Bourne Diary - April 2013

Saturday 6^th April 2013

Under our present system of local government, district councils are there to deliver public services such as waste collection, planning procedures, and council housing. For this we pay our council tax. There is no commitment for property speculation which now appears to be at the heart of the Wherry’s Lane refurbishment scheme.

South Kesteven District Council originally planned to give Bourne a new town centre at a cost of £27 million, a scheme which was abandoned in June 2010 after ten years of abortive work and the expenditure of an enormous amount of public money but left them with vacant properties on their hands that had been purchased at high prices.

These included the old grain warehouse in Burghley Street at the north end of Wherry’s Lane which had been standing empty for almost a decade and bought for £350,000 in 2008, and the Masonic hall nearby for which they paid £375,000 in October 2010 knowing that it was to be pulled down, so making it the most expensive building site in the history of Bourne. Add to this the £2.14 million cost of the current contract with the builders to carry out the conversion work and we have a grand total of almost £3 million.

This is considerable investment by a local authority with an annual spending budget of £15 million (2012-13) but it now appears that although Wherry’s Lane was in need of a long awaited facelift, there will be little public benefit apart from it looking good and removing a long standing eyesore from the locality while the cuts in council services are likely to continue. The fourteen first and second floor apartments created by the scheme are now on the market, not as council housing, but for sale either to first time buyers or even as investment properties. Added to this the scheme includes seven ground floor shops which are being built for rent at a time when others in the traditional town centre nearby are standing empty and high streets throughout the land are having a hard time keeping going.

In addition, each flat is being allocated a permanent space in the Burghley Street car park which will reduce the number available to the public. The council has claimed that although 16 will be taken up by the development, eleven new ones will be created with the apartments that are being built, one for each. If this is so, then each of the new spaces has been earmarked exclusively for the tenants and will not be available to the general public and so the 92 spaces in the main park currently available will be reduced to 76, and this comes at a time when parking throughout the town is becoming increasingly difficult as each month goes by.

Concurrent with the Wherry’s Lane scheme has been the conversion of the Corn Exchange into a Community Access Point for Bourne designed to bring all council services at town, district and county level together under one roof. This has meant a smaller public library and reduced registration service but at least we have kept both services at a time when there was a distinct possibility of them being axed.

Although three times over budget, the £600,000 spent on this project may well be recouped overall by our county and district authorities in the years to come through savings on the existing system, termination of the lease for the registration service at No 35 West Street, sale of the old public library site in South Street and eventually the Town Hall. Financial benefits for council tax payers are therefore a possibility in the long run. This cannot be said for the Wherry’s Lane project and although it will make a considerable increase in South Kesteven District Council’s land and buildings portfolio, currently reckoned to be worth around £50 million, it will have absolutely no impact whatsoever on the public services the authority is meant to deliver and will not even begin to halt the current decline that is costing us many familiar and well-used amenities.

The use of the Burghley Street warehouse for private housing is particularly contentious because there was a debate in the town soon after it came into public ownership in 2008 that it should be converted for community use, perhaps as an arts centre. It was pointed out that SKDC funds arts centres at Stamford and Grantham but not here and although there is some performance space at various locations around the town, such as the Corn Exchange and the Abbey Church hall, the warehouse could provide a base for a wide range of groups ranging from Morris dancing to Gilbert and Sullivan.  A first class venue such as this with permanent banked seating, dressing rooms and good quality stage apparatus would have been an asset to the town as well as becoming the central point for cultural activities in Bourne and the surrounding district which at the moment depend on much less adequate accommodation for their productions.

Such a project would constitute the very essence of providing public services but instead, SKDC has chosen to use this vacant building for private housing at a time when there are more than 4,000 names on their own waiting list for council accommodation, 440 of them in Bourne. It would most certainly be beneficial if the council could share its thinking on a policy of building apartments for sale as investment properties while at the same time charging pensioners for emptying their green garden waste bins and raising the council tax as it has done this year.

The meteorological experts tell us that this has been the coldest Easter weekend on record in this country for 100 years although the yardstick for this assessment has been a thermometer reading of -12.5 degrees C way up north at Braemar in the Scottish Highlands and hardly applies to the rest of Britain. Certainly it has been cold but such fluctuations in climate are a frequent occurrence, added to which Easter has been several weeks early this year.

The unseasonable wintry weather has caused problems in many parts of the U K with electricity, farming and agriculture and the road network, not to mention the delay in our own duties around the back garden which usually tend to begin with the Easter break. The archives contain many references to similar extremes in temperature and so a cold snap in March is not unusual although today we do appear to be less prepared for such eventualities because even the keenest of gardeners are reluctant to venture outdoors if the weather is inclement. The garden centres, however, seem to be fully prepared for the rush that will ensue when the sun does shine with a goodly supply of bedding plants and although it is widely believed that this is a modern phenomenon, there is evidence that growers spotted this niche in the market well over a century ago.

In 1886, a popular magazine called Gardening World reported that Mr Benoni Gilbert, a farmer at Dyke, near Bourne, who also specialised in flowers, was fully prepared for the planting season despite a prolonged cold spell because it reported on Saturday 27th March:

Such weather as we have lately experienced proves the value of cold houses, frames, and plant protectors generally, for sheltering from the rigours of our climate. A box of flowers before us, gathered in an unheated house in Mr Gilbert's Anemone Nursery at Dyke, contains a delightful array of blossoms of Anemone fungens, Anemone King of Scarlets, a beautiful new double scarlet of the brightest hue; the very fine white primrose, Harbinger, Marie Louise, and Compte Brazzas double white violets, etc., all of great size and purity of colour and which with Mr Gilbert are flowering in great abundance.

Mr Gilbert ran a successful business as do many others in the locality today and there is little doubt that once the temperatures rise and the garden beckons, bedding plants will once again become a priority for those anxious to give their homes a touch of colour for the coming summer.

From the archives: Handbills were issued recently announcing that on Friday evening last week, a lecture would be delivered in the Victoria Hall, Eastgate [now demolished], subject "The chronology of the world from the creation of Adam to the present time, and the second coming of Christ". A man calling himself "the agent in advance" called on the printer on the morning of Friday and stated that the lecturer (E Santon Esq., formerly of Her Majesty's service) was taken ill and that he was instructed to deliver the lecture in his stead. At the time appointed, two persons presented themselves as an audience but were disappointed, as the lecture was not given. The first train in the morning carried away the stranger, leaving several creditors behind him. - news report from the Grantham Journal, Saturday 5th June 1875.

The new food bank planned for Bourne is due to open on Tuesday 7th May. Almost a ton of groceries has already been donated and is being stored at the main distribution centre which will be housed at the United Reformed Church in Eastgate. Various collection points have been established around the town and a small army of volunteers is busy adding to the stock which includes sugar, soup, puddings, tea bags, coffee, cereals, pasta sauces, milk, fruit juices and instant mashed potato.

Despite living in an affluent society, the gap between rich and poor has widened in recent years and the number that need help, state or otherwise, increases annually. It is against this background that we need to appraise the current government policy of spending cuts which target the less well off, especially those struggling to survive on low wages and drawing benefits because they have become the nation’s new poor. Many cannot afford to keep warm because of soaring heating bills while the easing of hunger is a daily problem as the £ slowly loses its value and food prices increase almost weekly. In the 19th century, these luckless people had to resort to the soup kitchen while today it is the food bank that is becoming their lifeline.

These outlets for free food began to appear in the United States almost fifty years ago and are now evident in many parts of the world, even in England, usually non-profit making charitable organisations that distribute provisions to those who have difficulty in buying enough to avoid hunger and there has been a rapid growth in them as a result of the austerity imposed by the government in the wake of the current financial crisis. Almost half of those who use them have had problems with their benefits, are on low income jobs or are struggling with debt repayments and other expenses and the demand for even more food banks is expected to increase further when the latest welfare cuts come into effect next year.

Most food banks in this country are run by the Trussell Trust and manned by volunteers from local churches who give out provisions directly to the hungry. About a third of their supplies come from supermarkets although much of it is donated by individuals. The trust was formed in 1997 to help forgotten people such as the homeless children sleeping rough in Bulgaria and eventually spread to the United Kingdom, expanding its activities to all people facing hunger because of a short term crisis and there are now more than 200 food banks in this country which last year fed more than 128,000 people. They exist in many local towns including Stamford, Spalding, Grantham and Peterborough, and last year as the recession continued to bite, it was decided to have one here in Bourne.

Churches in the town have since been working with the trust to establish the centre which is being supported by Tesco at their store in South Road where the company’s policy of food collection is already underway. All donations will be topped up by 30% as well as providing funding to enable the distribution organisations build on their work. One of the volunteers, Andy McManus, told the Stamford Mercury (March 29th) that the response had been amazing. “Although we have suggested just one item from our list, some people have been coming out with bags full of food”, he said. “Lots of children have also been involved, handing over packs of biscuits and packets of sugar. They all seemed really pleased to be giving something. The food bank would not be able to function without this generosity.”

Further collections will be made at Sainsbury’s supermarket in Exeter Street on Saturday 13th April and at the current rate of progress the new food bank will be well stocked when the doors open for the first time next month.

Thought for the week: Charity begins at home, is the voice of the world. – Sir Thomas Browne (1605-82), English author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including medicine, religion, science and the esoteric.

Saturday 13^th April 2013

No more Saturday collections - see "The Royal Mail . . . "

The first solar farm for Bourne is now complete and producing power for the National Grid. It has been established on 35 acres of farmland to the east of the town at a cost of £12 million by Lark Energy, part of the Larkfleet Group which is based locally.

Work began in the summer of 2011 on the site at Limes Farm off the Spalding Road which has now been filled with 20,000 5.6 MWp photovoltaic panels each around 1.8 meters high, mounted on racks fixed to the ground and tilted towards the sun, and capable of generating enough energy to provide power for 1,400 homes.

The Stamford Mercury reported (April 5th) that final testing had just been completed and the site was now in operation. Some landscaping still needs to be done to finalise the project and it is expected that the land will also be used eventually for agricultural purposes.

Planning permission was granted in August 2011 for the installation to be surrounded by a 2.2 metre high fence to protect against intruders and conditions were attached to protect wildlife such as breeding birds while the land between the panels will be used to graze small sheep, goats or poultry or to grow grass and wildflowers. The solar farm is expected to be operational for at least thirty years and will therefore help conserve traditional sources of energy.

Managing director of Lark Energy, Jonathan Selwyn, told the newspaper that construction work had been a challenge because of the muddy conditions created by a prolonged spell of wet weather. “We are delighted that the solar farm is now producing clean energy”, he said.

But the project has not pleased everyone and a neighbouring farmer objected at the planning stage on the grounds that the land was so highly productive that it should be retained for agriculture. Neville Bish, who owns Mason's Farm nearby and has spent his life in farming, wanted less valuable land utilised for this purpose. "We have thousands of acres of poor land, landfill sites, redundant airfields and poor grazing land", he said. "Develop these sites and we will all win. I pointed out to the council that this site is an inherent bog and frost pocket but this seemed to be discounted when Lark Energy replied that most of the power was produced in the summer, so let's hope we don't need to switch a light on in the winter.”

The power lines connecting the solar farm to the National Grid have been erected overhead but a more direct route would be underground through Mr Bish’s land, a subject now under discussion with the energy company. He told the newspaper that he had been wrestling with his conscience about whether to allow the cables to be laid and accept compensation. “I have always been against any development taking good arable land out of production”, he said. “There is a world shortage and it just does not make any sense. It is so alien to our natural environment. We are never going to see birds, foxes and badgers there again. It is therefore so hard for me to decide but if I do not allow it they will go around and so maybe I will say yes and donate some of the money to charity.”

The solar farm has been completed despite a setback during 2012 caused by the uncertainty surrounding the government’s feed-in tariffs but these problems have now been solved by a renewable obligation certificate scheme which requires power companies to buy a certain amount of electricity from clean energy sources such as this.

The solar farm at Limes Farm may well be the first of many for this part of the country because the wide open skies in the fens around Bourne provide the ideal location for catching the most of the sun’s rays. The Local newspaper reports (April 12th) that a second application is now in the pipeline, this time to site a similar project on 40 acres of land at Manthorpe Farm near Thurlby, three miles south of Bourne.

Hive Energy, a renewable energy company, is asking South Kesteven District Council for an assessment over their proposal to erect their array of panels 2.4 metres high on a south-west facing slope although they will be hidden by an existing boundary hedge which would be thickened and maintained. The company claims that the solar farm would generate 6-7 MW of energy annually once connected to the National Grid which would be enough to power up to 3,000 homes a year. Peta Donkin, senior environmental planner for the planning company Pegasus Group which is acting for Hive Energy, told the newspaper: “We feel it is a very good site. We are entering a time when energy is becoming expensive and in higher demand but we want to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Solar is a very efficient way of doing this and is a very passive way of achieving energy generation.”

The implication is that the fens may soon be dotted with these installations which will completely change the appearance of the landscape, much to the annoyance of many people. Developers are well aware of the possibility of objections on these grounds which is why they go to such great lengths to hide their installations as much as possible. Assessments on the environmental impact of solar farms is usually required by local authorities before planning permission is given but these inquiries often concentrate more on the effect they will have on the local flora and fauna than on the appearance of the countryside which may be a less important consideration when the solar farm is to be sited in a remote location.

Whether the incongruous intrusion of an installation in the rural scene is a valid reason for complaint is a matter of debate because the fens have been a changing landscape ever since they were first drained by the Romans 2,000 years ago. The digging of dykes and drainage channels brought protest as did windmills and now wind farms are the cause of serious objections. It is a fact of life that you cannot please everyone and so it is unlikely that any application for new solar farms in the future will sail through without some opposition.

From the archives - 140 years ago: The return excursion train which was due to leave London at ten minutes before twelve on Saturday night last arrived at Bourne between three and four o'clock on Sunday morning. When near the platform at Bourne station the engine came into violent collision with two empty carriages which were standing upon the line, driving them completely through two very strong gates at the South Street crossing, one of the gates being smashed to splinters, and the carriages considerably damaged. There were nine passengers (including two ladies) in the carriage attached to the engine and we have not heard of anyone sustaining greater injury than a severe shaking. One gentleman's hat was smashed to such an extent that he has put in a claim for a new one. - news report from the Grantham Journal, Saturday 5th April 1873.

The Royal Mail now appears to be operating a five day week. Letters are no longer being collected from the post box at Sainsbury’s supermarket in Exeter Street at midday on Saturdays although there is no clear notice about this except for a very smudged deletion of the time with a felt pen but leaving the day intact and it took an inquiry at the customer services desk to confirm that it had indeed been axed.

Other post boxes around the town are also being ignored on Saturdays although I am unaware of any official announcement that collections have ended and the official Post Office web site gives no indication of this although there does appear to be a midday collection from the main post office in West Street.

Unless you are prepared for a trek into town, no letters will therefore be collected on Saturdays in Bourne thus reducing the service to the five days from Monday to Friday even though the recent price increases for first and second class stamps have been so exorbitant that making use of the mail is fast becoming prohibitive.

The way in which these costs have spiralled in recent years is sounding the death knell for a once proud service and we only have to look at the archives to discover exactly what we have lost. In times past, the postal service in England was second to none, fast, efficient and always on time and it is worth looking back in the records to see just how dependable it was. In 1860, for instance, the speed of delivery was reflected in this news item which appeared in the Stamford Mercury on Friday 9th November:

The day delivery of letters in Bourne, which previously took place shortly after 3 o’clock in the afternoon, now commences about 11.30 a m. The train, which heretofore was due at Bourne at 10.58 a m, is now timed so as to reach Bourne at 11.20. By this alteration, a letter posted in London early in the morning may be delivered at Bourne the same day about noon.

In 1905, when the postal service had become universally popular and extremely well used, the arrangements are quite surprising when compared with today and Kelly’s Directory for Lincolnshire that year recorded the system operating in Bourne:

Letters from London, by mail cart, via Peterborough, arrive at 4 am and are delivered by 7 am. A second mail arrives at 11 am and is delivered to callers at 11.30 am. A third mail arrives by rail at 2.27 pm and is delivered by 3 pm and a fourth mail at 6 pm and is delivered by 7.20 pm. Letters from Folkingham arrive by mail cart at 7.45 pm and despatched thereto at 4 am. Letter box closes for town and district at 5.45 am, for general despatch at 10.30 am, at 3 pm for all parts, 5.30 pm for Dyke, at 6 pm for Wales, Scotland, Ireland, North and Midlands counties; London and all parts at 7.20 pm and 7.55 pm; Folkingham at 8 pm. Sundays boxes cleared at 7 pm. Wall letter boxes: Eastgate cleared at 8.55 am, 2.30 pm and 7.05 pm; South Street at 8.35 am, 2.20 pm, 3;15 pm and 6.45 pm; West Road at 7.50 am, 4.30 pm and 6.50 pm; North Road at 8.45 am, 3.50 pm and 7 pm.

Tales abound of the confidence the public had in the post office and any collector of old postcards will know of frequent messages on them telling of an arrival later that day, the card having travelled on the train to its destination only a few hours earlier. Today, second class mail is likely to be delivered at any time while the post office cannot guarantee delivery of first class mail next morning and even if it does arrive the following day as promised, it may not, as happens in our street, be with you much before lunchtime. Now you may only post a letter on weekdays and the cost has risen to astronomical proportions. To the customer, it appears that the Post Office has given up on providing an efficient service and with the advancement of electronic technology it can only be a matter of time before the entire system is phased out completely.

Thought for the week: The post office has a great charm at one point of our lives. When you have lived to my age, you will begin to think letters are never worth going through the rain for. - Jane Austen (1775-1817), English novelist who has become one of the most widely read and best loved writers in English literature.

Saturday 20^th April 2013

A state of the art skateboard park with all bells and whistles has been chosen for the Abbey Lawn where a site has been offered by Bourne United Charities. The only stumbling block is the £150,000 needed to pay for it.

The layout is one of several considered by members of the Dimension Park Committee who have been meeting designers and contractors before selecting the company Wheelscape to provide a multi-use facility for skateboarders, inline skaters, BMX and scooter riders. Committee member Mrs Nelly Jacobs told The Local newspaper that it was chosen because it would provide the most exciting ride (April 12th). Details would now be forwarded to the trustees of BUC for their consideration and if approved, a planning application will be prepared for South Kesteven District Council but even if it is passed, the necessary finance still has to be found although the committee has not yet even started fund raising.

The impetus appears to be there but many people believe that the young people now involved will be long gone to pastures and interests new by the time the skateboard park is built and if all does go according to plan, it is hoped that there will still be sufficient enthusiasm around to keep the project up and running, despite the unpopularity of the location.

The one disappointing aspect of this development is the reluctance of Bourne United Charities to allow a bandstand to be built in the War Memorial Gardens. These may appear to be two separate issues but they do have a connection in that both need the consent of the trustees and the encouragement of the public.

The bandstand project has widespread support which has been well ventilated in our local newspapers and elsewhere but not of the trustees, even though it would be privately financed with half of the estimated cost of £20,000 already raised. Why they should endorse a skateboard park in the tranquil surroundings of the Abbey Lawn, with all of the possible anti-social implications that have been experienced in other towns around the country, yet refuse to allow a Victorian style bandstand, elegantly designed and built of wrought iron, to provide music in the park on Sunday afternoons and other special occasions, remains a mystery.

The project already has a fair head of steam, having been first suggested early last year by town councillor Helen Powell, now Mayor of Bourne, who has envisaged a bandstand similar to those that survive from the 19th century in many towns and cities where they continue to give pleasure as a setting for regular band concerts. The original idea was to complete the bandstand in time to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on Tuesday 5th June last year but it was not to be. It would have been an ideal gesture, a gift to the town that would not have cost one penny of public money and make no demands on the finances of BUC but the trustees were adamant that the War Memorial Gardens were not a suitable place for it, even though band concerts are held there regularly during the summer months with musicians and visitors sitting on and around the cenotaph walls and steps which is hardly a dignified use of such an reverential setting.

Fortunately, a second opportunity has arisen with the chance of having a bandstand erected by the summer of 2014 to mark the centenary of the Great War, thus providing a reasonable timescale for such a modest project. Nothing could be more appropriate than a traditional venue for a military or brass band close to the memorial which lists the names of those who died for their country in a conflict which horrified the world.

The Great War ended in 1918 yet it took Bourne almost forty years to remember our dead with a memorial that was not erected until 1956 but has since become the centrepiece for Remembrance Sunday observances every November. This is therefore an ideal opportunity to ensure that the town will not be late in marking the centenary of the conflict next summer. The idea of a bandstand is obviously widely regarded in Bourne as a good one because pledges from donors for more than half the outlay of £12,000 have already been made together with a great deal of practical help with design, equipment, construction work, materials and legal assistance while support through letters to the local newspapers have endorsed its popularity.

The enthusiasm to provide the money and get the work done is there. All that is needed is the goodwill of the charity trustees by supporting the town in this endeavour which will not only demonstrate that even after a hundred years, our war dead are not forgotten while the bandstand will become a popular and attractive amenity to be enjoyed by people of all ages in the years to come. No one could possibly refuse such a worthy homage to their sacrifice.

The introduction of traffic wardens by Lincolnshire County Council last year appears to be yet another ill-conceived idea that does not seem to be serving its original purpose. The objective was to stop drivers from leaving their cars in restricted areas and so make the roads safer for everyone but this is not happening.

Few people appear to have seen one of these wardens on duty in Bourne and so  illegal parking continues unabated, sometimes even blocking the main streets in the town centre while the notorious bottlenecks that have developed through bad planning decisions in the past, such as Meadowgate and now Harrington Street, are best avoided at all times.

Parking regulations were due to be enforced in Bourne from December 3rd last year, the date Lincolnshire County Council took over responsibility from the police who have been notably absent in the past. The council announced that 20 wardens would be employed across the county, all wearing distinctive navy and green uniforms and all intent on enforcing on-street traffic restrictions such as those relating to double and single yellow lines, yellow kerb no-loading or un-loading markings and limited waiting times in parking bays. A dummy run was carried out first with blue warning notices being handed out during a two-week period of grace before the scheme actually began and after that, we were told that the wardens would be on patrol in the town and issuing real parking tickets to offenders but I have yet to meet anyone who has spotted one so far.

Traffic wardens have been tried in the past but there were not many of them and Bourne found itself sharing with Stamford which was a most unsatisfactory situation and on one notable occasion, the selected officer who lived there could not report for duty here because he had missed the bus and did not drive a car. Perhaps there are similar reasons why we are now being so badly served. Or it could be that Bourne does not provide such rich pickings in fines as say, Lincoln or Grantham, where traffic is much more frequent and an observant warden could earn a week’s pay most mornings.

As it is, nothing seems to have changed in Bourne and infringements of the Highway Code are a regular occurrence while North Street and West Street are frequently jammed in both directions because cars have been left in the wrong place. The regular appearance of a uniformed officer on the streets would be a salutary sight for potential offenders and their employment should be used to enforce the traffic rules and regulations and not as a means of raising income.

From the archives – 130 years ago: About four o'clock on Saturday afternoon last, great consternation was caused in the town by a report that the Abbey Church was on fire, which report to a certain extent was correct. It would appear that about the time named, Mr Thomas Barsby, baker, was passing the church and noticed some smoke issuing out of the "stookery" [stove area]. He immediately opened the door and was met by a body of fierce flames. He then went to Dr Tom Harker's residence [at Brook Lodge] and obtained some buckets and assistance, and ultimately the fire was put out. The river running close by was a great assistance, there being plenty of water. The fire engine and firemen were called out but luckily the fire was extinguished without their assistance but not before steam had been got up. The property consumed consisted of the old pulpit, some coconut matting and other sundry material, their value being about £15, which is covered by insurance in the Phoenix Insurance Office. The cause of the fire is unknown but it is believed that it originated from the flue of the heating apparatus. - news item from the Grantham Journal, Saturday 21st January 1882.

Anyone who drives into Bourne from Peterborough on the main A 15 will remember Kate’s Bridge because the road at this point is highly dangerous and must be approached with extreme care.

A petrol filling station, a couple of houses and some business premises are the only buildings at Kate's Bridge, so named because of the bridge which carries the road over the River Glen at that point. Nevertheless, it is a landmark but one best known as a notorious accident black spot because of a treacherous bend in the carriageway which needs particular concentration and caution is therefore a necessary watchword.

In 1930, a bus returning to Bourne from Peterborough crashed at this spot. For some reason, the driver swerved and mounted the side of the structure, displacing a quantity of masonry and coming to rest with the nearside front wheel over the parapet. The vehicle was badly damaged but miraculously he and all thirty passengers escaped unhurt. The old stone bridge was replaced in 1958 by one of a more modern design and the road was later straightened to deal with the increasing flow of traffic on the A15 between Lincoln and Peterborough although the original bridge remains intact nearby and has become a delightful spot for walkers and nature lovers to visit.

The curious name Kate’s Bridge prompts many inquiries from visitors including an email which we have just received from Scotland after the sign was spotted by a couple driving north on their way home. But I had to tell them that it does not, as is popularly believed, stem from a woman called Kate who may have lived there in the past.

Kate’s Bridge was first recorded in the early 13th century when it was known as Catebrigg (1245) and later became Katebrigg (1275) and Káti’s Bridge (late 14th century) from the Old Norse personalised noun Káti, probably a tribal leader, and bryggja, the Scandinavianised form for bridge. Similar corruptions involving the personalised noun exist elsewhere in Lincolnshire, namely Cadeby and Caythorpe. The modern form of Kate’s Bridge is not documented until the 18th century and had evolved through popular etymology.

Kate’s Cabin on the Great North Road near Peterborough, which has no connection, has a far more recent and romantic origin in that the present transport café that can be found there was once the site of the Kate’s Cabin Coaching Inn during the 18th century and legend recounts that it was frequented by gentlemen of the road, including the ubiquitous Dick Turpin. Prior to that, the original cabin was reputed to have been a wooden hut from which a formidable woman called Kate dispensed gin to passengers travelling on passing stagecoaches.

Seeking the derivation of Kate’s Bridge indicates that local history is a fascinating pursuit that can lead into many strange byways and some of the tales revealed are often hard to believe, not least because they frequently owe more to the imagination than to fact, but among this mass of highly entertaining information you can usually find a basis for the truth, even though it may have been embellished through years of re-telling.

Thought for the week: History is an account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools. - Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842-1913), American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist whose motto "Nothing matters" and the sardonic view of human nature that informed his work all earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce".

Saturday 27^th April 2013

Two ladies who have both made their mark as Mayor of Bourne are standing as independent candidates for the town’s two seats on Lincolnshire County Council, the Bourne Abbey and Bourne Castle wards, in the local council elections on Thursday (May 2nd). Ironically, both will be standing against the two present women Conservative councillors who are seeking re-election, Sue Woolley and Charlotte Farquharson, although neither has served on the town council.

Both Jane Kingman and Helen Powell have enjoyed great popularity during their year in office as Bourne’s first citizens, bringing a new zest and freshness to the role through their own personal appeal, as well as consolidating the strength of women as members of the town council which is currently at its highest level since the authority was formed in 1974.

In addition to their work for the town council, Jane since 2002 and Helen since 2007, both have active interests elsewhere in the community and also hold several appointments with schools and other local organisations. They now feel that that they have sufficient experience and support to represent the town at county level and as both are standing as independent, they offer a unique opportunity for those who do not wish to support political candidates serving on their local authorities which is seen by many as a dogged adherence to the old guard and a discouragement of new ideas.

Whoever you decide is best suited to represent Bourne on the county council, your vote is important and although the turn-out at local elections is usually notoriously low, there is always the hope that the need for change will provide the impetus for a rush to the polling station on Thursday.

The full list of candidates for Thursday’s elections are: Bourne Abbey: R Davison (UKIP), J Kingman (Ind), P Morris (Lib Dem), I Selby (Lab and Co-operative) and S Woolley (Cons)*. Bourne Castle: C Farquharson (Cons)*, P Jacklin (Lab), J Morris (Lib Dem), H Powell (Ind).

One of Britain’s ancient country customs will be 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. It was known as 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 there was allotted just over one acre 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 another 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 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.

Last year was the 270th anniversary of the auction and 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 was let to him for the sixth consecutive year.

The magic of the circus is among the treasured memories of childhood for people of a certain age although we have since learned that cruelty in training the animals was often involved and so this form of entertainment has slowly declined with the passing years.

A draft bill is now before Parliament to ban wild animals completely following high profile cases of animal cruelty reported by the newspapers. It proposes that the use of exotic beasts such as zebras, lions, tigers snakes and crocodiles, in the big top should be prohibited although domestic animals such as dogs and horses would still be allowed to perform in the sawdust ring. The Daily Mail reports that 94.5% of the public favour an outright ban on the use of all wild animals (April 16th) and so it seems apparent that the circus is no longer the major attraction it was in my boyhood.

During the 19th century particularly, travelling circuses were an annual delight for children and the posters that appeared announcing a forthcoming visit sent a ripple of excitement through the streets and usually resulted in many children skipping school to watch what was going on down at the big top site and then if possible, attend one of the performances.

In April 1879, so few children turned up for lessons at the council board school in Star Lane [now Abbey Road] on the  day the circus arrived in town that everyone was sent home and a holiday declared.  Then on 24th May 1881, the headmaster recorded in his log book: "Wombwell's Wild Beast Show in the town today. Causes low attendance."

There were more absentees in November 1902 when the headmaster noted: "On Wednesday afternoon, a circus in the town caused a fall of fifty in the attendance. In every case, save one, written notes were sent to me by parents. In the exception, the boy's father had inflicted punishment for truancy." Absence on such occasions was now so commonplace that the school began to accept the situation and on 1st March 1912, classes were dismissed at 3.40 pm "to allow children to attend a large menagerie where the manager gave a description of the animals".

One of the regular travelling circuses to visit Bourne was that owned by French-born Jean Pierre Ginnett who founded the Ginnett circus dynasty, later carried on by his son and three grandsons and still in business today. He died in 1861 and is buried in Kensal Green cemetery in London. His mammoth circus and equestrian troop came here for two performances in April 1858 and paraded through the streets at midday to advertise the event while a tub containing a clown and drawn by four geese floated its way erratically along the Bourne Eau in South Street. The publicity was a great success because there were an estimated 2,000 people in the audience for the evening performance at a time when the population of the town was only 3,730 (1861 census).

There was a return visit in the summer of 1875 when the Grantham Journal reported that “a travelling circus always causes a considerable amount of stir and bustle in the town” and this was no exception although that performance did not quite live up to expectations. “A large audience witnessed several really clever feats, amongst others of an ordinary nature”, said the report. “The bare-back riding, training of horses and dogs and the performances of several acrobats were praiseworthy but we were greatly deceived with the Russian Skaters.”

Circuses remained popular until the late 20th century, making regular visits to towns and cities and appearing at seaside resorts during the summer months. The last circus to visit Bourne was twenty-five years ago when the big top was erected in a field at the fen end of Mill Drove but attendance was poor, a portent of what was to come. The appeal of this form of travelling entertainment as a major attraction was already in serious decline and the Daily Mail reports that the number of those circuses with animals now operating in Britain has since dropped from twenty to just two while the bill to ban them is soon expected to become law.

Animal Defenders International (ADI) which has campaigned against such cruelty for the past twenty years, welcomes the proposed legislation. Chief executive Jan Creamer told the newspaper: “A ban on the use of wild animals in circuses is long overdue. There is no place in a civilised society for animals to be forced to endure a lifetime of cruelty and confinement for entertainment.”

From the archives – 114 years ago: On Tuesday night, Joseph Edward Dallywater, the town crier, chimney sweep, bill-poster and landlord of the Red Lion in South Street, entered the lion's cage of the Spanish travelling menagerie that was visiting Bourne and, facing the lion, remained while he smoked a cigarette, after which he emerged unscathed amid the cheers of a crowded audience. - news report from the Stamford Mercury, Friday 1st December 1899.

Thought for the week: Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away. - Ben Hecht (1894-1964), American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist.

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