Bourne War Memorial featured
by Historic England

by REX NEEDLE

The Bourne War Memorial has been selected for the front page photograph of the new edition of the official guide for the care and maintenance of war memorials in England.

The guide entitled “Conservation and Management of War Memorial Landscapes” has been published jointly by Historic England (formerly English Heritage), the War Memorials Trust and the Gardens Trust, to provide advice in safeguarding the future of these memorials which were erected in towns and villages across the country to remember our dead from the Great War of 1914-18 and subsequent conflicts.

My photograph entitled “Sunday afternoon at the War Memorial” shows the War Memorial in South Street as the backdrop to a brass band concert in August 1999, one of a series of such musical events which became a feature of Sunday afternoons in summer and there was always an appreciative audience scattered around in deckchairs and on the grass with tea served afterwards in the nearby Darby and Joan hall.

The War Memorial was erected by Bourne United Charities in 1956 and contains the names of 134 local servicemen who lost their lives in battle. There is no bandstand in the vicinity and so visiting musicians sit around the stone cenotaph although there is currently a campaign underway for Bourne to have a permanent place where they can play in comfort.

The conservation guide is now being circulated to local and other authorities through the country which administer war memorials with advice on the best practice to secure their preservation for the future.

WRITTEN APRIL 2016