Snow

Snow is synonymous with winter and particularly Christmas and yet its appearance is relatively rare and when we do have a fall of any significance, the country invariably grinds to a standstill because public services, traffic, trains and travel cannot cope.

Those occasions are therefore well remembered and although records of past centuries are sparse, particularly for small communities such as Bourne, some instances are well documented, particularly the blizzard of 1916 which caused major disruption to public services and left a trail of damage.

The wintry conditions prevailed throughout Tuesday 28th March 1916 when trees were uprooted in various parts of the town, four on the Abbey Lawn, three in Mill Drove, two near the villas in West Road, three in a field near the railway station at the Red Hall, two at the bottom of Eastgate and one close to Dr John Gilpin's surgery in South Street. The telephone and telegraph services were cut off and on Tuesday evening it was reported that not a single telephone subscriber could be reached while the following morning telegrams were not being accepted by the Post Office because they were unable to send them. One telegram sent before noon on the Tuesday was not delivered until 9 o'clock the following morning, an unheard of delay.

Rail services were badly disrupted and trains due into Bourne from Saxby just before 11 am on Tuesday were held up by deep snow drifts at South Witham and had still not arrived by midday the following day. The 12.15 pm express to Leicester reached South Witham but was forced to return with its passengers to Norwich. All trains were running late on the Great Northern system and the journey to Grantham took about four hours. A train which left Bourne for Spalding at 3 pm to bring home passengers from Spalding market arrived in Bourne at 7 pm in the evening after the electric signalling system at Twenty failed.

The motor mail cart usually due at Bourne at 4 am did not arrive until after 7 am on both Tuesday and Wednesday and on the Tuesday run it was held up by telegraph poles that had blown down across the road. Several passengers were stranded at Bourne railway station including three soldiers who were given beds for the night at the Red Cross hospital in the Vestry Hall. The surprising feature of the storm was that is caused only a small amount of structural damage to property, mainly dislodging slates, tiles and guttering that collapsed under the weight of snow.

There was another heavy fall in the winter of 1920 and this was the scene in South Street. The small white building behind the railings alongside the Bourne Eau on the left was the riverside studio of local photographer Ashby Swift who may have taken this picture. Behind are the premises of Johnson Brothers, who were in business here as blacksmiths and implement dealers, although they also had an ironmongery shop in the Market Place. Their premises in South Street were demolished in 1959 to make way for the Darby and Joan Hall.

THE WINTER OF 1947
The winter of 1946-1947 was one of the worst recorded in this country and in January 1947 there were heavy snowfalls, bringing large drifts around the country which caused roads and railways to be blocked. These pictures show the depth of the snow in several places around Bourne. Villages were cut off and life was disrupted through shortages of fuel, food and other commodities until conditions began to ease towards the end of February.