The history of Bourne is chronicled mainly by the work of the great and the good, the mayors and councillors, the planners and committee members, who have been responsible for the conduct of our affairs. But there are others whose voluntary work for the community has become a valuable part of our life because it is their energy and enthusiasm that provides a much-needed zest for living and makes our leisure time so much more interesting.

For the past 25 years, such a role has been filled by Betty James whose reputation has become a byword for her untiring voluntary work that has brought pleasure to many through the various organisations with which she has become associated, an achievement that has been surpassed in the last three years when she and her husband Jim have spent many hours bringing well known classical musicians to the town.

Betty James was born at Grimsby on 20th February 1931, the second daughter of Elsie and William Broxholme. Her father was the hard-working owner of a small coach building and panel beating business and her mother, who had German origins, was a home maker of the old tradition. Betty went to the South Parade Primary School where she passed the local scholarship examination that gave her a coveted place at Wintringham Grammar School, a co-educational school where she spent the next five years before passing her Cambridge School Certificate examination and had hopes of going on to study at university. But it was not to be. In those days, fees had to be paid and money was not plentiful in the Broxholme household where there were now two daughters to support.

Instead, Betty became a clerk at Lloyds Bank, a prestige job in days when few girls were to be seen behind bank counters, and in April 1948 she was sent to the Grimsby Docks branch. Also working there was a young lad called Jim James and although they did not get on well at first, they were soon courting and after a three year engagement, were married at St James' Church, Grimsby, on 9th May 1953, followed by a honeymoon at a modest guest house in Eastbourne where the apparently fearsome landlady turned out to have a heart of gold because she gave them a rolling pin, a traditional wedding gift, which they treasure to this day.

Their first daughter, Vivienne Anne, was born in 1956 and two years later, the bank moved Jim and Betty to the Lincoln branch where a second daughter, Alison Mary, was born in 1959. The bank moved them again in 1962, this time to Nottingham, where they bought a detached property high on a hill at West Bridgford and overlooking the city. Two years later, there was yet another move, this time to Coventry where they stayed for five years and it was here that Betty started a new career in market research which was to last for the next ten years. She gave up this work when Jim was moved to Grantham where they spent a further eight years, the girls attending the Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School, Margaret Thatcher's old school, before going on to university, and Betty became the manager's secretary at the historic Angel and Royal Hotel where she was to remain for the next ten years. Their most fortuitous move came in August 1978 when Jim was appointed manager of the Bourne branch where he remained until he retired in 1987.

"We took to Bourne from the word go", said Betty. "We knew that if our plans were to come to fruition, this little town on the edge of the fens would be the place where hopefully we would grow very old together."

Jim was soon involved with the local Lions Club and it was inevitable that Betty should become a Lions Lady. But she still felt mentally under-stretched and so set about achieving a life-long ambition of owning a tea shop and with Jim's valuable advice and help, this soon materialised at a former china shop in North Street which was converted into Polly's Tea Shop, named after Jim's mother, which opened in June 1981. She continued running it for five years but it was hard work and in 1986, with a mixture of relief and sadness, decided to hand over to someone younger and so Polly's survives to this day.

The life of a housewife however did not satisfy Betty and her urge to be involved in the community and in a few months she had launched the Tuesday WRVS Luncheon Club, the Bourne Ladies' Dinner Club, joined the local Action Research Committee and with her friend Jackie Repton, opened a dress agency called Milady, although this turned out to be a less rewarding project than Polly's and lasted only a year. She still had the mental energy for something more challenging and so became the Bourne correspondent for the Spalding-based newspaper, the Lincolnshire Free Press, for a payment of 2d. a line. Eighteen months later, the Bourne Local newspaper [now The Local] was launched and Betty spotted an excellent opportunity. "I liked the feel of this little newspaper", she said. "It had an aura of the small market town about it. I read it through two or three times and then telephoned the editor, who was also the owner, and he came round to see me within an hour and offered me the job of writing my own gossip column about people and events and so I was on my way."

The column, or rather page, was called Town Talk and lasted for ten years during which time Betty came to know everyone connected with Bourne's many organisations. It was a hectic life as a reporter but her column soon became one of the newspaper's most popular features, written in a personal and intimate style that highlighted what was going on in the town and what the people were doing. But the weekly deadlines were tying her down and now with Jim retired, they wanted to spend more time on their favourite pastime, seeing the world, and so she resigned and they were soon off on a series of cruises to faraway places including Russia and Scandinavia, Spain, the Caribbean, the United States, Egypt and the Holy Land.

But between voyages, the voluntary work continued and Betty was active with the town's Twinning Association, established in October 1989 when Bourne became linked with Doudeville in Normandy. She became secretary in 1992 and remained in office for eight years when she became vice-chairman and in 2003 was elected chairman. She is also a founder member of the Bourne Organ Club, established in 1995 and meeting regularly with guest instrumentalists and is currently the vice-chairman and minutes' secretary.

Her latest venture is intended to bring classical musicians to the town for gala concerts. The idea for this came during one of their cruises on the P & O liner Victoria in 1999 when the piano duo David Nettle and Richard Markham were on board playing for guests and Betty and Jim invited them to come to Bourne in 2000. The concert included a black tie and champagne reception at the Corn Exchange attended by 135 people and was such a success that they decided to make it an annual event. The following year, they engaged the singing group Cantabile and in 2002, by public request, Nettle and Markham made a repeat appearance. Vincent Billington was the guest concert pianist at another successful evening in 2003 and plans are now in hand for a fifth gala concert in 2004 with the Burlington Trio.

Said Betty: "It all came to pass just as we planned and the added bonus was to have our grandchildren there to see it all happen. It was not quite so easy for Jim and I to kneel down and we had to help each other up, but it was perfect nevertheless. There were so many words that could describe my feelings as we walked down the aisle on that beautiful day in May. I was excited, nervous and proud and as we stood to sing the first hymn, a little hand took mine and there was Florence, just over two years old and looking so gorgeous in her bridesmaid's dress. She looked up at me and smiled and suddenly the right word came to me. Grateful, so very grateful for everything. In a nutshell, I have so much to be thankful for, a wonderful husband who is such fun to be with, two lovely daughters and two caring sons-in-law who have given us five wonderful grandchildren. I just want it to go on for ever."

Bourne also has reason to be grateful to Betty James. Despite her commitments to many causes and organisations, she has never been known to refuse a request to help and this is the very stuff of voluntary work so essential in our community life today.

WRITTEN OCTOBER 2003

Photographs: Courtesy Jim & Betty James

See also Twinning with Doudeville & Polly's Tea Shop