BOURNE AGAIN Revisiting a little town with lots of history.

Heritage & Community in BOURNE

For a little town in South Lincolnshire, Bourne has played a disproportionately large role in history, with motor racing and haute couture heritage to its name, as well as one of the oldest lidos in the country and its own 400 acres of woodland...

“There were four watermills in the town, but at 200 years old and with a Grade II listing, Baldocks Mill is the only one remaining in the town...”

AS THE SAYING GOES, if you want something doing, ask a busy person. So, when we wanted to find out all about Bourne, we asked probably one of its busiest residents and one of its biggest fans, Brenda Jones. Brenda and husband Jim are now in their 80s, and moved to Bourne from the North West about 40 years ago, joining Bourne Civic Society soon after. The Civic Society is based in Baldocks Mill, which is in turn leased from Bourne United Charities, which has brought together 15 different charities under a single umbrella, funding local community projects from keeping Baldocks Mill operating, to running and upkeeping The Red Hall, the town’s Wellhead, Abbey Lawn and 12 almshouses too. The Civic Society, meanwhile, runs the museum, celebrating some of Bourne’s most interesting historical features. There were four watermills in the town, but at 200 years old and with a Grade II listing, Baldocks Mill is the only one remaining in the town.

Its working life ceased in 1924, but following a restoration by Bourne United Charities it was reopened in 1999 as a Heritage Centre. The mill’s two water wheels were derelict until being repaired by Brenda’s husband Jim, who received an MBE for his work –restoring them to working order – in 1981. Today, the two wheels are still capable of generating electricity for the Centre, but low water levels in the Bourne Eau mean their use has been rather limited this year. What’s not limited, though, is the comprehensive nature of the two exhibits in the Heritage Centre to a couple of the town’s most famous residents.

Charles Frederick Worth was borne in Bourne in 1825 and made his way to Paris

The nave of Bourne Abbey,

In 1858, Bourne’s Charles Worth founded House of Worth, and is generally considered to be the father of haute couture...

where he founded House of Worth, one of the foremost fashion houses of the 19th and 20th century. He’s considered to be the father of haute couture.

His work is characterised by the resurgence of the crinoline, or shorter hemlines which became known as walking skirts and by dresses with defined waists which would become known as princess line dresses.

Worth was also the first designer to have his name sewn into dresses, linking the identity of a designer themselves directly to the popularity of their work.

House of Worth’s popularity was interrupted by the second Franco-Prussian war, and upon the designer’s death in 1895, his sons Gaston-Lucien and Jean-Philippe took over the business, eventually specialising in producing perfume, and shutting down couture operations in 1950.

Les Parfums Worth was still around until 1999 whereupon it was acquired by Lenthéric and eventually Shaneel enterprises, which mostly produces fragrances under license for Boss, YSL, Paco Rabanne, Calvin Klein and Elizabeth Arden but also still produces fragrances under the Worth Paris brand.

Bourne is, of course, also known for motor racing. Local man Raymond Mays – the second local hero recognised at the Heritage Centre – set up English Racing Automobiles in November 1933 alongside Humphrey Cook, and Peter Berthon. ERA produced their five generations of racers, designated A-Type to E-Type in order to compete in motorsport.

The Second World War brought motorsport to a halt and the company’s premises was sold to local bus operater Delaine. Post-war, Mays continued to produce and race cars, this time under the BRM (British Racing Motors) brand, which continued to enter races until 1977 with drivers including Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill. The company’s F1 cars were entered into competitions under the official

Sir Alfred and his grandsons, Paul and Nick Owen, are have recreated the BRM Mk1 V16 car which last raced in 1952, and raced the car at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed...

Above: Rob Hall racing ‘Chassis IV’ at Goodwood, a recreation of a BRM V16 racer made 70 years ago in Bourne. name of Owen Racing Organisation founded by Rubery Owen.

Today, Rubery’s son Sir Alfred and his grandsons, Paul and Nick Owen, have recreated the BRM Mk1 V16 car – which last raced in 1952 – and raced the replica car at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The new car was engineered by father and son Rick & Rob Hall, of Hall & Hall, specialists in preparing and restoring classic single-seater racing cars, based on Bourne’s Graham Hill Way. Raymond Mays, though, is recognised with a plaque behind Bourne’s Heritage Centre on the town’s Wellhead Playing Field, with its war memorial.

On the opposite side of the A15 to the Wellhead is Bourne Abbey, founded in 1138, possibly on an earlier Saxon site and providing the Augustian order with somewhere to work, rest and pray. The site escaped Henry VIII’s wrath as its minister looked after the interest of the monarch and became a secular priest with Henry’s interests in mind. Bourne Abbey was restored in the 1880s and is otherwise known as the Church of St Peter and St Paul.

The monks of Bourne Abbey, incidentally, also benefited from the presence of a carp pond which originally provided food but latterly became a traditional outdoor swimming pool. A new swimming pool was created from the pond in 1919 and its first heating system was installed by 1971, funded by Bourne Round Table. The pool is probably one of Britain’s oldest lidos and has been operated and managed by volunteers since 1990. The lido is one of about 120 clubs, or organisations operating in the town, all supported by people like Brenda. With over 17,000 residents, Bourne is a little town, but with much going on, and an awful lot of history, too! n