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The changing face of Bourne is due mainly to the advent of
the motor car which has altered the street scene forever. There is rarely a
moment when the roads are not crowded and safe to cross and the pictures of
yesteryear that survive show an unhurried way of life, as in this postcard of 1911. Colour photography had not been invented and black and white views were hand-tinted by artists employed by the publishers, in this case Valentines, and sold by William Pearce of North Street. This card was posted
on August 14th to Mr R Eady at 15, North Street, Raunds, near Wellingborough,
Northamptonshire, from someone who was visiting relatives or friends in South
Street, Bourne, and the recipient was perhaps his employer, because the message reads: "Dear Sir. I am staying until Friday because Mr Bailey has gone out for a few days and I am doing his work for him. Hoping you are all well. We are having a good time here. The weather is hot. Yours truly, F Lock."
The most striking changes are the disappearance of the shop and cottage with the
three dormer windows on the right, now demolished and replaced by a modern
office block occupied by the solicitors Double & Megson, and the Horse and Groom public
house, now a supermarket and liquor store and soon to be our new post office.
The old Crown Inn remains as Crown Walk but the bay windows have disappeared
from the 17th century red brick property used by Lloyds TSB and the similar
building opposite, now occupied by Pets Parlour, while the gas lamps at the kerbside that were a feature of Victorian
England have been replaced by concrete standards and fluorescent lighting and, of
course, those interminable white and yellow lines have appeared on the road.
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