they are not the whole story because
not a day passes without a newspaper relating with wonderment about the
activities of someone of advanced years abseiling, paragliding, climbing the
Matterhorn, getting married again or even just being 100 or more and still
leading a full and active life. Overall, these tales reflect a condescension
towards the elderly who are generally regarded as non compos mentis once they
start drawing their old age pension and that to tackle anything considered to be
difficult, new or fashionable, deserves a round of applause whereas all they are
really doing is getting on with their lives and prefer not to be singled out as
freaks.
A recent survey indicated that the Internet is now being used by oldies in a big
way and this has caused some comment around the country as though hordes of
silver surfers have suddenly materialised and are about to take over cyberspace
whereas they are all ordinary people with computers doing what everyone else
does. We do not get editorial comment when youngsters learn how to use a PC or
that schools are teaching kids to log on but the moment granny buys herself a
laptop its becomes headline news.
This arrogance is manifest in other areas of public life and an example is the
naming of the new housing development at The Croft in North Road where work is
due to start his year on an estate of 68 retirement bungalows. Street names are
approved by South Kesteven District Council but there is always a dearth of
ideas and so they are always open to suggestions and this is one of the tasks
assigned to Bourne Town Council although anyone can participate. In this case,
Bourne Twinning Association has put forward a proposal to perpetuate the town in
Normandy which has been linked to Bourne since 1989 by calling it Doudeville
Court. But this has not found favour with the developers, the Longhurst Group,
who have told the council: “The scheme is intended for the over 55s and it is
felt that the name Doudeville may be difficult to pronounce and spell.”
How out of touch can people be. They should realise that when most of their
future tenants were at school, French was part of the curriculum and after five
years of study no one left without a smattering of the language. Even those that
did not, one place name from over the channel should not be difficult for even
the most geriatric as has been proved in other towns where successful twinning
is remembered such as Peterborough with Bourges Boulevard, Stamford with Vence
Close and Spalding with Speyer Avenue.
They also ought to take a look around Bourne where they will find many
unpronounceable street names from the Continent, not least Oosterbeek Close,
Kohima Close and Arakan Way, all home to a predominance of retired people, yet
they have slipped quietly into our topographical language while at the same time
commemorating the places and events for which they were intended. Perhaps the
developers have also forgotten that we are now part of the European community
and to shun place names just because they are spelled oddly and sound foreign
may even invite accusations of xenophobia.
Thought for the week: The great secret that all old people share is that
you really haven't changed in seventy or eighty years. Your body changes, but
you don't change at all. And that, of course, causes great confusion.
- Doris
May Lessing (1919- ), Iranian-born author who won the Nobel Prize for Literature
in 2007 and is currently ranked as one of the greatest British writers.
Saturday 11th September 2010
The high density housing favoured by developers and local
authority planners today is in sharp contrast to the council houses of
yesteryear which were solidly built on spacious plots, usually three up and two
down with sizeable gardens and often home to large families who lived there in
comparative comfort. Today, the shoe boxes that are springing up on every
available spare plot of land have, in the time honoured phrase that is so often
heard to describe them, hardly room to swing a cat.
Council houses have a place of affection in the memories of those who were born
and brought up in one as I was in the 1930s and although we had only one cold
water tap and an outside lavatory and we envied those better off families who
owned their own homes and were enjoying modern conveniences, improvements were
made over the years and today these houses hold their own in the property market
and are much sought after when they do come up for sale.
The heyday of council housing in Bourne was during the last century when they
became a major factor in our expansion and nowhere is this development better
illustrated than on the eastern side of town. Between the wars, a considerable
number of these properties were erected, both houses and bungalows.
The old Meadowgate Road, now called Manning Road, was developed in 1914 and 1919
and the Alexandra Terraces were created between 1924 and 1925. Recreation Road
received 42 council houses in a single year, 1928, and between then and 1930, a
further 48 properties were erected in George Street. By 1938, Bourne Urban
District Council had built a total of 204 houses, mostly situated around the
recreation ground in Recreation Road although there were others in Dyke village.
Harrington Street, one of the biggest estates, was named after Robert
Harrington, the town's 17th century benefactor, and developed between 1936 and
1937 with a total of 44 houses and ten bungalows, all of which are in use today.
This new residential area was officially opened in 1937 by Sir Edward Campbell,
MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health. Then soon after the end
of the Second World War in 1945, building started again with the creation of
additional streets and roads. Harrington Street was further extended between
1947 and 1950 with a different style of housing while 70 more homes appeared in
Ancaster Road. Queen's Road was established in 1953 with Edinburgh Crescent
adjoining and by 1960, 118 council houses, bungalows and flats were built in
these two roads while Kingsway appeared a few years later.
New building activity during the first half of the 20th century altered the
appearance of the town more rapidly than at any other time in its history. For
example, in the years between 1914 and 1970, BUDC alone erected 546 houses,
bungalows and flats and by 1969, there were 2,048 domestic properties in Bourne
and 597 were owned by the urban district council, some built on the sites of old
demolished buildings scattered around the town. The authority boasted in its
official town guide for that year: "Much private development is also in progress
which suggests that people wish to live in Bourne. The housing, private and
council, makes an attractive whole in which anyone may be encouraged to reside."
The council houses of past years were originally designed as accommodation for
the working classes and have been built by local authorities for more than a
century. Intensive building programmes during that period, especially in the
years following the two world wars, has left most localities with a row of these
distinctive houses, constructed to a simple and similar design, but providing
rented homes and gardens for families of modest means.
The Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher changed the perception of
the council house when the Housing Act of 1985 included a statutory Right to Buy
entitlement, introduced to encourage home ownership, and this enabled thousands
of sitting tenants purchase the properties in which they lived at discount
prices. As owner occupiers, they could then change the appearance of their homes
to suit their own tastes and these modifications invariably started with a new
front door, a feature that distinguishes the house that is now privately owned
from that which is still rented and is much in evidence today in the council
house streets.
But the building of new council houses has all but ended and South Kesteven
District Council has even tried, unsuccessfully, to get rid of the 6,300
properties it still owns, 535 of them in Bourne, although tenants were allowed a
final say and they voted in 2006 by a 76% majority against the idea of their
properties being sold to a housing association. Local authorities give the
reasons for not embarking on further council house development as changing
tastes and that people prefer to buy their own homes but if this were true there
would be no waiting list yet almost 4,000 people in the South Kesteven district
currently have their names down for one.
Meanwhile, the practice of cramming a large number of houses on to one small
plot continues despite misgivings by many town and parish councils who
invariably register protests yet the district planners continue to hand out
permission for practically every application. High density housing usually
includes a small number of affordable homes and financial packages are available
to help first time buyers obtain one but compared with the council houses of old
which are still providing a useful service they are a poor substitute and for
anyone with a family may soon present problems of overcrowding while the garden
as a place to play is no longer an option.
A small town in Texas, USA, has been in touch with us, officials having
been delighted to find somewhere on this side of the Atlantic with the same name
as theirs. Wendy Little, the Director of Marketing at the Boerne Convention and
Visitors Bureau, emailed to say that they had just been informed of our
existence by a visitor from London and they were so excited to hear that there
was another similar sounding place such as ours.
She added: “We see that we are not spelled that same but wondering if we sound
the same. Ours comes from a German immigrant named Ludwig Borne but over time
the spelling eventually changed to Boerne to compensate for the lack of an
umlaut in the English language. Can you tell us a little bit about your town, we
looked at the pictures from your web site and it looks absolutely beautiful."
I have therefore sent them a short history of Bourne with which they are
delighted and Wendy has replied telling us that Boerne, which is pronounced in
the same way as Bourne, has a population of about 10,000 people and so is
similar in size, and is situated right in the middle of Texas in the heart of
the hill country, an area mostly settled in the mid-19th century after Ludwig
Borne inspired many young men to leave Germany and travel to the new world.
The land on which his settlement stood was eventually bought by Gustav Theissen
and John James who founded the town in 1851 and as businesses grew and
stagecoach routes began to appear in the area, Boerne itself began to develop
but as it had been established by free thinkers with no religion, churches were
not permitted. Preachers found inside the town after sunset were warned that
they would be shot although times have changed and St Peter’s Church now stands
in Main Street while the railways replaced the stagecoach to bring a new
prosperity and soon Boerne was expanding rapidly and became incorporated in 1909
with its own mayor.
Today, it is a popular place for tourists looking for antiques, viewing historic
buildings and relaxing in the comfort of a small town. Several community
activities take place throughout the seasons and Boerne can now boast that those
who live there are proud to call it home.
"Although we are obviously much younger than your Bourne we are still very proud
of our history and heritage“, said Wendy. “Something funny, and I really did
laugh out loud, one of our current city council members names is Robert Manning!
Please, let’s keep in touch. You have a lovely town, I love the architecture,
the woods and the countryside, and would love to visit some day."
What the local newspapers are saying: A warning that Bourne’s heritage is
in danger of being eroded unless more care is taken in the restoration of our
old buildings appears in the correspondence columns of The Local
newspaper (September 3rd) following my article on the parlous state of Wake
House in North Street which is in urgent need of attention.
The 200-year-old building was Grade II listed in July 1977 and is now owned by
South Kesteven District Council and currently occupied by the Bourne Arts and
Community Trust but the window sills, doorcase and rendering on the frontage are
crumbling and other work is required around the property and so they are trying
to obtain a long lease in order that repairs are carried out as a matter of
urgency but progress is painfully slow.
Anthony Jennings, of Dowsby Hall, near Bourne, an experienced and dedicated
conservationist, considers that Wake House is one of Bourne's best buildings, a
good example of late Georgian classicism with carefully proportioned
fenestration. In a letter to the newspaper following my article about the
history of the building and detailing its current state, he warned that SKDC or
the trust must ensure that any windows that have to be replaced are identical in
all respects to the existing ones with their characteristic early Victorian
glazing, and of appropriate materials, in other words good quality wood rather
than, for example, the environmentally unfriendly uPVC that continues to
disfigure the town. He went on:
“Too much of the conservation area has
already been allowed to deteriorate through thoughtless and historical
ignorance. Some shopkeepers have done an excellent job and should be applauded
but a number of shop fronts, particularly in the North Street part of the
Conservation Area, are wholly inappropriate and counter productively so because
sympathetic shop fronts bring in more customers. And so Bourne gradually
deteriorates. When this sort of thing goes on, the whole town suffers, as it
becomes more difficult to present itself as attractive to visitors. We must make
a concerted effort to encourage those who are working hard to conserve the
heritage of Bourne, and we must refuse to heed the negative minority that seeks
to obstruct progress in rehabilitating Bourne’s best buildings. The people of
Bourne must understand that its heritage would be its greatest asset if only it
was properly cared for.”
This is an unsolicited opinion from a member of the public and
appears to reflect the current mood that deliberations involving the future of
our old buildings are too slow and protracted, not only for Wake House but also
for the Victorian chapel in the town cemetery. Both are protected by listed
status yet both have been neglected by the local authorities which owned them
and who are now dragging their feet when volunteers seek to take on the burden
of restoring them for the future.
Gratitude appears to take second place to procrastination with the result that
the buildings deteriorate further because of bureaucratic and often unnecessary
delay while the enthusiasm of those who wish to do the work is dampened to the
point of despair. Anthony Jennings does well to point out the dangers created by
a negative minority for although small in number, they can do untold damage when
they occupy positions of power.
Thought for the week: Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to
forestall. He will end by destroying the earth. - Albert Schweitzer
(1875-1965), German theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician.
Saturday 18th September 2010
The archway needed for a new access - see "Worshippers
at . . . "
Yet another milestone for voluntary effort has been
marked with the town winning a silver gilt award in the East Midlands in Bloom
competition, the third in a row and the fifth consecutive success since 2006,
making it the best result ever. The 162 points awarded also made Bourne a
category winner for the first time, narrowly missing the coveted gold.
The judges arrived in July to find the town full of flowers with the public open
spaces looking their best after many months of hard work by a team of helpers
co-ordinated by the clerk to the town council, Mrs Nelly Jacobs. Their tour took
them from the Heritage Centre in South Street through the War Memorial and
Wellhead Gardens before taking a look at the main streets and other areas of the
town decorated with planters, towers, troughs and tubs, all ablaze with
colourful blooms. The owners of several business premises such as the Nag’s
Head, the Angel Hotel and Smiths of Bourne, decorated the front of their
premises with hanging baskets but disappointingly many did not and this may have
affected the final marking by the judges who suggested that if more contributed,
we might eventually win the top award.
“Nevertheless, this really is an excellent achievement and I would like to thank
everyone who has made a contribution”, said a jubilant Mrs Jacobs who attended
the presentation ceremony at the Guildhall in Northampton on Wednesday. “We have
been steadily increasing our rating each year and now we are just eight points
away from a gold medal which means that perhaps next year it might be
achievable, especially if there is more input from business premises in the town
centre.”
In their adjudication, the judges made special mention of the cleanliness of the
town, landscaping around the Roman Bank industrial estate, the residential
gardens around Elsea Park which were considered to be extremely well designed
while planting, landscaping and the composting scheme at the town cemetery in
South Road also received special praise. They were also impressed with the
management of Bourne Wood and the work carried out by the Friends group and
recycling statistics while the black and gold street furniture was commended for
complementing an already attractive town centre.
There was also special praise for our schools, notably the Robert Manning
College with received a special Judges’ Award for the attractive and innovative
planting of the floral boat in South Street while Westfield Primary School won
the competition for the Best School Garden. This event is judged quite
independently but each town is only allowed to submit one school for the
competition and with a total of thirty competing, success in winning this plaque
was all the more noteworthy.
The annual event is community based and designed to encourage cleaner, smarter
and more attractive town centres in the region. There are several sections and
Bourne falls into Category B Towns, those with a population of between 6,000 and
12,000, based on the last electoral register.
The judges usually give a month’s notice of their arrival and tour the town
looking out for floral displays, attractive and colourful gardens and parks and
so it is important for everyone to give special attention to those places under
their control whether it is merely the lawn and herbaceous borders or a public
open space. Pupils from local schools, the scouts and police cadets all help in
keeping the streets and public places clear of litter.
An indication of what is needed was given by one of the judges, Doug Stacey,
when he spoke to the town council in 2009. “The competition originated in France
and has been running for 45 years”, he said. “It leads to cleaner communities
and encourages people to work together and take pride in their town.”
The competition carries with it an involvement of the people and the chance to
make our streets attractive throughout the summer months, not just for the
judges but also for the many visitors who arrive here with Bourne either as a
destination or merely passing through. The work carried out in successive years
is the perfect example of how a small market town should look at this time of
the year and we should remember that if people like what they see then they will
come again.
PAST AWARDS
* 2006: the town collected a Silver Award after scoring 121 points out of
a possible 200. Oakham in Rutland took top place with the Gold Award in the
event which attracted dozens of entries from across the region. A special award
was also made by the judges to the Westfield Primary School for its outstanding
allotment garden and pond.
* 2007: the town won a second Silver Award with 143 points, 22 more than
the previous year with a judges’ award for nature conservation work in Bourne
Wood in co-operation with the Friends of Bourne Wood.
* 2008: Bourne was awarded 151 points, its highest ever, to win a Silver
Gilt Award. The judges were particularly impressed by the colourful planters
around the town centre and surrounding streets and a special award was made to
the gardeners at the council's allotments in South Fen. Work at the Willoughby
School was also praised by the judges while Westfield Primary School won a
Silver Gilt Award after entering in the new schools category.
*2009: the town achieved 154 points and collected another Silver Gilt
award together with two other prizes, a judges’ honour for the sensitive
management of Bourne Wood and another for the least littered environment. Advice
for the future from the judges at the award ceremony at Cleethorpes was to
include larger floral displays and the organising committee is hoping that
sponsors will come forward to finance additional planting for future entries.
Local government is wanting in many respects, not least
in the field of public consultation, a procedure required by government over
most issues involving change yet the majority of councils resort to a confusing
and obscure process with the result that few people participate. The latest
example is the proposal to build a large incinerator plant in Pinfold Lane,
Bourne, alongside the present waste recycling centre run by Bullimores Ltd, the
builders’ and construction merchants, which has a depot next door, a facility
which would have the ability to provide electricity into the National Grid.
This appears to be totally unacceptable, the site being close to the main A16
and to the built up area to the south east of Bourne which includes a primary
school and nursery and a sheltered housing complex for old people. In addition,
a new estate of 108 houses is about to be built nearby with the prospect of
other residential development on adjoining farmland in the future. We may
therefore expect vigorous opposition from the governors of the Abbey CE Primary
School and Persimmon Homes who will be starting work soon on the site of the
Rainbow supermarket and the old Raymond Mays garage next door because the
prospect of a massive incinerator on the doorstep is unlikely to attract home
buyers.
The company insists that this is merely an outline proposal to extend recycling
on the site but it is being taken seriously by Lincolnshire County Council
because it has been included in their list of future waste management activities
in the area and has already attracted criticism from Bourne Town Council which
is lodging objections. The clerk Mrs Nelly Jacobs, told The Local
newspaper (September 3rd) that the proposed site was landlocked with only a
small access road and she added: “Councillors also objected over concerns about
delivery lorries travelling through the town centre.” There were also fears
about the type of waste to be incinerated, air pollution and whether waste from
the entire county might be sent here for disposal by burning.
Councillor Trevor Holmes, a member of South Kesteven District Council (Bourne
West), also has misgivings but was unable to expand on the newspaper report
announcing the proposed facility. “The incinerator would be too close to the
town’s amenities”, he said. “I am greatly concerned but must be guarded in my
comments because I am on the development control committee. However, with the
information at hand, I am opposed to it.”
This would therefore seem to be a classic case for terminating such a proposal
before it goes any further but LCC has asked for representations from the public
either in writing by post, by email or through their consultation web site on
the Internet. This seems to be a convenient method of lodging an objection but
in the event proves to be a daunting and almost impossible task and even the
most determined will give up before they have written a single word. You will
therefore search in vain for official details of this proposal and so we must
rely solely on the newspaper report which is alarming in the extreme without
even the benefit of further information from our own elected councillors.
To invite public comment and then make the process difficult, even impossible,
is hardly the essence of true public consultation and as support for an
incinerator at this point will be practically nil, we must therefore depend on
our objections from the town council being heard. At the same time perhaps our
two county councillors might like to raise their public profile by adding their
support to the protest before such an unwanted intrusion into our lives begins
to become a reality.
Worshippers at the Abbey Church are among the most dedicated volunteer
workers in Bourne, not only using the building as the centrepiece of their
religious faith but also ensuring that it is regularly cleaned and properly
maintained and many take their task so seriously that they spend hours and a
great deal of money to ensure that their efforts are effective. It is therefore
a blow to find their dedication dented by a decision from the Diocese of Lincoln
refusing permission to proceed with a small building project which would improve
its outdated toilets, currently outside the main building which can be most
inconvenient during inclement winter weather.
The parochial church council wanted to open up a mediaeval archway to create an
internal link to the new toilets, financed entirely from the £100,000
restoration fund launched in 2006, but diocesan officials have ruled that the
building might be damaged in the process and as an appeal to a higher church
authority would be an additional expense, the scheme has been scrapped amid much
disappointment.
The vicar, the Rev Christopher Atkinson, told The Local (September 10th)
that losing the judgment could have cost them up to £10,000 on legal,
architectural and other advice and as the money would come from the restoration
fund with no guarantee of success, it was regarded that an appeal should take
second place to finding a new scheme which would meet with diocesan approval.
“The feeling of the council is quite positive”, he said. “They see no sense in
giving up and think that this is the right way forward.”
This is yet another example of volunteers in Bourne battling against
officialdom, their work being obstructed and delayed by influences beyond their
control and from way outside the town yet they continue with the task in hand.
The decision from the diocese in this case is particularly disappointing because
it is widely believed that a passage once existed on the north side of the
church to the Abbey House and used by the Lord of the Manor of Bourne Abbots,
George Pochin, during his occupancy from 1764 and later by the vicar, the Rev
Joseph Dodsworth, when the building was used as a vicarage, but unfortunately
any proof which existed and might have a bearing on the current situation
disappeared when it was demolished in 1878.
Thought for the week: Those who can, do. Those who can do more,
volunteer. - author unknown.
Saturday 25th September 2010
Cleaning the church chandelier - see "The work of volunteers .
. . "
Our new Member of Parliament Nick Boles has hardly been
in the job for six months but here he is trying to tear down our established
institutions. Admittedly, South Kesteven District Council, which he wants to see
abolished, has only been in existence since the local government reorganisation
of 1974 but four decades is a long time in politics and this is therefore the
only local authority that most people deal with and to change it is a journey
into the unknown.
Brash though it may seem, Mr Boles, the new member of Grantham and Stamford
since the May general election, may have a point because he has caught the mood
of the nation when he writes: “Nobody in Britain feels a surge of pride when the
name of their district council is mentioned and few of the people it serves
would mourn its passing.”
This controversial viewpoint appears in his new book Which Way’s Up? which
purports to describe “the future for coalition Britain and how to get there” and
so we must assume that what he says is all part of the Big Society which is
currently being drummed around the block by the two governing parties.
The response from SKDC, reported by the Grantham Journal (September
17th), does itself no favours. This authority is already notorious for its
over-manning, employing some 750 workers, many highly paid and even more doing
unnecessary jobs, while the authority has made several dubious and costly
decisions in recent years that have been quietly consigned to the department of
lost causes in the basement at St Peter’s Hill. That is the public perception
yet a spokesman told the newspaper that they were pleased to see that Mr Boles
recognised that they maintained one of the lowest council taxes in the country
and added: “Over the summer we have been consulting with our residents, 86% of
whom were pleased with the services we provide.”
This is the first I have heard of any such consultation and so it is little
wonder that the spokesman failed to tell us actually how many participated in
this survey which arrived at such a large majority who are actually so pleased
with what they were getting in return for the exorbitant levels of council tax
currently being charged, whether it was all of the 131,200 people in the
district or, which is more likely, the usual half a dozen on which these
consultations always appear to be based.
In fact, the response from the council trying to protect itself plays directly
into the hands of our M P and although the initial reaction to the abolition of
SKDC may be one of shock and awe, a moment’s quiet reflection will confirm that
perhaps he is right after all. The powers of these councils, he says, should be
passed down to town and parish level which would save money on offices and
administrative overheads and restore them the right to decide and the
responsibility to pay for vital local facilities such as museums, leisure
centres and parks. Such an arrangement would also give the people more of a say
over how their community is run and no one can argue with that because in theory
it obviously can be done better and far more cheaply that way but whether this
will ever become a reality or merely another coalition pipe dream remains to be
seen.
Despite the delay by the town council in granting a lease for the
cemetery chapel to the Bourne Preservation Trust, others have been busy with
their support to ensure that the project is a success once they do get the key
of the door. Local businessman, Kenneth Jacob, who is not connected with the
trust but has advocated the saving of the Grade II listed building for some
years, has written to Tesco Stores seeking financial assistance once the
restoration gets underway and the response has been most encouraging.
Mr Jacob, of North Street, Bourne, did not know who to approach on the matter
and so he decided to go to the very top and wrote to the chairman himself, Sir
Terry Leahy, at his offices in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, pointing out that with
the opening of their new store on South Road next year, this might be an
opportune time to support this community project and so get the ball rolling to
facilitate an application for grant aid to other organisations such as English
Heritage.
It is obviously too early to make firm promises but the signs of interest are
evident because Mr Jacob has received a reply from Mark Singleton, the store
development manager, giving details of the company’s charity commitments and he has
also asked for a site meeting the next time he comes to Bourne. “I am sure”, said Mr Singleton,
“that a visit to the chapel would be very helpful and that this will be a great
start to the future relationship between Tesco and the residents of Bourne.”
The correspondence has been passed to the Bourne Preservation Trust who are
delighted with the interest from Tesco and are even more anxious to secure the
building as soon as possible. It would therefore be churlish to continue the
current delay
and perhaps jeopardise anything that may be on offer, thus making the conclusion
of an agreement with the town council all the more urgent and it is to be hoped
that a lease may now be granted without further hindrance.
The work of volunteers to keep the Abbey Church clean and tidy for
townspeople and visitors alike was highlighted by this web site last week and
although we have no wish to dwell on this continuing work unduly, one task which
has just been completed does deserve special mention.
It concerns one of the church's most ornate artefacts, a magnificent brass
chandelier which hangs in the nave and is therefore seen by all who enter, the
regular congregation, brides at weddings and mourners at funerals, and is not
only a decorative feature but also a fitting adornment for all services and
ceremonial occasions, and consists of branches for 24 candles which are lit at
festivals, particularly at Christmas, and this produces a splendid sight over
the worshipping congregation.
It was donated to the church in 1742 by Matthew Clay, a local landowner, to the
memory of his daughter who died at the age of 22 and the orb has an appropriate
inscription around the base:
The Gift of Matthew Clay
Of Bourn, Gent
In Memory Of Ann Clay His Daughter
Who Dyed In The 22 Year Of Her Age 1st March 1742
Her Piety And Virtue
The Last Day Will Manifest
The chandelier is identical to one in West Deeping church which
also dates from the early 18th century and the two are almost certainly the work
of the same craftsman. It is made of brass and requires constant cleaning but in
view of its position, suspended on a chain from the roof of the nave, this is a
daunting undertaking for all but the experts and as professional help would be
costly, church helpers complete the task themselves three times a year and this
was done on Monday by a small band of men and women.
This involved lowering the chandelier to a working height within reach of a
tower, or portable scaffolding, 20 feet high from where it could be dismantled
and each piece was then handed down to a band of waiting ladies who were ready
with their polish and dusters. The cleaned sections were then handed back and
replaced and the gleaming chandelier slowly returned to its lofty position above
the nave. If this is something you may have missed when visiting the church,
then go again and see it in all of its glittering glory.
My article on royal visits to Bourne appears on the web site and in
The Local newspaper this week and although not definitive, someone has
suggested that it should have included a reference to the monarch himself
arriving here during the 14th century, a claim that is fully covered in A
Portrait of Bourne but I fear that the story is almost certainly apocryphal.
It relates to Edward III who reigned for fifty years from 1327 to 1377 and is
supposed to have spent the night at Bourne Castle at the invitation of Thomas
Wake, a baron who played a significant part in the political affairs of his age
after assuming the title of Lord of the Manor of Bourne which had been in his
family since his ancestor Hugh Wake had acquired it in 1166. These were
turbulent times, the young king having succeeded his father, Edward II, at the
age of four and a council was elected to govern during his minority with his
mother's lover, Roger Mortimer, the principal power in the state. But he was
seized and executed in 1330 and Isabella forced to retire from public life when
Edward finally took supreme power.
The story goes that Thomas Wake invited the king to be his guest at Bourne
Castle in the spring of 1330 but this is doubtful and the reasons why are fully
explained by J D Birkbeck in his book A History of Bourne (1976) because he
writes: “Thomas Wake was one of the barons who opposed the Despensers, the
favourites of Edward II, and joined with Queen Isabella and Mortimer against the
king. When the Despensers were captured in 1326, Wake was one of the judges who
sentenced them to death. After the death of the king himself in 1327, Wake
became increasingly hostile towards his earlier patrons, Isabella and Mortimer.
He was now constable of the Tower of London, having charge of the political
prisoners therein, and also having responsibility for the peace and defence of
the city.
"In 1328, he joined a rising against Isabella and Mortimer but after Mortimer
had seized Leicester and confronted his enemies with great force, Thomas Wake
was obliged to surrender and was then fined and deprived of his offices. In
1331, after the fall and death of Mortimer, he was restored to his lands and
offices. He was also, for a time, governor of the Channel Islands. It appears
that he did not always find favour with the new king, Edward III, for he was
imprisoned in 1340.
"For the remainder of his life, he seems to have figured less prominently in
national affairs but it is clear that he was a man of power and influence in his
day. It is hardly likely that he would spend much time at his manor of Bourne .
. . and it is difficult to reconcile the date of the supposed visit with the
fact that Wake was in disfavour with Isabella and Mortimer after 1329 and was
not restored to his lands and offices until 1331. Though the young king Edward
III was certainly antagonistic to his mother and Mortimer, would Thomas Wake be
able to receive him at Bourne in 1330 or had he not been deprived of his Bourne
estate?"
Another case, therefore, of doubtful historical authenticity of which we should
be forever aware, especially when dealing with events from such a long time ago.
Yet they do have a curious interest, not only through the conjecture of what
might have been, but also about who first recorded this incident for without a
documentary reference we would not be discussing it now.
Thought for the week: A history in which every particular incident may be
true may on the whole be false. - Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-59),
English poet, historian and politician who wrote extensively on British history.
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