Bourne Diary - September 2013

Saturday 7^th September 2013

The long gallery at the Red Hall

The Red Hall which has been virtually closed to the public for the past forty years is to open its doors next weekend to enable visitors take a look at this magnificent Elizabethan building.

The event is part of the national Heritage Open Days scheme funded by English Heritage which began in 1994 and is now held throughout the country to celebrate our architecture by offering free access to places that are usually closed to the public or normally charge for admission, thus providing a once-a-year opportunity to take a look inside and enjoy a wide range of tours, events and activities that bring our local history and culture to life.

The Red Hall is among the oldest and certainly the most attractive of our secular properties. It dates from 1605 when it was built by Gilbert Fisher, a wealthy London businessman, and is typical of the new style of house being constructed for prosperous gentlemen of the Stuart period. The walls are made of locally produced hand-made bricks of a distinctive deep red with stone detailing and ashlar quoins, hence the name, and the original carved oak staircase remains intact with its chunky turned balusters and intricate carved features. The house is many gabled and has a fine Tuscan porch but there is evidence that Fisher was too ambitious because he died in debt in 1633 and the cost of constructing the Red Hall has been blamed for his insolvency.

It is generally accepted that the Red Hall was designed by John Thorpe (circa 1565-1655) one of the foremost architects in Britain during the time of Elizabeth I. The house was built on similar lines to Dowsby Hall, near Bourne, also designed by Thorpe about the same period, and was set in formal gardens. In fact, the original plans show a striking resemblance not only to the preliminary studies for Dowsby Hall but also to a whole series of drawings by Thorpe for other houses in this part of England, particularly in the Kesteven area of Lincolnshire.

Gilbert Fisher’s family remained in residence at the Red Hall until 1698 and ownership subsequently passed to the Digby family until Catherine Digby died in 1836. It was then leased to various tenants and was even used for a spell as a private school for girls until 1860 when it was sold to the Bourne and Essendine Railway Company for use as the new railway station booking office and stationmaster's house, its role for the next 100 years during which time it survived the daily vibrations of steam engines and rolling stock until the railway closed in 1959.

By then, no one wanted the Red Hall which stood empty for several years until 1962 when the freehold was acquired for a nominal sum by Bourne United Charities which instigated a major restoration programme financed by public grants and voluntary fund raising and the building was re-opened in December 1972 with the promise that it would have a public function as an arts centre, museum, assembly hall and community centre although none of these roles actually materialised, the only regular use of the building despite its size being as the office and boardroom of BUC.

The Red Hall has therefore been in sequestered isolation ever since but now the trustees have agreed to allow the public in to take a look and it is hoped that there will be sufficient interest to justify their decision. It will be open on Saturday from 10 am until 4 pm and local scouts will be on hand to help serve tea and coffee and to point visitors in the right direction. It is also hoped that the open day will prove to be such a success that it can be repeated next year and may even be extended to two or more days over the Heritage Open Days weekend.

Also open next weekend will be Dowsby Hall and Baldock’s Mill and the times and other details can be found on our Notice Board.

Although this town has a population in excess of 15,000 and rising, the latest issue of the parish magazine tells us that there are only 300 worshippers at the Abbey Church. Admittedly, this ancient building dating back to the early 12th century has a wider appeal in that it is also used on many civic and other occasions such as births, marriages and deaths, but it is certain that were it administered by a local authority or some private concern, however horrifying the prospect, then it would have been closed long ago and probably sold off or demolished as being uneconomical.

As it is, the burden of care falls mainly on the congregation and it is a constant battle to make ends meet because the maintenance of the fabric is extremely costly and there is always another bill to be paid waiting round the corner. The diocese takes its regular share from the parish because stipends and other costs must be met and so the parochial church council is forever on the lookout for new opportunities to raise capital when the need arises.

Such is the prospect they currently face and although all targets were met in 2012 the picture is not so rosy this year with a cold spring pushing up heating bills by 30% at the same time as an increase in the cost of oil coupled with a decrease in offerings and a reduction in fees received, all resulting in a possible deficit of £6,000 that has been forecast for the end of the year. Ever optimistic, not to say practical, churchwarden Mrs Merryn Woodland has conceived a cunning plan to offset the shortfall with the following equation: £6,000 ÷ 300 = £20 per worshipper.

But to make the medicine even more palatable, she then suggests making it smaller over the four month period that is left this year with another mathematical solution: £20 ÷ 4 = £5 per month. “You can see that if each worshipper could manage to give just over £1 extra per week until the end of the year, the problem would be well on the way to being solved”, she says.

Few worshippers will be able to resist such a simple and logical appeal and it is a pity that the solution to all of life’s financial problems are not that straightforward.

The most speedy and surprising example of public philanthropy in Bourne occurred in 1820 when the town needed a new Town Hall.

The old building on a site near the market place dated from the 16th century and is believed to have been given to the town by William Cecil, the Elizabethan statesman who became the first Lord Burghley, and who was born in a house nearby [now the Burghley Arms] in 1520, but had become so dilapidated that it had to be pulled down. It was used mainly by the magistrates for the petty and quarter sessions and the increased expense and manifest inconvenience of moving cases to other districts was far too high and so a public meeting was called for 7th October 1820 for property and land owners, clergymen and other dignitaries in the district to agree an alternative.

The motion before the meeting proposed “that on account of the ruinous state of the present building, it is extremely desirous for the public convenience to erect a new Town Hall as soon as possible upon a site in the market place offered by the Marquess of Exeter”. There was unanimous support for the resolution and a subscription list was opened immediately which remarkably attracted 37 donations in sums ranging from one hundred guineas from the Marquess of Exeter to £5, a total of £775 or £64,000 at today’s values. It was also agreed to contact clergymen and officials in all of the surrounding parishes seeking support and by the end of the meeting, Bourne’s new Town Hall was well on its way.

Additional contributions were soon rolling in and a list with a running total of how much had been raised was published every few weeks by the Stamford Mercury but by the end of the year there was sufficient money in hand to instruct an architect and builder with donations from all sections of society, not only from residents of Bourne but also from neighbouring parishes who between them eventually raised enough money to foot the final bill of £2,450 [£200,500].

The foundation stone was laid on 30th April 1821 by the Marquess of Exeter, Lord of the Manor of Bourne, and a document deposited within it described the ceremony and detailing those who had subscribed to the cost of the building. Construction was completed within five months and the Stamford Mercury reported on Friday 19th October 1821: “The new and elegant Town Hall is one of the greatest improvements ever made in a town. By the removal of the old building from the market place, and the erection of this new one in a better situation, Bourne is wonderfully altered; its appearance of closeness and heaviness is removed as if by the hand of a magician, and the town puts on the ‘jaunty air’ of a lively and prosperous place.”

The new Town Hall was officially opened the following week by Earl Brownlow, Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire, accompanied by members of the bench of magistrates and other local and county worthies. "It was found to be admirably calculated for a Sessions House and for all the uses for which the building was designed", reported the newspaper.

And so it remained for almost 200 years, the centre of administration for this town until March this year when it became the victim of local authority budget economies and now stands empty and disused, soon to be sold off for some indeterminate use. In the meantime, through a bureaucratic sleight of hand, ownership has passed from the people to Lincolnshire County Council who will benefit from the sale while the generosity of those who paid for it has been conveniently forgotten.

Budgens is back in Bourne. The supermarket chain which departed after vacating the flagship premises in the Burghley Arcade five years ago has taken a new outlet as part of the petrol forecourt complex now nearing completion in South Road.

The company traded here for over 30 years, initially in antiquated surroundings at premises in West Street, now the Superdrug store, later moving to the purpose built supermarket in the Burghley Arcade. The shopping complex was opened in 1989 after a £1½ million investment by a property developer on the old cattle market site that also includes a mall with 14 retail units and a car park with 170 spaces. First indications indicated success for the future with the store being well patronised and in 2000 the facility was improved with the expansion of the delicatessen and bakery as well as more staff at the checkouts.

But this optimism did not last and the store faced additional problems of competition in August 1999 when Sainsbury’s opened their new supermarket in Exeter Street. Eventually, after several denials by the management about possible closure, the store shut on Monday 1st April 2008 and the 24 staff were paid off.

Since then, the premises have been taken over by Co-operative Food which opened for business in 2010 but there is also more daunting opposition from Tesco which opened its new superstore in South Road in February 2011. This appears to be the main rival for the new Budgens because their advertising leaflet circulated to local homes during the past week specifically details price match comparisons with them, claiming “half-price or better” on many selected wine and food items. Like the nearby Texaco garage, due to begin trading next Friday (September 13th), they will also be open all hours, seven days a week.

These are interesting times for the shopping and motoring public in Bourne, once a sleepy market town without a single supermarket but now we have five. There is also Tesco Express at the Esso filling station in North Road which for the past eight years has had a monopoly on the sale of petrol locally but that too is now being challenged by the new Texaco garage in South Road. Such competition can only be good for the public and will certainly keep them all on their toes.

Thought for the week: Competition is the keen cutting edge of business, always shaving away at costs. - Henry Ford (1863-1947), American car manufacturer who founded the Ford Motor Company and introduced assembly line production.

Saturday 14^th September 2013

Unsightly container - see "One of the unexpected . . . "

There is an old English proverb popularised during Victorian times that circumstances alter cases and we have an illustration of this here in Bourne over the forthcoming opening of the new primary school for the Elsea Park estate.

This project has been fraught with problems ever since it was first mooted as part of the planning gain when the residential development was announced in 1999 because its gestation has been hampered by one problem after another, culminating earlier this year in a protest from local residents over parking arrangements. This was rejected last week (September 2nd) with the granting of planning permission by Lincolnshire County Council which endorsed a proposed opening date to coincide with the beginning of the autumn term next year.

The new school will meet the urgent need for classroom places on the estate where 800 new homes have already been built and which will eventually double the size of the town’s population. But this stage has not been reached without some serious opposition, notably in the summer of 2010 when the head teachers of our two local primary schools, Tim Bright (Westfield) and Cherry Edwards (Abbey), opposed the building of the school because they were alarmed about the effect it might have on their own establishments.

Such was their concern that they decided to go public and their joint statement of objection was published by the Stamford Mercury claiming that the opening of a third primary school in Bourne could result in pupils being siphoned off from their schools thus leading to a reduction in the funding available and this would affect the high quality of education currently being provided (July 16th). The statement went on: “The result could mean redundancies for existing staff at perhaps both schools when trying to split the extra number of pupils between three schools rather than two.”

This opposition now appears to have dissipated and the new school is being welcomed in Bourne as a necessary addition to our educational facilities but we do not have to look far to find out what has happened in the meantime to bring about this change of heart. The answer is that both of our primary schools have since become academies, the Abbey in December 2010 and Westfield in November 2011, a status that gives them new independent powers including freedom from local government control, the management of their own budgets, the appointment of staff, the right to secure sponsors and even run other schools, and despite that previous hostility, both subsequently applied to run the proposed school at Elsea Park.

In the event, the contract has gone to the Bourne Abbey C E Primary Academy, a decision approved by the council in June this year which no doubt accounts for the jubilation over the granting of planning permission reported in the Stamford Mercury last week (September 6th). “This is tremendous news for Bourne, the surrounding area and particularly the parents of Elsea Park”, said John Kirkman, chairman of the governors. “The number of primary-aged children in the area is increasing and there are not enough places for all of them to attend local schools. The opening of the new school will ensure that the need will be met. The next twelve months will be both exciting and challenging. We are ready and are confident that the new school will be a place where outstanding education will be delivered.”

Head teacher Cherry Edwards was equally enthusiastic because she told the newspaper: “It is our intention to organise positive and effective links to give quality information about the new academy to all members of the local community with meetings and open days. These will allow parents, carers and other groups within the community to have guided tours, to be given information and to contribute, offer advice and raise any concerns.”

The approval of planning permission means that after a fifteen year wait and barring any other unexpected delays, the new school will open in September 2014 with a reception class of up to thirty boys and girls and an additional class being added each year to a maximum capacity of 210 children. It will be known as the Elsea Park Church of England Primary Academy.

There have been misgivings about the unseemly rush by schools throughout the country to become academies which is seen in some quarters as the back door to privatisation. This status certainly heralds a new era for those which participate, perhaps even turning them into independent fiefdoms that will inevitably grow in size as the years progress and so the cosy intimacy with which most of us are familiar may soon become a thing of the past.

FROM THE ARCHIVES - 136 YEARS AGO: "I opened the school this morning. The staff at starting consists of myself and three monitors for the boys' department. These monitors are desirous of becoming pupil teachers. Their names are Arthur Smith, Harry Smith and Frederick Warren. We admitted 36 boys today who were distributed as follows: Standard III - 6; Standard II - 6; Standard I - 24. Of these 24, as many as ten, although over seven years of age did not know their letters and nine could not tell that 2 and 1 make three." - entry from the school log book by the first headmaster, John Derry, of the Star Lane Board School [now the Abbey C E Primary Academy] on Monday 2nd July 1877.

One of the unexpected consequences of establishing the new Community Access Point at the Corn Exchange was the siting of two unsightly containers in the car park outside, placed against the back wall of the Grade II listed Town Hall and thus creating an eyesore which has been with us since work began eighteen months ago. They have been used to store the stalls and canopies for the Thursday and Saturday markets, formerly kept in a storeroom at the Corn Exchange which disappeared as part of the conversion along with the caretaker’s flat.

A new space was therefore needed to accommodate this equipment and so planners at South Kesteven District Council came up with the idea of these shipping-style containers which may have been suitable as a temporary measure but not a permanent solution that is creating such an unpleasant sight on the very edge of the town’s Conservation Area. Admittedly, the two original containers have now been reduced to one after some alternative space was found adjoining the Corn Exchange to store some of the stalls but there is insufficient room for them all and so one of them has been retained to house the rest.

But even this one solitary metal box, now showing signs of wear, remains a blemish on the townscape and a reminder that space was always going to be a problem when the CAP opened in March this year. Many visitors to the market can be heard remarking on it, some even thinking that they were a portable loo for the workmen left there by mistake, although when its doors open on Thursday and Saturday afternoons its intended purpose is revealed as workmen stack away the stalls for another day.

Whether the council is actively seeking an alternative and permanent place to store this equipment or if it is intended to leave the container there in perpetuity remains a mystery. Perhaps they are equally in the dark as they struggle for a solution or maybe they have just forgotten about it, a good idea at the time but now the job is done it is something that no longer matters. One thing is certain in that it does reflect the original fear that the Corn Exchange was not large enough to take all of the services now crammed into it, particularly the public library that has been drastically reduced in size and now a store for the stalls, while in the meantime the market scene must suffer this distinctly unattractive indignity week after week. If it had been placed on his property for storage purposes by a private citizen, he would have been issued with an enforcement order long ago.

Containers seem to have a fatal attraction for local authorities seeking short-term solutions because it is not so long ago that two of these unsightly receptacles were suggested as a suitable replacement for the 19th century chapel in the town cemetery. The incident occurred so long ago that it has probably been forgotten but a record of it still exists in the archives and it is so outrageous as to be worthy of repeating.

In 2005, when repair and maintenance costs were becoming prohibitive, the town council decided that this Victorian stone building should be demolished but the suggestion provoked a great deal of controversy because of the historic nature and aesthetic quality of the building which had been erected in 1855. This did not stop several councillors pursuing the idea and although the structure had become unsafe for funeral services it was still used to house machinery and equipment for the cemetery’s upkeep. On 6th February 2007 therefore, the amenities committee actually considered the possibility of replacing the chapel with two 20-foot steel sea containers for storage purposes, an unbelievable proposition that may have been the catalyst for what was to come.

This preposterous proposal was, of course, quietly dropped, as was the prospect of demolition when the chapel was given a Grade II listing by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) from Wednesday 4th April 2007, thus protecting the building from being pulled down in the future. As a result, the Bourne Preservation Trust was formed, a local conservation organisation currently seeking control of the chapel to restore and protect it for future use and although its members have faced a series of obstacles in trying to achieve their objective in the face of continuing bureaucracy at many levels, the struggle continues and the chapel still stands, a far more attractive prospect than a couple of rusting sea containers.

Blackberries can be found all around Bourne at this time of the year, in the woods and hedgerows, along the roadside verges, on waste ground, around the edges of the playing fields and even on housing estates where huge bushes of brambles can often be found full of luscious large berries just waiting to be picked yet often remain untouched for several days.

This seasonal bounty from our countryside no longer attracts the pickers of yesteryear. In my boyhood, we would be off most days with the family shopping basket and assorted containers and a walking stick if possible to reach those high branches, seeking out the secluded places that had the best berries and keeping the location a secret from our friends lest they should go there too and take our fruit. After a few hours, we would return home laden, often a stone or more, our hands black with juice and our mouths stained from repeated tastings. Blackberries were not only a succulent, delicious fruit but they were also free and a boon to a working class family. We ate blackberry pie, blackberry crumble and plain blackberries with milk, cream being far too expensive, but the bulk of them were turned into jam by my mother, jars and jars of it which were stored in the pantry to keep us fed at breakfast and tea during the winter months.

Blackberrying appears to be a minority interest these days. What was once a common source of food now seems to be a dying tradition. We rarely see anyone out picking and while the fruit rots on the stem, supermarkets sell them for high prices. Perhaps people are too lazy to venture out and pick their own or maybe they are unaware that blackberries are edible. Whatever the reason, they are missing an autumnal treat and once tried, will never again be missed.

Thought for the week: Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit. - Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), Russian physician, dramatist and novelist, considered to be among the greatest short story writers in history. 

Saturday 21^st September 2013

The grain warehouse before and after restoration

A local resident has taken South Kesteven District Council to task for failing to observe its own planning guidelines when restoring the old corn warehouse in Burghley Street.

The four-storey building of red brick and blue slate dating from the early 19th century is the central feature of the £2.2 million refurbishment scheme for Wherry’s Lane and although not listed it does stand within the town’s Conservation Area. Work which began in May 2012 has involved turning it into fourteen first and second floor apartments and renovating the frontage which has an established pattern of window design but it has been claimed that those in the sack hoist section have been replaced with new ones that are totally inappropriate.

“I would have expected them to be made with glazing bars and wide frames to match the original windows but instead they have been done as cheaply and tattily as possible”, writes Robert Harvey of Beech Avenue, Bourne, in his letter of protest to the council. “I do not doubt that windows are required in a position where formerly there were none and I imagine that they are needed to light some new internal corridor but this should have been done with far more care to match what is already there. Were this the property of a private individual and those windows had been fitted I would have expected your office to have been complaining immediately until they were changed.”

Mr Harvey has also condemned the wooden cladding that has been added and says that the shape of the barge boards and the lower course of tiles has nothing to do with a building of this age. “I have no doubt we will grow accustomed to these”, he said, “but there is no hope of ever forgiving the hideous windows.”

He also claims that the work breaches the council’s own guidelines for property owners in conservation areas which quite clearly state that where there is an established pattern of window design or glazing and it is considered important for the character or appearance of the building, the new windows should be designed to take account of the existing design and glazing. “But these do no such thing”, he said. “They are hideously out of place.”

He went on: “No doubt planning permission was given but it should not have been and the council should think very seriously about why it was. This redevelopment was an opportunity for the council to take the lead, to show other property owners the standard to which they should aspire but in this case they have set a poor precedent.”

The council, however, does not agree, claiming that the overall conversion has significantly enhanced the building and the surrounding area as well as preserving a major, undesignated heritage asset. “It is considered that the scheme has resulted in an overall enhancement of its appearance by removing large unsightly additions and restoring the historic fabric”, said Justin Johnson, the principal planning officer. “The windows used in the main building are of timber construction and of similar design to the original windows. With regard to the windows in the sack hoist, it is considered that the use of similar windows to that in the main building with glazing bars would have been architecturally inappropriate. The original sack hoist was patched up and unsightly. The sack hoist has been completely replaced with a new structure and it is considered that the windows are appropriate for this element of the building and the timber boarding will weather naturally over time.”

The jury is therefore still out. Planning permission was no doubt passed on the nod by the council but if the building had been Grade II listed it is quite certain that this work would not have been carried out without detailed investigation when it would have been subjected to the utmost scrutiny with input from the public and our various conservation organisations, including English Heritage, with final approval needed from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Certainly one aspect of the development that would have occupied their attention yet seems to have escaped the district council is the misalignment of the window on the left in the new bottom row that has disrupted the entire symmetry of the facade, a glaringly obvious detail that certainly would not have received the approval of English Heritage.

As it is, we have a fait accompli and it will therefore be up to the people of Bourne to judge whether work on the grain warehouse is a hotchpotch or a sympathetic conversion although, more importantly, history will make the final appraisal as to whether it becomes an important part of our heritage or a missed opportunity.

Wherry’s Lane is named after a man whose family has played a major role in the life of this town and a clue to its origins may be found on a date stone that can been seen on the red brick gable end of the large shop property which stands on the north side of the lane at the town end entrance which says “W.W. 1846”. This relates to William Wherry, a leading member of the family which has been connected with the town for the past two centuries. In fact, there has been an unbroken line of family control at Wherry & Sons Ltd since the company started in business at Bourne in 1806, the year following the Battle of Trafalgar.

Edward Wherry, as were his forebears, was the proprietor of the village store at nearby Edenham but moved to Bourne and began trading as grocers and drapers from premises in North Street and soon became one of the most successful enterprises in the history of this town. His son, William Wherry, expanded the business considerably and built the property which bears his initials as a family home in 1840 with shop premises below. Apart from his business activities, he was chairman of the Bourne Gas and Coke Company from its formation in 1840 until he resigned for health reasons in 1879. He was also a deeply religious man, a tireless worker for the Baptist Chapel in West Street, and serving as secretary to the Bourne auxiliary of the Bible Society for 50 years, being presented with a handsome family bible for his work and he died on Wednesday 24th May 1882.

His son, also William, joined the company as a fifteen-year-old apprentice in 1856 and continued the expansion but is perhaps better known through his prolific work for the community. He became a magistrate, councillor and county alderman, a civic office now defunct, and was such a busy man and so dedicated to serving the people that when he retired from public life his numerous public offices and positions of responsibility numbered almost 100. He died on 24th May 1915 at the age of 74.

The Wherry family became so prominent and their business and public activities so widespread that they are remembered in many places and on several memorial stones, notably at the Baptist Church in West Street, while the family grave is the largest to be found in the South Road cemetery. Today, Wherry and Sons Ltd continue in business from new office premises at the old village school at Rippingale but still retain a high profile in the town.

Meanwhile, the former Wherry family home remains at No 17 North Street, an imposing Regency style building in red brick with ashlar quoins, now Grade II listed and converted into commercial premises in 1924. It is currently split into two retail units, one formerly occupied by the Paper Chain newsagents but now standing empty, with the Nationwide Building Society next door.

The Red Hall opened its doors to the public on Saturday when sufficient people turned up to consider making this an annual event. A total of 44 visitors arrived during the day to take a look at the interior of the Elizabethan manor house, among them an elderly lady who has lived in Bourne all her life and this was her first chance to see inside.

The event was part of the national Heritage Open Days scheme funded by English Heritage which began in 1994 and is now held throughout the country to celebrate our architecture by offering free access to places that are usually closed to the public or normally charge for admission, thus providing a once-a-year opportunity to take a look inside and enjoy a wide range of tours, events and activities that bring our local history and culture to life.

The Red Hall is among the oldest and certainly the most attractive of the secular properties in Bourne, dating from 1605 when it was built by Gilbert Fisher, a wealthy London businessman, and is typical of the new style of house being constructed for prosperous gentlemen of the Stuart period. The walls are made of locally produced hand-made bricks of a distinctive deep red with stone detailing and ashlar quoins, hence the name, and the original carved oak staircase remains intact with its chunky turned balusters and intricate carved features. The house is many gabled and has a fine Tuscan porch but there is evidence that Fisher was too ambitious because he died in debt in 1633 and the cost of constructing the Red Hall has been blamed for his insolvency.

The building has been administered by Bourne United Charities on behalf of the community since 1962 but has been virtually closed to the public for the past 40 years. The open day provided several ideas for improving access and the reception of visitors and once these have been resolved, the trustees are now likely to consider opening on a regular basis.

Bourne continues to beaver away for the coveted gold award in the annual East Midlands in Bloom competition but so far is always the bridesmaid and never the bride. A silver gilt award has been won this year for the sixth successive time although it has not been for want of trying to secure the supreme accolade, especially the dedicated work by a band of volunteers headed by Mrs Nelly Jacobs, clerk to the town council, who put in many hours to keep this town ahead.

It has been suggested in the past that many traders do not give it their full support although this summer’s display appeared to be far better than last with hanging baskets outside the Burghley Arms for the first time in many years, a vital addition because this building is at the centre of an attractive façade that everyone sees as they enter Bourne from the south. However, the judges decided that there were insufficient floral decorations in the town centre and that the street furniture such as benches and railings needed attention and so despite such valiant efforts, Bourne dropped nine points on last year’s result by scoring 153 out of a possible 200.

Undeterred, Mrs Jacobs is already looking forward to the challenge in 2014. “We are happy to still be in the silver gilt category”, she told The Local newspaper (September 13th), “and although we dropped points, this will encourage us for next year when we hope for more contributions from local businesses. To get gold next year we need some incredible input from the community and plans are already afoot to take the town to that level.”

Apart from the silver gilt award, there was a special judges’ award for the new community orchard now being established at Bourne Wood and praise for the Jubilee Meadow adjoining the Wellhead Gardens and landscaping around Elsea Park.

This annual event is community based and designed to encourage cleaner, smarter and more attractive town centres in the region. This year’s entry has been particularly heartening because the judges picked out so many areas for special mention, the hidden gems within Bourne of which residents should be particularly proud. Jeff Bates, chairman of East Midlands in Bloom, told the newspaper: “It is very pleasing to see that there is growing interest from communities to work together and improve the quality of the environment where they live. The awards show that high standards are being maintained and that projects are making lasting improvements.”

The annual competition carries with it an involvement of the people and the chance to make our streets attractive, not just for the judges when they make their tour during the summer but also for the many visitors who arrive here with Bourne either as a destination or merely passing through. The work carried out in successive years is the perfect example of how a small market town should look and we should remember that if people like what they see then they will come again.

Thought for the week: Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German politician and writer whose work includes poetry, prose, verse drama and novels.

Saturday 28^th September 2013

Family fun at the "rec" in 1935.

One of the great leisure amenities for both children and adults in Bourne is the recreation ground which was opened over 100 years ago to celebrate the coronation of King George V. Today, it remains a large open space with play facilities that have been added in recent years and surrounded by council houses, mainly in what is appropriately known as Recreation Road, Harrington Street, Ancaster Road and Alexandra Terrace.

The official opening was held on the day of the coronation, Friday 30th June 1911, and it must have been a grand occasion because the Stamford Mercury later reported: “In the afternoon at two o'clock, all the children of the town met in the Market Place, formed in procession and headed by the town band and members of the council, paraded to the new recreation ground which was formally opened by Alderman William Wherry accompanied by other members of the council. There were 1,100 people present.”

Trees were planted along the western boundary of the ground and in the years that followed it has been a magnet for children of all ages and still remains a welcoming patch of green.

The “rec”, as this open space has been affectionately known to generations of children, has been popular ever since it opened and today is in regular use at weekends for football matches that attract boys and girls. The ground was also once the venue for the Guy Fawkes' Night bonfire celebrations and has even been used on some occasions for the travelling fairs that visit Bourne although this has not been a satisfactory arrangement because of the noise and crowds generated by this annual attraction in the midst of the most intensively populated district in Bourne.

Vandalism has been a problem in the past and a block of public toilets that once stood alongside Recreation Road was demolished because they had been so badly misused and the changing rooms of Bourne Town Juniors Football Club were also targeted in 1999. But despite these setbacks, it remains a major amenity and one that the town could not afford to lose.

This has been acknowledged by South Kesteven District Council which has just spent £50,000 on refurbishing the recreation ground, work that has included the addition of a new area for disabled children. Dare to be Different, a support group for parent carers, worked closely on the design with council officials and includes a swing seat with a supported back rest and a roundabout which can take a wheelchair. Contributions to the cost also came from the housing developer Larkfleet Homes which is building several new estates in the vicinity.

Phil Jordan, the council's community leisure officer, told The Local newspaper (September 20th) that the new equipment and general improvements had greatly enhanced the recreation ground which would attract more children. "The disabled project fits in superbly with our priority to promote active lifestyles allowing children of all ages and abilities to play together, have lots of fun and make new friends", he said.

Laura Tilley, chairman of Dare to be Different, was equally enthusiastic. "The play area is intended to incorporate equipment that children with disabilities can access and enjoy playing alongside their peers so that children of varying ages and abilities can play together”, she said. “A visit to a play park should be part of everybody's childhood memories", she said.

Big Macs are on the way for Bourne. The fast food outlet planned for the new Texaco garage complex in South Road will be a McDonald's, the world's largest chain of hamburger food restaurants. An application for planning permission has been submitted to South Kesteven District Council and is due to be considered later this year. If approved, work could begin this autumn.

McDonald's already has 1,200 restaurants in the UK serving three million customers every day and employing around 87,500 people while the names of many of their specialities have passed into the language. The good news is that the new Bourne outlet will employ 65 people, 35 full time and the rest part time, most of them are likely to be recruited locally  and the company policy is to be part of the community by supporting a range of activities from litter picks to charity events and local football matches.

The Big Mac has become the company’s most popular fast food dish after being introduced in Pittsburgh, USA, in 1967, a double-decker hamburger consisting of two 1.6 oz. 100 per cent beef patties, American cheese with a special sauce, iceberg lettuce, pickles and onions and served in a three-part sesame seed bun.

The South Road location just off the Elsea Park roundabout has been chosen by the company for the restaurant and drive-thru because it is well placed to serve residents, commuters and passing traffic on the main A15 Lincoln to Peterborough road. “The proposals seek to achieve a high quality development which will make a positive visual contribution to the local area”, says the company in its submission with the planning application. “The proposed restaurant design is considered to be appropriate to the function of the development and the site context.”

It is, however, unlikely to please everyone, and critical voices have already been raised, notably in the correspondence column of The Local newspaper (September 20th) where one reader wrote that the news had been received with “a sunken heart”. A Cook, of Water Lane, which is part of the new Elsea Park estate opposite, fears that there will be problems with litter from fast food packaging and left-overs that will prove hazardous to the variety of wildlife that can be found nearby including the local ponds and Elsea Wood. Extra traffic will also be created at a time when speeding vehicles are already causing a nuisance along Raymond Mays Way and the new outlet is also likely to take custom from existing town centre businesses. Then there is the smell. “The odour emitted is unpleasant and largely unpreventable and this will be accentuated under certain weather conditions”, he writes.

But everyone is entitled to have their say and objections to the development may be lodged with South Kesteven District Council through their web site or at the new Community Access Point at the Corn Exchange. This is the public consultation procedure at work although with such a big contribution to the business rate at stake, it is unlikely to make the slightest bit of difference to stop the application going through.

Anyone who lived through the Second World War will know that oranges were not available. They were a fruit forbidden by enemy action in that their submarines blockaded food supplies from those tropical countries where they were grown and in any case most of our ships were too busy carrying troops and munitions to handle luxury items such as this.

When the war ended in 1945 many children got their first sight of an orange and I remember the owner of our corner shop posting a notice in his window one evening saying that he had been allocated a box of oranges which would be on sale next day but they would be rationed to one per person on a first come first served basis. By 9 am the following morning there was a lengthy queue of children and adults outside and within an hour all of them had gone, many shared out among brothers and sisters who had a slice or two each of a juicy fruit that for the past five years they had only seen in books.

I am reminded of these events by an item that has surfaced from the archives about the kindness of Alderman William Wherry (1841-1915), a local businessman who served this town well in many capacities, notably as chairman of the board of governors of the Star Lane Board or Council School [now the Abbey C of E Primary Academy], a post he held from the time it opened in 1877 until he died 38 years later.

During those years he had gained a reputation for his generosity towards the pupils and on many special occasions such as royal events, holidays and particularly at Christmas, he would turn up at the school with a box of oranges to be distributed to the pupils, sometimes more than 250 of them. One such event was chronicled in the log book on 23rd December 1910 which said: "Broke up this morning for the Christmas holiday. Alderman Wherry kindly distributed oranges to all the boys and spoke a few encouraging words to them." On those occasions that he could not be present, he sent his daughter, Miss Anne Wherry, to distribute the oranges for him.

On 23rd December 1914, the headmaster, Joseph Davies, made special mention of this in his log book. "Broke up this afternoon. Alderman Wherry presented each boy with an orange on leaving and the boys gave him hearty good wishes and cheers. Mr Wherry has, without exception, followed this custom since the establishment of the school in 1877."

When Alderman Wherry died, the headmaster recorded in the log book: "He was most zealous in his duties connected with the school, always considerate, sympathetic and wisely helpful, both with scholars and teachers, who all feel that on his death they have lost a steadfast friend. Scholars and staff have subscribed for a wreath."

The tradition he had begun, however, continued and the log book recorded on 21st December 1916, shortly before the school broke up for the Christmas holidays: "Mr Albert Wherry [Alderman Wherry's eldest son], following the late Alderman Wherry's custom since the school was opened, gave each boy an orange and spoke a few words of hearty encouragement."

In later years, the oranges were provided by other Bourne businessmen although as the fruit became more plentiful and people more affluent, they were less prized even as a gift and the custom eventually died out.

The Bourne web site has joined the twitterati. This would seem to be a natural replacement for the Forum which closed down earlier this year, mainly because social media sites such as this had attracted most of our contributors who found the quick, brief and immediate message a far more acceptable means of communicating than a discussion platform that had remained unchanged in well over a decade.

Twitter also has the added benefit of being able to tell readers about the changes we make, the articles added and the subjects dealt with in the weekly Bourne Diary and so prompts readers to log on and take a look.

I was one of the first people in Bourne to have a computer and my days at the screen began with Alan Sugar’s much-loved Amstrad word processor but progressed to the more advanced models which began with Windows 95 and just 16MB of memory and have since tried to keep up with the ever-changing technology. But I never became a fan of social media and have still yet to join Facebook but in the short time we have been participating, Twitter has proved its value. The clever way it operates through sophisticated algorithms, the very acme of computer science, brings like-minded people together to exchange views of mutual interest and although much of its content is completely trivial, after a few days of involvement it is easy to understand how the voice of the people expressed through programmes such as this are changing the world.

It has been suggested that the Bourne web site itself which began in August 1998 also needs to be dragged into the 21st century and I have considered switching to a more modern format similar to all of those others out there in cypberspace but I feel that some things should be left as they are and that the old adage “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” should apply. This web site is not therefore distracted by unwanted advertisements and remains easy to navigate without the lengthy interval as all of the technological gubbins is downloaded while you sit impatiently waiting with a hand hovering over the mouse. The Internet has brought with it an immediacy that has set a new standard and clumsy web sites that may look good are not always a beneficial experience.

But despite all of these misgivings about the speed in which change is sweeping through our lives, we have at long last succumbed to Twitter and hope you will follow us through the link below but those who do not subscribe may read our main contributions in Photo Features that can be accessed through the Index on the front page of this web site.

Thought for the week: Twitter, the social networking site, was created in March 2006 and now has worldwide popularity with 500 million registered users who last year posted 340 million tweets per day and has now become one of the ten most visited web sites on the Internet. - Wikipedia, the Online Encyclopedia.

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