Delve into the past of Stamford, Rutland, Bourne and The Deepings with Mercury Memories
Over a million eggs collected, a hungry London labourer who was sent to prison for stealing a pie and Women’s Suffrage meeting, discover what was happening in years gone by.
Every week we delve into the Mercury archives thanks to the support of the Mercury Archive Trust.
10 years ago
November 4, 2011
Today the Mercury is calling on readers to back our campaign to stop the closure of Stamford Day Centre.
We believe the centre, in Ryhall Road, provides a vital lifeline for adults with learning disabilities, the elderly and people with dementia.
It is threatened with closure by Lincolnshire County Council, as is Stamford and Bourne Learning Disability Services, in Abbey Road, Bourne, which runs support groups in the two towns.
County councillor John Hicks (Ind), representing Stamford North, is backing our campaign.
He said: “I have been to the day centre and the people there don’t want the place to shut. There are hundreds of users who depend on it.
“There is no way I could condone the closure of this sort of place.
“I wholeheartedly support any campaign that seeks to prevent that from happening. The most needy are the ones being affected the most and that is wrong.”
Residents flocked to get a glimpse of plans for a 400-home estate.
Staff from Commercial Estates Group were at Stamford Arts Centre on Tuesday and Malcolm Sargent Primary School on Wednesday to talk to the public about plans for land between Tinwell Road and Empingham Road in Stamford.
The firm wants to turn the 70-acre site into a mixed-use housing and employment estate. About a third of the homes would be affordable housing.
More than 130 people attended the exhibitions. David and Wendy Mackenzie, 56 and 57, of Cottesmore Road, Stamford, were reassured by what they saw.
David said: “Our concern was that they would link the new estate by road with our estate but the plans say it would just be a walkway.
“The nightmare would be living in a bungalow next to a three storey house but the plans don’t seem to say that would happen.”
Ram-raiders smashed a hole in the wall of a bank with a digger before escaping with a cash machine full of money.
The raid happened at Barclays bank, in New Street, Oundle, at about 2am on Tuesday, when a gang of men smashed through the branch wall using a JCB digger.
They then loaded the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) into the back of a 4x4 car, before driving off.
Police have not ruled out the possibility that the raid is linked to two others in Northamptonshire which took place in August and October.
The town was also hit by ram-raiders last year, when a cash machine was stolen from the Co-op, in St Osyth’s Lane.
Thieves have stolen £5,000 worth of fireworks.
Hundreds of fireworks, including rockets, Catherine wheels and candles, were taken from Fireworks Direct, based in a portable building at Lodge Farm Shop in Tallington, between Friday and Saturday.
Thieves cut through a perimeter fence to get into the site before using a crowbar to force open the door of the portable building.
Some of the firework cakes taken contain up to 150 explosive charges for large-scale displays.
25 years ago
November 1, 1996
A monster quarry proposed for the outskirts of Stamford near the village of Pilsgate will increase the number of heavy lorries travelling on narrow rural roads by more than 50 per cent.
In the last few weeks two traffic studies, one on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council and the other by Barnack Parish Council, have been carried out.
Both studies show that more than 3,500 vehicles travel on the B1443 each day, and out of that figure only a few hundred are HGVs.
But if the 74-acre quarry is approved, up to an extra 100 lorries each day will wind their way through picturesque villages such as Pilsgate, Barnack, Bainton and Helpston – making an average increase in HGVs of 55 per cent each.
A Pilsgate resident said: “These results confirm our fears about the catastrophic increase in HGVs this development will bring.”
Fifty new jobs could be created in Stamford if plans to build more care facilities for the elderly are given the green light.
Wilsthorpe-based planning consultants, John Dickie Associates, have submitted a full planning application to South Kesteven District Council to build the residential and nursing home on an acre and a half of land on Priory Road – at the corner of Uffington Road roundabout. The scheme, if granted, will be carried out by the Southern Cross Healthcare Group and is expected to cost in the region of £1.3 million.
John Dickie Associates have said they are optimistic that local contractors would be used in the building of the home, which will have around 60 rooms, and it should create up to 50 jobs, most of then full-time positions.
These would include a house manager, care assistants, cooks and cleaners.
It is hoped SKDC will have made a decision on the application by the end of the year, This could mean work beginning early January.
If the timetable goes to plan the first residents will be able to move in in late summer next year.
A new £40,000 Citizen’s Advice centre has been opened in Stamford.
Councillors and other guests gathered outside the new offices in the High Street to watch Helena Shovelton, Chair of the National Association of Citizen’s Advice Bureaux, cut the ribbon and declare the centre open.
Manageress of Stamford CAB Valerie Mansfield was delighted. She said: “We used to be in really Dickensian offices, so this is a much-improved environment for staff and service users. We were looking for somewhere that was fully accessible for everyone – central to town, with ground floor office space, and that’s very limited in Stamford.”
The money was provided by South Kesteven District Council.
Speaking before the ribbon was cut, Stamford Mayor Dickon Sinker said: “I have great pleasure in seeing these offices open, and would like to pay tribute to the dedicated staff. At least they now have room to swing a cat.”
The previous offices for the CAB were in Sheep Market, Stamford. Space was limited, and any disabled people wishing to use the service had to negotiate steep stone steps.
“We are the frontline advice service, and for service users it has revolutionised the service we provide. We’re accessible, with a pleasant waiting area, ground floor rooms. It’s wonderful,” Valerie Mansfield added.
50 years ago
November 5, 1971
Stamford council house tenants will have to pay a 25 per cent rent increase after April 1 next year.
The Borough Council made this decision on Tuesday to conform with the Government’s White Paper, “Fair Deal for Housing”.
The increases will be 25 per cent of the existing basic rents, and will vary from 31p to 64p with an average of 50p a week.
Housing Committee chairman, Coun Alex Brodie, said that to offset the more dire effects of the increase, a new rent rebate scheme would come into force at the same time.
Consideration will also be given to the matter of fixing fair rents of council houses when further guidance and advice is available.
Residents on the housing estate bordered by Empingham and Casterton Roads, Stamford, are suffering a considerable nuisance from falls of dust, the Borough Council heard on Tuesday.
Coun Dick Flack said that it was believed that the dust was coming from the Ketton Cement Co Ltd.
Chairman of the Health Committee, Coun R. J. Seamer said that he was aware of the problem and added that the matter would be placed on the agenda for the next committee meeting.
Stamford is to stay in Lincolnshire and Rutland will merge with Leicestershire under the provision of the Local Government Bill, published yesterday.
The proposals – which will cause no surprise locally – include Ketton rural district in the new Leicestershire.
Barnack rural district will be part of a new county called Cambridgeshire which is formed by merging Huntingdon and Peterborough and Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely.
The new county of Lincolnshire is a merger of Kesteven, Holland and the Southern part of Lindsey.
All members of the new county and district councils will be directly elected and there will be no Aldermen.
All councillors outside Greater London will sit for four years instead of three as at present.
Friday was a sad day for Dowsby, for it saw the closing of the village school after 107 years.
In January 1969, the closure of the school was first proposed, and since then strong delaying action had been fought by the community.
Support for the school’s continuance has come from the Rural District, NFU, and WI, and a petition sent to the Department of Education and Science against the closure was signed by practically every resident.
Strangely enough, although it was a church-aided school, almost the only body which declined to support the fight to save Dowsby School was the Diocesan Board of Education.
One of the first firms to move on to Stamford’s new industrial estate on Ryhall Road is Nene Valley Engineering, from Market Harborough.
Production is now well under way.
The firm makes general mechanical handling equipment for the flour and feed industry. One £40,000 contract has just been completed and work is now in progress on another worth £10,000.
100 years ago
November 4, 1921
Stamford and Rutland Infirmary – Week ended Nov. 1st, 1921. Admissions and discharges of patients: In - admitted 9, discharged 17, in house 41; out-patients made in-patients 2, admitted 14, discharged 7, on books 60; medical attendant Dr. Hutton-Attenborough; weekly board, Dr. and Mrs. Hutton-Attenborough, Mr. Wolrych Whitmore, Mr. Dodman, Mr. Phillips.
Firemen’s Appointments – At the annual meeting of the North-Eastern Fire Brigade Association, held at Arnold, Capt. A. Bacon, of Stamford, was elected vice-chairman for the ensuing year, and Second-Officer B. T. Grimes was appointed a member of the Ambulance Committee. The drills of the district are to be altered to coincide with the national drills.
Over a Million Eggs Collected – The number of eggs collected during the year by the Stamford Egg and Poultry Society was stated by the Management Committee in their report, submitted to the fifth annual meeting on Friday to be 1,234, 705 as against 918, 213 last year. The balance sheet showed net profits for the year ending September 6th, 1921, £42 13s. 11d. A dividend of 5 per cent. on the subscribed share capital was paid.
Imprudent Theft – Because he was hungry Alfred Bowles, a London labourer, called at Mr. Hall’s pork butcher’s shop in Red Lion-square, and asked the manager to give him a pork-pie. Upon his request being refused he walked outside and took a pie from the window, informing the manager that he could send for the police, Whilst this course was being pursued, Bowles ate the pie, and when P.c. Hubbard arrived he expressed pleasure at having had time to consume the morsel. At the police court, on Saturday, when he was sent to prison for a month, he said the offence was committed on the spur of the moment because he was
hungry.
Poor Children’s Welfare – The Board of Guardians, at their meeting on Monday, decided that children who are in charge of foster mothers in the town should be regularly taken to the Infant Welfare Centre so that the Board might receive expert reports upon their condition. The Guardians also decided to protest to the managers of St. Michael’s boys’ school and St. George’s infants’ school against methods of punishment alleged to have been adopted towards certain scholars from the Children’s Homes.
Fire – The Fire Brigade received a call at 10.20 on Tuesday night to an outbreak at the head offices of this journal in High-street. The fire, which had occurred in the dispatch department, was observed by Mr. H. E. Munday, the cashier, during a tour of inspection of the premises, and but for his prompt action a serious conflagration might have resulted.
Bourne: Residences Under the Hammer – Mr. Tom A. White offered by auction at the Nag’s head Hotel on October 27th two freehold villas on the North-road, one recently vacated by Rev. J. Comyn Jones and the other in occupation of Miss Michelson. At £860 Mr. R. B. Gibson became the purchaser. Messrs. R. A. White and Son, of Grantham, were the solicitors for the vendors.
150 years ago
November 3, 1871
Stamford Infirmary – The offertories after harvest thanksgiving services at North Luffenham church were £3 7s. 6d.; and at Kings’ Cliffe church £9 2s.
A Women’s Suffrage meeting is announced to be held this (Friday) evening, at the Assembly-rooms, Stamford, at which a lady named Ronniger is to deliver a address on the desirability and importance of conferring the Parliamentary franchise upon women.
The Nine Hours Movement – On Friday last, Messrs. Ashby, Jeffery, and Luke of this town placed notice in their workshops that it was their intention to alter the time of working from ten hours to nine hours a day, which change would come into operation on the 1st of November. This announcement was received by the men and boys with several rounds of hearty cheers, and at 1 o’clock they resolved to give expression to their satisfaction and thanks for the manner in which the concession had been made, by getting up a demonstration and marching through the town. Accordingly at 2 o’clock the whole of the men and boys turned out in their working dress and formed a procession, headed by a drum and fife band, flags and mottos, and walking six abreast they paraded through all the principal streets, giving hearty cheers of three times three in front of the office in St. Peter’s-street, and in front of the residences of Mr. Jeffery and Mr. Luke. It was remarked by several persons who witnessed the procession that a more orderly, well-conducted, and respectable looking lot of working men had not been seen in any town in the kingdom.
The road-steamer for India which recently passed through Stamford enroute from Ipswich to Scotland arrived in Edinburgh in 77 hours travelling time from Ipswich, the distance being 450 miles.
Rutland – The toll-bars at Burley-on-the-Hill, Cottesmore, Greetham, Hambleton, and Stamford Field are now abolished: so there is perfect freedom to pass on these roads without the inconvenience of having to “pull up.”
On Sunday last a harvest thanksgiving service was held at North Luffenham.The church was most beautifully and tastefully decorated with corn and flowers. A collection was made in the afternoon in aid of the funds of Stamford Infirmary, which amounted to £3 7s. 6d.
Bourn Fair – This annual gathering took place on the 26th ult., and was of nearly the same extent and description as the last few years. There was not much in the shape of amusement in the town to attract pleasure seekers, but the weather was very fine, and was probably the means of bringing a rather larger company than usual. Hitherto this fair has been held on the 29th of October, except when that fell upon a Sunday. The Bourn stock fairs have all altered so as to fall upon a market day (Thursday), and it was thought desirable to hold the pleasure fair also on a market day; therefore, instead of holding Bourn October fair on the 29th, as formerly, it has been arranged to hold it on the last Thursday in October for the future.
200 years ago
November 2, 1821
On Sunday last a boatman named Bonnet, in a state of intoxication, fell into the river Nene, at New Bridge, near Wansford, and was drowned.
On the 24th ult. were committed to Falkingham house of correction, (by the Rev. John Myers,) William Ogden and William Holles, for shooting in Ponton Park Wood on Sunday the 21st ult. Not paying the mitigated penalty of £10 each, they were committed for three months.
On Saturday last, as Mr. White, butcher, of Falkingham, was going down Spittlegate Hill with his horse and cart to Grantham market, the horse, which he had purchased only a day or two before, began to kick, and broke Mr. W.’s leg, forcing him at the same time back into the cart. The animal then set off at full speed, and in that way proceeded down the hill, but fortunately without doing further mischief. Mr. White was able to reach the Maltshovels inn in Grantham, where medical aid was immediately procured, and he lies in a fair way for speedy recovery.
Infanticide – On Tuesday the 23d ult. an inquest was taken at the village of Wilby, near Wellingborough, on the body of a female infant, which was found the evening before in a cess-pool at the bottom of the pipe of a water closet, in the house of the Rev. Mr. Slater, Rector of that parish. It appeared in evidence, that a girl of the name of Abigail Cotterell had lived as a servant for the last two years in Mr. Slater’s house. For two or three months past the people in the village had observed in this girl every appearance of pregnancy, with which she was frequently charged, but which she constantly denied. On Tuesday the 16th ult. she was suddenly taken ill in the evening, kept her bed nearly all day on Wednesday, and on Thursday morning, when she came into the kitchen, every appearance of pregnancy was gone. It was not until Saturday that, in consequence of the various rumours afloat, the Magistrates assembled at Wilby to investigate this affair. On Monday suspicion was directed to the water closet, and by their directions the earth was dug up at the bottom of the pipe which came out into the garden at the bottom of Mr. Slater’s house; when, on raising up two small boards that covered the cess-pool, the child was found as above stated. The Jury returned an unanimous verdict of wilful murder against Abigail Cotterell, and she was immediately committed to Northampton gaol, to take her trial at the next assizes.
Falkingham Association for Prosecuting Felons.
Stolen or Strayed, but supposed to be Stolen, on Thursday night the 25th, or Friday morning the 26th instant, out of a close in the parish of Donington, in the occupation of Mr. Thomas Dods, A Bay Mare, his property, about 15½ hands high, with a white saddle spot, and a lump upon the near fore leg, between the knee and fetlock.
Whoever will give information of the said mare to the said Mr. Dods, so that she may be had again, shall, if stolen, on conviction of the offender or offenders, receive a reward of Five Guineas from the said Mr. Dods, and a further reward of Ten Guineas from Mr. Smith,Treasurer to the said Association.