Bourne Diary - May 2012

Saturday 5^th May 2012

Report from The Local - see "Now that we know . . . "

One of Britain’s ancient country customs was observed in Bourne on Monday evening to secure the rental of the White Bread Meadow, a small field of just over one acre 1½ miles north of the town. It has become an annual tradition since the mid-18th century to auction the lease of this pasture during a 200-yard race between two schoolboys, once held on the Monday before Easter beside the Queen’s Bridge at the end of Eastgate although in recent years the date has been moved to the last Monday in April, therefore the Monday before the May Day Bank Holiday.

A bequest in 1742 by William Clay, a gentleman of Bourne, gave two pieces of land, the rent of which was to be distributed each year in the form of white bread among the householders and commoners in the Eastgate Ward. The land was called the Constable’s Half-Acre and the Dike Reeve’s Half-Acre but when the Enclosure Award was made in 1770, the original land mentioned in the bequest was incorporated in the new field system so in lieu of the two original half-acres of land there was allotted just over one acre of land in Bourne Meadows as the basis for the charity and it is this land that is still let annually under the terms of the will.

The conditions of letting were that two good loads of manure be put on the land, the meadow should not be overgrazed or poached, the fence be maintained in proper repair and that the hawthorn bush in the middle of the field should not be cut or damaged, by animals or weather, and although it has been blown down by the wind on two occasions, it has always been replaced. Clay also stipulated in the terms of the letting the bizarre manner in which the new tenant should be chosen and the annual race continues to be held in the traditional form as in previous years with officially appointed stewards on hand to ensure that the rules are observed.

When the auction begins for the grazing rights, the boys do not start running until the auctioneer thinks that a final bid may have been made and if by the time they have returned no further bid has been received, then the hammer falls. If a further bid has been received by the time they return, then the auctioneer usually asks them to run again and so the final bidder becomes the tenant of the land for the following year. The rent money now goes to one or more of various local charities but in 1968, one of the last times that white bread was actually bought and distributed, between 300 and 400 loaves were handed out from the proceeds of the charity which then amounted to £13.

After the annual ceremony, the boys who ran the race received one shilling each from the auctioneers, although they get £1 today, and then everyone attended a feast of bread, cheese, spring onions and beer. Until 1890, this took place at one of the six pubs in the Eastgate area, the Boat, the Woolpack, the Butcher's Arms, the New Inn, the Marquess of Granby and the Anchor but the meetings are now held solely at the Anchor. In 1941, no cheese was available owing to wartime rationing and in May that year, a German bomber crashed on the Butcher’s Arms and destroyed the usual convivial venue while the Boat and the Woolpack have been demolished and the New Inn converted for use as a private house.

The event today is merely a token of what was intended and girls often take part in the race when no boys are available although the auction is still very real and its result is legally binding. But family traditions for the administration of the charity continue. John Bannister, senior, is a third generation steward, his grandfather Tom, senior, holding office from 1935 until 1960 while his father Tom, junior, was steward from 1951 until 1999 when John was appointed. The current steward is Roger Macey who was appointed in 1972 when he succeeded his father-in-law. The auctioneer and chairman of the charity, Stephen Knipe, has held office since 1994 when he took over from his late father George who had let the meadow annually between 1959 and 1994. A new tradition has also been born in recent years with the attendance of the Bourne Borderers, a local group of Morris dancers who have now become a permanent feature of the proceedings.

On Monday, the 270th anniversary of the auction, the lads taking part in the race were brothers Christopher and Ieuan James who ran twice because of a last minute bid of £240 by David Austin who won the annual rental of the meadow which will be let to him for the sixth consecutive year.

From the archives: The quaint custom of letting the White Bread Meadow took place on the Queen's Bridge on Monday. Mr Herbert Driffill was the auctioneer. The bids are made whilst boys run to a given place and back again, the tenant for the year being the person whose bid is unchallenged whilst the boys run. This year, Messrs Lee and Green Ltd secured the tenancy at £4 2s. 6d. The company subsequently adjourned to the Marquis of Granby where a bread, cheese and onion supper was provided. The balance of the fund is spent on distributing bread in that part of the town known as Eastgate, which includes a portion of the Austerby, South Street and Abbey Road. It is estimated that this year, some 380 loaves will be distributed. - news report from the Stamford Mercury, Friday 11th April 1924.

Now that we know what the skateboard park at the Abbey Lawn will look like, according to the proposed design published by The Local newspaper last week (April 27th), questions will be asked as to whether it will enhance or detract from the tranquil surroundings of this ancient sports field. There is not yet any indication of its size but the installation of such an incongruous structure would appear to be wholly inappropriate and it is surprising that the trustees of Bourne United Charities do not appear to have considered this aspect of the proposal.

The design is reproduced by the newspaper from the Facebook page set up by the Dimension Park Committee and although it may be state of the art for skateboarders and BMX riders, it will not blend well with a traditional English sports field that has been in use for the past two centuries and now boasts a highly acclaimed cricket ground that is regarded as one of the finest in Lincolnshire.

Whether the skatepark is made of concrete or some synthetic material, there will also be the question of noise and as the Abbey Lawn is open continually during the hours of daylight, we may expect that this usually peaceful place will no longer be as quiet as the town has come to expect, especially on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in summer when the sound of leather on willow is likely to be drowned out by more boisterous sporting activity.

No one doubts the enthusiasm of the youngsters involved in the skateboard project or that they should be assisted in their attempts to find somewhere to practice their pursuit but a site on the very edge of the Abbey Lawn does not appear to be a suitable venue, especially as this historic sports field is in the very heart of the Conservation Area and it is the duty of our planners to ensure that both the outward and inward prospects are protected from any unsightly development.  

The sporting organisations that use the Abbey Lawn have objected as have home owners living in houses nearby in Coggles Causeway, Abbey Road and Victoria Place, and a petition is underway, all sufficient opposition for the trustees to think again. Choosing a less controversial site such as the Wellhead Field which they also administer would ensure that the town would not be split over an issue in which heated words and opinions have already been exchanged whereas the idea should be presented in such a way that it attracts and deserves the encouragement of the entire community.

Unfortunately, the objectors do not seem to be getting as much coverage as those who support the scheme and so we will have to wait and see whether the skateboarders have sufficient initiative to secure planning permission for the project and then raise the necessary cash, estimated at between £115,000 and £170,000, a major hurdle over which they may falter.

Objectors to the scheme, specifically Bourne Town Football Club, have suggested that a skateboard park may attract an unruly element that could result in litter and criminal damage to their premises, perhaps even worse, although these possibilities were not even touched upon by the trustees when offering the site even though they must have been aware of the disastrous effect that similar developments have had in other nearby towns.

These possibilities were, however, high among their main concerns over siting a bandstand in the Wellhead Gardens, the other project in which Bourne United Charities is currently involved, together with possible vandalism and misuse of the structure. They have also demanded assurances over ownership, insurance, construction, funding and on-going maintenance, none of which would they be willing to accept responsibility for themselves.

The deputy mayor, Councillor Helen Powell (Bourne West), who has designed the bandstand herself, has already managed to obtain pledges of £11,000 which is half of the total cost as well as the promise of hard core from a local contractor for use in the construction. Such enthusiasm for a worthwhile project to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee deserves the support and encouragement not only of the trustees but also of the entire town.

The Internet has provided an admirable opportunity for communities and organisations to make themselves known by launching their own web site and many have taken advantage of this opportunity. Few of them, however, can afford to pay for professional help but most have experts within their midst, either trained or self-taught, who are willing to spend a few hours in putting their club or village online and so we have literally thousands of web sites created by volunteers and representing a variety of skills from the highly professional to the distinctly amateur yet all a valuable source of information within their own circle.

One of the best to surface this year has been the newly designed web site for Morton and Hanthorpe created by ex-policeman Gordon Lack, aged 59, who has lived in the village for the past eleven years and is now a parish councillor. The web site has been up and running since 2004 but Gordon decided that it needed a revamp and so he has spent several weeks on a new design and adding to the content and the result is a model that others might wish to follow. It is attractive to look at, easy to navigate and packed with information about the two villages of Morton and Hanthorpe, situated on either side of the A 15, three miles north of Bourne, which have been a single parish known as Morton since September 2004.

The web site contains a short history of the villages, details of the important buildings such as the church and the Baptist chapel, the school and local pub, local organisations including the parish council, scouts and guides, over-sixties, the bowl’s club and Women’s Institute, events such as health walks, car boot sales and amateur theatrical productions and a page of local news, all valuable local information which is updated regularly and illustrated with Gordon’s own photographs, and there is even some verse by a local poet. The web site therefore acts as a parish newspaper because it provides details that everyone needs to know about the villages and constitutes a valuable aid to newcomers moving in.

Any village or organisation without a web site should regard this as a model which can be achieved for themselves while others who do have one will be able to pick up some pointers to improve their own. The Internet has become a major influence in our lives and is undoubtedly here to stay and so those who are connected with communities and clubs but have been reluctant to embrace the new technology ought to take a look to see how they could benefit. You can access the Morton and Hanthorpe web site via the villages section of Bourne Links.

Thought for the week: The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow. - William Henry (Bill) Gates (1955- ), American business magnate, philanthropist and founder of the Microsoft Corporation which provides the operating systems for most of the world's computers.

Saturday 12^th May 2012

X marks the spot for the proposed skateboard park

The proposal to locate a skateboard park at the Abbey Lawn has now turned into an acrimonious exchange between the trustees of Bourne United Charities which administers the land on behalf of the town and the tenants, the various sporting organisations which play there but are opposed to the development so close to their premises.

There has already been a complaint about the lack of discussion over the project and the trustees have now issued a statement claiming that the Abbey Lawn Sports Association was consulted prior to the public announcement but this has been denied. The statement, published on the BUC web site, says: "In September 2011, the trustees informed, in confidence, the ALSA committee of our thoughts to provide an area east of the Abbey Lawns (sic) for a skate/BMX park. It has been hoped this would complement the other formal outdoor sporting and leisure pursuits already available there."

This has been challenged by Derek Bontoft, the association’s treasurer. “I can categorically state that ALSA was never consulted or asked for its opinions”, he said. “The first we heard were rumours about the proposal through an informer or go-between and that the idea had little support from the majority of trustees. The association was never consulted or asked for its opinions. We provide the money for opening and closing of the gates at night and at weekends yet we have been excluded from the deliberations of Bourne United Charities on this issue."

Speculation that a skateboard park might be built at the Abbey Lawn was first reported by the Bourne Diary on 10th December 2011 with a suggestion that a statement of clarification from Bourne United Charities might be published on its web site but there was no response. There was also silence when the proposal was repeated on 25th February 2012 and the story was not made public until six weeks later when it appeared on the front page of The Local newspaper (6th April 2012).

The statement from BUC now reveals that negotiations had been going on for several months but how this was expected to remain a secret in such a small town as Bourne and with 15 members on the board of trustees is beyond comprehension. An absence of consultation with the very people who are directly concerned with such a development does seem to be a careless omission because it has created the current animosity which does little credit to such an important charitable organisation. There is also the question of support for the project among the trustees and although there has in past years been a climate of secrecy about meetings at the Red Hall, there does seem to be a case for giving the result of the voting on this issue, who was and who was not in favour of placing a skateboard park in the tranquil surroundings of the Abbey Lawn.

This entire episode boils down to a question of trust and the democratic process. It is unacceptable that a proposal of such far reaching consequences for the majority of our sporting organisations should be endorsed behind closed doors without direct consultation with those involved. Bourne United Charities administers money that has been left for the good of this town over the years and so enabled the acquisition of the Abbey Lawn that has become an asset to be enjoyed by all. But it cannot be open season, as the erection of the security fence in 2009 has proved. There must be restrictions and there must be controls. A major change such as this, therefore, should not be allowed to split the peaceful administration that has become part of its success and the trustees have a duty to observe this.

Skateboarding is a boisterous activity and one that produces a great deal of noise which is likely to be continuous enough during the day and early evening to constitute a nuisance for those living in the vicinity. There has been some confusion about the exact location of the skateboard park but the aerial photograph above illustrates that the proposed site in the so called Abbey Lawn Park area is in close proximity to nearby homes on three sides and to the other sporting clubs and may even provide sufficient evidence for the trustees to think again.

Families buying homes in Bourne can no longer expect their children to be given a place at local primary schools. Instead, they may have to make daily journeys of several miles to outlying villages where there is spare classroom space, irrespective of the stress and inconvenience this is likely to cause among working families. That is the message to all potential buyers from the front page report in the Stamford Mercury (May 4th) which claims that at least eight children are being sent to Edenham, Thurlby and Baston, despite applying for places at schools in Bourne.

The current shortage at the Westfield and Abbey primary academies is due entirely to the increase of new housing in Bourne in recent years, notably Elsea Park where building began eleven years ago, although other sizeable developments have since contributed to the problem including Hereward Meadows, Red Hall Gardens, the old hospital site in South Road, the old laundry site in Manning Road and others are on the way.

This situation was anticipated when Elsea Park was first announced in March 1999, the main objections being that the population explosion created by 2,000 new homes would bring an estimated 6,000 newcomers to the town, putting more pressure on existing services such as libraries, public transport, leisure amenities, dentists, health clinics and particularly schools, and so it has proved.

The controversial 300-acre housing estate to the south of the town is the biggest single residential development in the history of Bourne and one which went ahead despite widespread, almost total public opposition, mainly because of the speed with which it was pushed through and a perceived lack of consultation. A new school was one of the benefits to be provided by the developer as part of the planning gain agreed with South Kesteven District Council. The others included a south-west relief road to ease traffic congestion through the town centre which eventually opened in October 2005, four months late because of a dispute with the developers, a community hall which has only just been handed over and others that are unlikely to appear at all such as a doctor's surgery, a shuttle bus service and sports pitches.

The newspaper reports that both existing primary schools are now full and for the latest intake there were 180 places available but 205 applications with the result that those who did not get in have been offered places in the villages. Yet the new school promised to tenants buying homes at Elsea Park is not even on the drawing board.

The provision of this school has been on and off several times in recent years, usually citing the possibility of creating problems of surplus places at the two existing primaries. But in July 2010, the county council said that a projected influx of families to the town meant that it would be needed in the near future and could open as early as September 2013 although The Local later reported that it "has been put on the back burner because extra places for pupils are not yet justified" (30th September 2011) and the county council told the newspaper that plans were not being pursued because projected pupil numbers for reception age intakes did not justify the need for 210 extra primary places. Their spokesman added: "We will continue to monitor the situation closely and the developer is still obliged to provide a school when we require it."

The position is now quite different yet there is still no sign of the school being built although new homes continue to be advertised for sale in Bourne with the suggestion that primary school places are available close by, the latest being the Abbeyfields development where more than 100 houses are to be built on the old Rainbow supermarket site in Manning Road. Unfortunately, the official attitude is unlikely to change for the time being because the county council told the newspaper that they were not expecting as many new starters in September 2013 and 2014 as this year. "We would have to be sure there are sufficient local children to warrant a new school without harming local schools", said their spokesman.

That is exactly the same argument that has been put forward before and one that can be used ad infinitum were the population to remain static but that is not the case because Bourne continues to expand year after year. Apart from new families moving in, children from the Elsea Park estate who have already gone to the town's two primary schools will expect to stay there when and if the school eventually opens because parents will not wish to disrupt their education or sever the ties they have made with the staff and other pupils.

The county council's attitude therefore appears to indicate that the new school will only be built when there are sufficient children from the new estate waiting to go there without switching from elsewhere, and even though Elsea Park is the prime housing development in Bourne, this is something that is unlikely to happen for many years to come, if at all. Yet with 750 homes already completed, house building continues apace and this means new families and more children moving in. The problem is therefore likely to increase annually but as the gestation for a new school from planning stage to opening is around three years, Elsea Park is unlikely to get its promised new primary in the foreseeable future. The developers have a legal duty to provide one under the S106 agreement with South Kesteven District Council and it would therefore appear that the county council is dragging its heels, perhaps because it will have to pay for the teachers and staff at a time when the spending budget is being seriously cut back.

The water level has risen at St Peter’s Pool following the prolonged spell of rain and our favourite local beauty spot is beginning to regain its familiar appearance. Wildlife is slowly returning although there is a marked absence of the black swans that have lived there since they were introduced in 1999 as a gift from the Wildfowl Trust. A shelter was installed on the side of the pool where they laid their eggs but this proved to be vulnerable to predators and so an artificial island made from wood and floating in the middle of the pool was introduced to ensure that they kept out of harm's way.

Black swans are indigenous to Australia and Tasmania and they are handsome birds with dark, curly feathers, a bright red bill and white wing feathers that show only in flight. One appears on the armorial standard of Western Australia where the Dutch discovered it in 1697 and they took it to Batavia and thence to Europe where the existence of a black swan was regarded with amazement. Like the mute swan, it has been successfully domesticated and raised in captivity which is why this pair adapted so well to its new surroundings in the Wellhead Gardens. They produced several cygnets each year, fluffy grey bundles that attracted many children most days to see their progress while their parents were such a familiar sight that they became an icon for Bourne and my photograph of them featured on the front page of the town guide for 2004-05.

Many cygnets survived and some stayed and although several became prey to marauding foxes and even dogs, numbers were always around three or four. Their wings are pinioned by law to prevent them from breeding in the wild and so they are vulnerable to attack when there is no water and all but one of those remaining disappeared during the drought and may therefore have suffered a similar fate. Help is now at hand because we hear that a pair of black swans has been donated by Bourne Business Chamber and will be in residence at St Peter’s Pool within the next few days.

This is an excellent development because the black swans have become a favourite with visitors, particularly children, who take great delight in bringing them daily treats of bread and other tasty morsels and as a result, they become so tame that they swim over to meet anyone who arrives on the bank with a likely looking bag, usually with their family close behind.

Thought for the week: One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616), poet and playwright widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language.

Saturday 19^th May 2012

The opening hours of any retail establishment are not a matter for our local councils. They have the power to impose enough pettifogging controls as it is but this should not be one of them because it puts them in the invidious position of being able to grant planning permission for a shop or garage to open and then impose restrictions on how the owners should run their business. For this reason alone, South Kesteven District Council ought not to have disallowed a request from the developers of the new petrol filling station planned for a site in South Road, Bourne, for 24-hour trading.

The land in question covers 4.2 acres close to the Elsea Park roundabout. Part of it is to be used for a family public house and restaurant and the rest for the filling station. Lindum Goup based in North Hykeham which is behind the development quite rightly wishes to maximise its potential for the site which has been going begging without a buyer for over a decade and one would have thought that the council would have welcomed their proposal with open arms, especially as Bourne has been forced to manage with just one petrol outlet since the autumn of 2005, much to the frustration of local motorists.

Now there is the chance of another but the council is restricting opening hours from 6 am until 11.30 pm because of concerns about the impact on local residents although the garage will be built well away from the town on a greenfield site which is not in Bourne but lies within the neighbouring parish of Thurlby. The committee did not even give that extra half-hour at night even though the nearby Tesco supermarket and the Tesco/Esso filling station are allowed to stay open until midnight, thus giving a distinct trading advantage to the North Street garage which, incidentally, is in the middle of a built up area and surrounded by houses.

This does not appear to be a fair decision. Surely it should be up to the developer to decide whether this is a viable business opportunity or not. It is inconceivable that they would consider an all-night filling station at this location without sufficient research into its viability and that is how they wish to proceed. But no, councillors think they know better and one of them, David Higgs (Bourne East), even told the Stamford Mercury (May 4th): “Bourne doesn’t have a 24-hour petrol station and it was believed it didn’t have the need for one.”

Believed by whom? Not any motorist I have spoken to and what about those who do not come from Bourne. The garage will be sited on a major trunk road, the A15 which carries through traffic from the south to Lincoln, Humberside and beyond and to suggest that it will only cater for resident motorists is nonsense while the thought that no one wants to buy petrol at night creates the impression that we are living in a backwater, the Sleepy Hollow of rural England where no one stirs after dark. Twenty-four hour trading is fast becoming the norm throughout the country, for supermarkets and stores as well as garages, and members of the development control committee which was responsible for this decision ought to be aware of this.

Local authorities are there to encourage new business to move to their area to help keep the economy alive and to counteract the effects of the recession in which many are closing yet here we have SKDC selling land to a developer and then putting the damper on their project by restricting opening hours in one of the most competitive markets in Britain today.

Councillors should ditch this parochial approach and study the wider picture before making such a drastic decisions which in this case could have a serious consequence because Stuart Mitchell, development director of the Lindum Group, has now cast doubts over whether the new garage will be built at all because he told the newspaper: “We are pleased to have got approval which shows there is a need for the petrol station and that this is the right location. But we were disappointed with the operating restrictions. We have had no interest in the site with the restrictions in place so we are concerned that it may impact on our ability to deliver it. You do not see many petrol filling stations being built these days and you need everything in your favour for it to go ahead commercially. It is an obstacle we do not really need.”

So there we have it. Bourne struggles for seven years with a lone petrol outlet while the public cries out for another and when one eventually comes along, our own councillors sabotage its chances of success. That cannot be right.

One of Bourne's best known characters, Cyril Clay, has died at the age of 90. Few people did not know him, a familiar figure often seen cycling around town, doing odd jobs or engaged on his various duties as a council employee for more than six decades.

In fact, in September 2002, he became the longest serving employee of any local authority in the county when he completed 65 years of service without missing a single day off work through illness or for any other reason. This remarkable record was achieved in two stages, firstly as a full time council employee for 51 years, from 1937-88 and then as a part time charge-hand on the weekly town market from 1988-2002, adding a further 14 years to his long service.

He was better known as "Ching" Clay for as long as anyone could remember but he always refused to explain. "It is a nickname I got when I was a lad of ten and it has been with me ever since but I am not telling anyone the reason why", he told me in 2006 when celebrating his 83rd birthday. He also refused to let me take his photograph, despite making many appointments, and so we have no picture to remind Bourne of what he looked like.

Ching was born at Bourne in 1923 and attended the Bourne Council School [now the Abbey CofE Primary Academy] but left in 1937 at the age of 14 and went to work for Bourne Urban District Council, first at the town's gas works before moving to the waterworks two years later. Then in 1974, he transferred to South Kesteven District Council under the re-organisation of local government and although only an ordinary workman, in later years he enjoyed the title of general maintenance operative. He was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 1980 and the presentation was made on Friday 24th April 1981 at Wake House, then the council offices, by the Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire, Mr Henry Nevile, who read a message from the Queen in which she regretted being unable to make the presentation personally.

When he retired on his 65th birthday, Cyril was given another presentation, this time a gold watch by SKDC that was handed over at a civic reception in September 1988. The event was also due to have been held at Wake House but such was the regard in which he was held that it was too small for the large number of guests who wanted to attend and so it was switched to the more spacious surroundings of the Corn Exchange where the Mayor, Councillor Monty Burton, councillors, council officers and staff joined in the celebration.

Ching narrowly missed breaking his record for such loyal service a few days before his retirement when he was involved in a road accident while travelling as a passenger in a council van and was taken to hospital where he had seven stitches in his face but rather than miss a day's work, he refused to stay in overnight and reported for duty as usual next morning. There was a jovial suggestion after the ceremony that he should spend his retirement as a private consultant to the council and when he asked why, he was told: "You are the only person who knows where all the drains are in Bourne."

On retirement, he continued working part time at the Thursday and Saturday markets, supervising the erection and dismantling of the stalls and the clearing up after each day's business. When retirement from this job came round in September 2002, 79-year-old Ching was given yet another farewell party, this time at the Burghley Arms, where colleagues and friends gathered to drink his health and present him with a video recorder. Simon Collingwood, personnel manager with SKDC said: "We are sorry to lose him. He should be very proud of his achievement as the council's longest serving member of staff." He did however, remain a familiar figure around the town, keeping as busy as ever, collecting weekly football pools coupons and pedalling his bike and trailer loaded with rubbish or other articles that he was moving for he was always doing odd jobs.

Ching had been a widower since his wife Joyce died 30 years ago but had a son Leslie and a daughter Lynn. "I just loved every minute of my days with the council", he once told me, "but I also like to spend my spare time doing odd jobs and so there has never been any time to be bored."

A bandstand for the Wellhead Gardens now appears to be a done deal in view of the support that has been coming in. Except that is for one thing: endorsement by the trustees of Bourne United Charities who administer the site.

Their recent statement on the building of a skateboard park at the Abbey Lawn quite clearly details their attitude to such projects because it says that "it will be a sign of our commitment to increasing sporting and leisure pursuits for our growing town" and what could be a more welcome development than a bandstand in such a glorious setting to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

We do have concerts in Bourne on Sunday afternoons in summer but in the absence of a bandstand, musicians are grouped around the steps of the War Memorial in South Street while those who turn up to listen sit on the grass around the ornamental gardens, borrow chairs from the Darby and Joan Hall or bring their own blankets and deckchairs. It is a wonderful social occasion but one that would be even better if we had a real bandstand. The sound of a Strauss waltz or a Sousa march floating on the balmy air of a summer's day is an evocative sound from an England long gone and one that tries to reassure us that all is well with the world even though the trials and turmoil of everyday life return once the music has died away and we wend our way home.

A new bandstand similar to those built during Victorian times is the brainchild of town councillor Helen Powell (Bourne West), the deputy mayor, who seems to have touched a chord in the public psyche with her idea. In addition, she has not only designed one, made of wrought iron on a solid base, but has also been busy recruiting both financial and practical help and the result has been quite astounding.

A total of £11,000 has been pledged, which is more than half of the total cost, scaffolding equipment and hard core for the construction have been offered as well as legal help to draw up a business plan from fellow councillor David Mapp (Bourne West), who is a conveyancing solicitor, an impressive start for a worthy cause. "I am delighted that so many people are behind this", said Councillor Powell in an interview with The Local newspaper (May 11th). "It is amazing that everyone feels the same about Bourne having a bandstand."

The skateboard park has little hope of coming to fruition because of the obstacles it faces, opposition from the sporting community and nearby home owners, the granting of planning permission and, more importantly, raising a huge amount of capital. By contrast, support for the bandstand through cash, materials and professional help now secures its future. All that is needed is the agreement of the trustees and the town will be watching and waiting in the hope that they will give it the support it justly deserves.

Thought for the week: Where there's a will there's a way. - old English proverb.

Saturday 26^th May 2012

One of the more disappointing news items of recent weeks has been the revelation that Lincolnshire County Council has no intention of making Meadowgate one-way for traffic because it would be too expensive and it would not be willing to fund the work (The Local, April 27th).

The decision follows a meeting between the town council and highways officers to address concerns about the increasing number of vehicles using this narrow thoroughfare between the Burghley Centre car park and Harrington Street, a route that is often made impassable due to the build up of cars and vans and dangerous when children and old people are about.

None of this appears to have made any difference, even though the difficulties have increased with every passing year along a route that was originally intended for the horse and cart and has now become one of the most hazardous traffic bottlenecks in Bourne.

Instead of the obvious one-way solution, the county council has suggested introducing double yellow lines along sections of the road, particularly toward the junctions and bends, but this is merely putting a sticking plaster over the wound which will fester again with far more serious results as the flow of vehicles increase once the Bourne Community Access Point opens at the Corn Exchange early next year.

The reluctance to spend money on outstanding priority projects such as this is a result of the cuts in public spending and does not bode well for the future. Signs of these enforced economies are everywhere and the government has warned that worse is yet to come both at national and local level. We are already experiencing cost cutting in many areas, particularly in rubbish disposal and waste recycling, the closure of buildings and the transfer of popular services to smaller premises while hardly a day goes by without another dire warning of economies looming in this area or that.

It was originally thought that these harsh restrictions would be a temporary measure to tide us over a bad financial patch but the signs are that austerity is the new national policy and one that is here to stay for many years to come, affecting householders more than anyone else even though this situation was not of their making. Yet they will have to continue paying a high level of council tax and although this has been temporarily frozen, bills are quite likely to rise next April. Indeed, Lincolnshire Police Authority has already breached government guidelines by raising it this year while South Kesteven District Council has brought in an increase through the back door by charging £25 for emptying green bins for garden waste which are mainly used by old age pensioners while the majority of the staff were given a £250 pay increase.

Insufficient information is usually given to the public by councils to justify these economies and householders will therefore be forgiven for thinking that although spending is being drastically reduced and our services cut, the local authorities will remain in existence more or less intact, not for the benefit of the public but as a milch cow for the officers and staff.

Bourne has another woman as mayor for the fifth year in succession. Councillor Helen Powell, who has represented Bourne West since 2007, was elected at the annual meeting of the town council on Tuesday night and for the next twelve months will hold the office of first citizen and chairman of the council.

The ladies currently occupy six of the 15 available seats on the town council while the new mayor is the 41st to hold office since it was inaugurated during the re-organisation of government in 1974 and the 16th woman. Yet there was a time when women were a rarity in local councils, the first to serve in Bourne being Mrs Caroline Galletly (1865-1934) who became a member of the old Bourne Urban District Council and was then elected chairman for 1930-31. In later years, another milestone was marked by Mrs Marjorie Clark (1919-2007) who served a term as chairman of the old Bourne Urban District Council from 1971-72 before becoming the first chairman of South Kesteven District Council for two successive years from 1990-92. Marjorie was also Mayor of Bourne twice, in 1984-85 and again in 1999-2000 at the remarkable age of 81. She lived to be 88 and became Bourne's longest serving councillor with 40 years of service to her credit.

A woman has also been Mayor of Bourne for an unprecedented three times. Councillor Shirley Cliffe served in 1979-80, 1997-98 and 2008-09 and in addition, her husband, the late Ray Cliffe (1925-2006), was mayor twice, from 1975-76 and 1991-92, so making Shirley our mayoress on two occasions, and so her civic record is unlikely to be beaten in the foreseeable future.

Other ladies who have served as our first citizen were Mrs Margaret Cooper (1974-75), Mrs Mary Parker (1989-90), Mrs Janet Sauter (1992-93), Mrs Lesley Patrick (1994-95), Mrs Norma Woolley (2002-03), Mrs Pet Moisey (2004-05 and 2010-11), Mrs Judy Smith (2005-06), Ms Jane Kingman (2007-08) and Mrs Brenda Johnson (2011-12).

Despite being in the minority, women are beginning to have a dominant presence on some local authorities, frequently chairing committees on our own town council as well as taking the initiative in many controversial and community issues concerning the town.

It is also worth noting that of the eight clerks to the town council in the past 37 years, six have been women who have been in office continually since 1975, the latest Mrs Nelly Jacobs who has held the post for the past twelve years, having been appointed in 2000 and has since brought a high standard of efficiency and accountability to the conduct of the authority's affairs.

The ladies who do seek office, therefore, have an impressive record but there does seem to be a general reluctance to stand. Last summer, for instance, there were nine nominations for co-option to the four vacant Bourne West seats on the town council and all were men, an indication that women are still lagging behind in local government representation.

Yet those who have been elected have proved their worth in the council chamber, bringing a steadying influence to male domination and often, a great deal of common sense. Home and family can be a big deterrent to anyone wishing to run for office but as more community facilities become available to free them from these commitments, it would be beneficial to find more women playing a role in the administration of our affairs at all levels of government which would undoubtedly be the better for it.

There appears to be some discontent in the town over the poor standard of celebrations planned for Bourne to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee on Tuesday 5th June. It does seem to be low key but this was anticipated because the town council called a public meeting to organise events as long ago as last year when the royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton was also being discussed and the reception was distinctly lukewarm.

Events are certainly sparse with the biggest attraction at the Wellhead Field although this is largely coincidence because the big day falls during the annual Bourne Festival where there will be an entire weekend of attractions for all the family including craft and food stalls, a fun fair, beer festival and live music with many headline acts although an additional Abba tribute night on the Monday has been arranged as part of the jubilee celebrations, a concert sponsored by local people and businesses with Bourne Round Table providing the stage and marquee.

A contributor to the Bourne Forum compares this to the celebration at Stamford where a colour brochure details the activities planned including a festival of floats, family fun day, displays, fancy dress, picnics, live bands, fireworks, hog roast, football and rugby, live stage entertainment, competitions, demonstrations, local radio and a Spitfire fly past, all of which are hosted by the town council.

"What is happening in Bourne apart from the beerfest?" asks our contributor. "What is our council doing? Have I missed all the publicity? Has anything else been organised? I heard that one street was refused permission for a street party because there were not enough houses located there to warrant its closure even though it is a cul-de-sac!"

Apart from the multitude of activities on offer at Stamford, we need to go back more than a century to find out what can be done for a royal occasion such as this. In 1897, for instance, the country observed the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria and hardly a single village or hamlet did not join in the celebrations. Bourne was among them and even with a population of under 4,200 (1891 census figure) the programme of events was something of which Bourne Parish Council, as it was then, could be justly proud.

It was a hot and sunny on Tuesday 22nd June and the market place was crowded with people out enjoying themselves. The Stamford Mercury reported that it was the perfect summer's day and one of unalloyed enjoyment for both young and old. The town was ablaze with colour, national flags adorned every property, the streets were festooned with red, white and blue bunting while the front of the Town Hall was a mass of patriotic decorations.

A public holiday had been declared and so shops and businesses were closed and families turned out in their Sunday best to stroll around, greet old friends, stop and gossip, mostly about the grand old lady who had been on the throne for sixty years and would be celebrating her 80th birthday two years later. But the newspaper also tells how the town then enjoyed itself as it marked this royal occasion.

There were special services at all of the town’s churches where ministers preached sermons on patriotism and loyalty to one’s country, followed by a day of celebration and enjoyment for both young and old for this special day that had been long anticipated. “Children were jubilant from daybreak till long after the legitimate bedtime”, said the report, “and veterans of 70 and 80 were early astir. There was no home undecorated and many were remarkably beautiful with red roses, evergreens, flags and patriotic emblems. There appeared to have been a happy rivalry in transforming the old Saxon town into a place of beauty.”

The town thronged with people for the rest of the day and at three o’clock, 1,000 schoolchildren gathered in the Market Place to sing God Save the Queen. The town band then struck up the National Anthem to mark the start of a grand parade with the Volunteers resplendent in their uniforms and medals close behind and followed by the friendly societies, always evident on public occasions carrying their colourful banners. They all marched through the streets to the Abbey Lawn followed by a huge crowd of people ready to begin the celebrations consisting of a children’s treat of tea and buns, a programme of sports, a cycle parade, a supper for the adults in the evening followed by dancing, fireworks at dusk in the Wellhead Field and to end the day, a torchlight procession to Stamford Hill on the outskirts of the town where, at the highest point, a huge bonfire that had been days in the making, some 20 feet in height, was lit to coincide with others across Lincolnshire and indeed, the entire country.

“It was lighted precisely at ten o’clock”, reported the newspaper, “and the flaming tongues that flaked the night must have formed a beacon far across the fenland towards the sea. From near the bonfire could be seen the fires at Spalding and Crowland, and lights in the direction of Gosberton, Pinchbeck, Littleworth, Boston and Peterborough, were discernible. From beginning to end, the proceedings passed off with perfect success.”

My goodness, what a day it must have been. Boy bands and beer in a big tent at the Wellhead Field pale into insignificance by comparison.

Thought for the week: Great events make me quiet and calm. It is only trifles that irritate my nerves. - Queen Victoria (1819-1901), monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for over sixty years.

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