Demolition of the water tower

BOURNE'S BIG BANG

One of the big bangs of history over Bourne occurred in the spring of 1964 when contractors were removing the last of the installations from the railway station complex after services were withdrawn.

The work included dismantling the platforms and other facilities but the biggest task was the removal of the water tower. The maintenance of a railway service, even for a small town such as Bourne, needed workshops and engine sheds which can be seen here in this photograph from circa 1880. The water tower which supplied the engines is on the extreme right and the circular structure in the middle is the turntable used to turn the engines for their return journeys. When the station was dismantled, this vital piece of equipment had a short spell in use at the Peterborough East station before being given to the Nene Valley Railway, a preserved system on the outskirts of Peterborough, where it is still in service to this day.

The water tower was also removed at that time but it was so soundly built that it took demolition engineers five attempts to blow it up. The Lincolnshire Free Press subsequently reported the event on 19th May 1964:

WATER TOWER AT BOURNE IS DEMOLISHED

WITH the felling of the 50ft. water tower with its 25,000 gallon cast iron tank at the top, the demolitions at Bourne railway passenger station came to an end on Wednesday afternoon. A few “mourners” gathered to paid their last respects as the demolition charges – about 8 lbs. Of gelignite, did their work. The tower, which for long has been a landmark and which supplied the whole of the water used at the station, fell gracefully into the space appointed raising a thick cloud of dust which enveloped its last spasm. Subcontracting for the explosive insertion and the detonation was Mr B. E. B. Ashwell, of Carrdyke House, Baston. He had blown away the previous day large parts of the walls supporting the tank and the final coup on Wednesday went exactly as planned.

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