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Saturday 6th March 2010
Work in progress around St Peter's Pool
A major transformation is taking place at the Wellhead
Gardens and around St Peter’s Pool in particular and come spring we will see the
fruits of the labour that has been going on here during the winter months.
Volunteers from the Bourne Green Gym have been busy clearing and planting
unsightly areas along the river and around the lake and the results are
impressive and will be even more evident as the season advances.
The Bourne Green Gym was formed in 2009 as part of a scheme run by the British
Trust of Conservation Volunteers which allows young and old alike improve their
health and the environment at the same time. Volunteers are recruited through
the Hereward Practice in Exeter Street and work under the direction of Rosemary
Blakesley, a landscape gardener, the primary objective being to help people
improve their fitness and well being and at the same time enhance some of the
neglected corners of our town.
Their work which is being carried out in conjunction with Bourne United
Charities is already evident around the Abbey Lawn and now it is the turn of the
Wellhead Gardens where the most ambitious project so far is well advanced and a
neglected area that has been the subject of much criticism in the past is now
being turned into a wildlife habitat surrounded by water, a miniature island
which will be connected to the main park by a new boardwalk and two bridges. The
volunteers are working against the clock because this habitat is already proving
to be a magnet for wildlife and they must be off site within a few weeks to
avoid disturbing the busiest time of the year for our flora and fauna, the
island being home to ducks and coots as well as an army of amphibians and small
mammals.
This is a small project in the fifty-year history of the Wellhead Gardens
but one that not only embraces the growing awareness of protecting and even
improving our environment, but one that has also tapped that bottomless well of
goodwill on which so many of our organisations thrive, the willingness of so
many people to devote time and effort without thought of reward, and the
community should be eternally grateful.
The pool is one of the country's most ancient artesian wells, a water
source going back to the earliest times around which successive peoples made
their settlements that eventually became the town of Bourne but it has not
always received the respect deserving of such antiquity. In the late 19th
century, for instance, the water became a popular place for pet owners to wash
their dogs and even a convenient spot to dispose of them when they were dead,
practices that many people found unacceptable and there were protests to the
authorities that they were likely to contaminate the water supply.
These were the days before the formation of the local councils that now run our
affairs and the Wellhead at that time was under the control of the Rural
Sanitary Authority. The Bourne Union, administered by a Board of Guardians, was
mainly responsible for all other local matters, including the workhouse, later
St Peter's Hospital and now demolished, which overlooked the Wellhead. The
master, Alfred Yates, was one of the principal objectors, and his complaint was
supported by the local correspondent of the Stamford Mercury who at that
time was Joseph Davies, headmaster of the Boys' Council or Board School, now the
Abbey Road Primary School.
On Friday 10th July 1891 he published a report in the newspaper saying:
Mr Yates is perfectly justified in
complaining of the nuisance of the owners of dogs and other animals utilising
the Wellhead as a bath for their charges. The water is the direct source of
supply for the workhouse and we are only surprised that the complaint was not
made before. We venture to say that the most enthusiastic temperance advocate
would find his principles somewhat shaken if, suffering from the thirst that
attacks most poor mortals in sultry weather, his only local options lay between
a glass of Wyles's ale [from Bourne Brewery] and a glass of Wellhead water, in
which dogs big and dogs little, dogs woolly and dogs smooth, with the dirt and
fleas upon them, had previously left these superfluous concrescences in
solution.
There are still a few liberty-loving citizens surviving who tenaciously cling to
the idea that rivers and streams are the cemeteries that nature has provided for
their ailing cats and dogs and there, with an appended brick by way of an
epitaph, they consign their remains. We would mildly suggest to these patriots,
the prejudice of their other fellow citizens to having in their cheery cup of
tea a canine or feline infusion. Seriously speaking, it appears to us a mere
matter of common sense. Whatever the law may be, the Board of Guardians will be
only doing their duty in apprising the police of the matter and effectively
preventing, by any reasonable means, the contamination of that most important of
all hygienic regulation - a supply of pure water. Probably the offenders have
erred without due thought. We believe they will quite see the force of our
appeal and scrub their dogs at home.
The Bourne Union met on July 9th to consider the various
complaints and the guardians recommended that the Rural Sanitary Authority take
the necessary action to stop the washing of dogs, precautions that included the
erection of notices around the pool warning offenders.
Vandalism has always been with us and its effects have been manifest for
centuries while the best efforts of government at all level have failed to find a
solution. It is less evident in small market towns such as Bourne than in the
inner cities where criminal damage is endemic but when it does occur the effect
is to make the problem far worse than it is.
The graffiti recently sprayed over signs, post boxes and properties in South
Road is such an example and whether this one incident deserved front page
treatment by The Local newspaper (February 26th) is debatable at a time
when more important stories vied for prominence. But the headline and photograph
gave it far more significance than it deserved and tended to show Bourne as a
community dogged with social ills whereas we are no more a target than any other
town of comparable size.
When similar problems became evident at the Abbey Lawn the answer was to fence
off the grounds and impose a curfew although the problem then as now might well
have been solved by a greater police presence which sports officials repeatedly
demanded to protect their properties. The latest incident occurred on a Friday
night because this is the start of the weekend when yobs get tanked up with
strong ale and spirits and then think it a great wheeze to damage property as
they stagger home. Serious vandalism has been sporadic over the years but
practically every case has occurred during this period yet despite the trail of
broken windows, street signs and trees, the police remain noticeably absent from
our streets at a time when drunkenness and anti-social behaviour is at its most
evident.
Local authorities are continually holding public consultations over issues of
importance to the community but despite it being more pertinent than most, this
subject has never been addressed and if the people were asked to name one of the
most important improvements they would like to see for their town then the
answer would most certainly be increased police patrols and the comforting
knowledge that the bobby is back on the beat and our streets are safe. One thing
is certain, that the sight of a uniformed officer in the neighbourhood and the
prospect of a night in the cells would be quite sufficient to dampen the alcohol
induced bravado that fuels these wanton attacks on public and private property.
But in the real world, the county police precept on the council tax increases
annually while the men in blue continue to stay out of sight, thus creating a
situation which private security firms can exploit with offers of patrols to
keep our streets safe, although few would advocate such an approach when a corps
of professionals is being paid with public money to do just that. Until this
impasse is resolved, louts out on the town at weekends will continue to cause
havoc unchecked.
The Bourne Festival has become an important community event in the town’s
social calendar, providing a weekend of summer entertainment for all the family
as well as raising large amounts for good causes locally. Last year, for
instance, 8,000 people went along to the Wellhead Field during the three days it
was held in June and £10,000 was later distributed to selected organisations.
These occasions, however, come at a price and the Bourne Round Table which
organises this particular one is anxious to involve business and industry who
might wish to sponsor some of the outlay such as £7,000 for the marquee, £4,500
for a stage and lighting, £1,500 each for insurance and toilets and £1,200 for
security and fencing, all necessary expenditure for public gatherings of this
size. The Round Table spokesman, Neil Bothwell, told the The Local (March
5th) that they were seeking the support of as many traders as possible to ensure
that the event is a success. “Every single penny that is left
after costs are covered goes into our charity fund which is then distributed to
worthwhile causes”, he said. “The more we can get in sponsorship then the more
we can give to those who need it.”
Events such as this are an essential part of life today as a means of
bringing the community together and providing the opportunity to relax from the
daily round and to get out and about and meet people and although the
entertainment on offer today is very different from the festivals or feasts of
past times, the spirit of these occasions has not changed very much over the
years.
One of the great events from our history occurred in the late 19th century when
Bourne was celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. This was a double
celebration because it also marked the acquisition of the former brewery
building and house at No 63 West Street as the permanent home of the Bourne
Institute, an organisation which had been formed for the recreational and
educational improvement of its 200 members but until then was on a three-year
lease. In 1897, the committee was given the opportunity to buy the premises and
as this coincided with the royal anniversary, a bazaar and festival was arranged
for Wednesday 8th June to raise funds towards the purchase price.
A series of attractions was organised, a souvenir programme printed and the
town’s M P, William Younger, the member for Stamford, invited to speak and
everyone looked forward to the great day. Unfortunately, the weather was bad for
the official opening and plans to hold the bazaar in a large marquee in the
grounds were abandoned and the stalls were set up instead in the billiards room
and adjoining granary. All had been decorated in red, white and blue to mark the
Diamond Jubilee and during a concert in the evening, a series of tableaux were
staged to illustrate the leading events in the Queen's reign. There were also
music, songs and dancing and as the weather improved, decorated gondolas took
guests on short trips along the Bourne Eau and so the rain failed to dampen the
occasion which marked a turning point in the history of the institute which
continued in being until 1975 when it was renamed the Pyramid Club and continues
to flourish although now specialising in billiards and snooker.
Thought for the week: Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought.
Our brightest blazes are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. - Samuel
Johnson, British lexicographer and writer (1709-84) whose Dictionary of the
English Language appeared in 1755.
Next diary entry 13th March 2010
NOTE:
An illustrated history of St Peter's Pool can be found
on the
CD-ROM A
Portrait of Bourne
IF YOU HAVE A COMMENT ON ANY OF THE TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS
DIARY, PLEASE MAKE IT TO THE
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