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A slower and more sedate way of life is reflected in this photograph of South
Street from the late 19th century showing the entrance to Church Walk with
Cavalry House and the Tudor almshouses on the right and Brook Lodge directly
ahead. The picture was taken circa 1890, in the days when the streets were lit
by gas lamps and the traffic was mainly horse-drawn. Mrs Alice Gray's cottage which can
just be seen on the
extreme left with the dormer windows was demolished in January 1977 although the
local authorities failed to take advantage of this to iron out a very dangerous
bend which is, after all, the main A15 between Peterborough and
Lincoln. Instead, the road at this point has become a major hazard and a serious
bottleneck at busy periods, especially during the evening rush hour when
tailbacks of traffic as far as the grammar school are a regular occurrence.
The gas lamps which once lit the streets of Bourne have gone to be replaced by tall metal posts with fluorescent lights and although they are far more efficient, they lack the style and period appearance of the original. Yellow lines and street signs proliferate and the road which was once little more than bare earth that threw up clouds of dust in summer and turned to a muddy quagmire in winter has been replaced by a Tarmacadam surface. Even the wooden picket fence outside the almshouses has been replaced by iron railings while those outside Cavalry House have been removed. The contrast between the two pictures is a reflection of our changing times because what was once a quiet road into town has become a major thoroughfare carrying more traffic than it should and which ought to have been by-passed long ago.
See also South Street today |
