THE CONDITION of St Peter's Pool continues to deteriorate, creating an unsightly appearance during the summer months and resulting in adverse comments from visitors. The surface is currently choked with algae and the water can hardly be seen, so making it difficult for waterfowl such as the black swans, moorhens, pintail and mallard that live here and have become such an attraction.

By all accounts, the Bourne Classic Car and Bike Show last month (on Sunday 7th June) was a tremendous success marred only by the appearance of the setting in which it was held, the Wellhead Field dominated by this small lake. There were many complaints from visitors on the day about the state of this ancient source of water and one was spurred into putting his thoughts down on paper with a letter to the Stamford Mercury (June 26th):

“What a shame that the thick green scum almost covering the surface of the neglected pool was seen by hundreds of people who flocked to the show, a great success blessed with glorious weather”, wrote Brian Green of Needham Road, Morton. “The scum is too dense for the mallard to swim through and they use the ‘leads’ - channels of clear water as seen in melting pack ice - to get about the pool surface.”

Last weekend, there were more visitors walking to and fro, attracted by the music in the park feature in the War Memorial gardens organised by South Kesteven District Council, one of a series of brass band concerts to be held there during the summer months. This time, the visiting musicians were from the City of Lincoln Band and the surrounding parkland was full of walkers both before and after the event.

Many commented on the poor state of St Peter's Pool and one, a visitor from London spending the weekend with relatives who live locally, was aghast at what he saw. "It is quite disgraceful", he said. "There is nothing quite so bad in any of the inner city parks around the capital. I have also travelled extensively throughout East Europe which generally has a terrible reputation for community amenities but I have never seen a single stretch of water in a public open space quite as badly neglected as this."

Unfortunately, the unsightly appearance of the pool has been the subject of many similar complaints over the years and although the banks have recently been cleared of weed, the entire area is still in need of major maintenance work to bring it up to the status it enjoyed in past time as the town’s leading beauty spot. The pool is administered by Bourne United Charities and many wonder if the trustees ever go down to take a look because it is their responsibility to keep it in good order yet the years go by with little or nothing being done.

Volunteers were spotted recently cleaning out the Bourne Eau where it runs through the Wellhead Gardens which is also the responsibility of BUC and perhaps their efforts will be turned next to St Peter’s Pool. As with the cemetery chapel, the time may have come for stewardship to be passed to others who recognise the importance of this site in our history and would be prepared to exercise more care over its appearance.

WRITTEN JULY 2009