
Bourne Laundry pictured circa 1934. The site was previously
used as a woodyard by Charles David Whatton, a timber merchant who
also ran the sawmills in South Road.
A NEW WATER BORE FOR THE
LAUNDRY
The Bourne Hygienic Laundry Co
Ltd had its own borehole at the Manning Road premises but rapid
expansion resulted in the firm applying for permission to sink a
second borehole although there were objections from the Bourne and
Spalding Urban District Councils and Kesteven County Council and
so a public inquiry was called for Tuesday 26th April 1960
Mr Geoffrey Lane, appearing for the company, told the hearing that
the laundry had started from humble beginnings in 1932 and now
served between 4,000 and 5,000 customers in Spalding, Oakham,
Stamford, Bourne and Grantham, as well as the Royal Air Force
stations at Wittering, Cottesmore and North Luffenham. It employed
105 people, one twenty-fifth of the town's working
population, and had added extensions costing £3,000 in the past
year and other investment amounting to £3,500 on stock was now
being planned.
The new borehole was needed because it was not economical to
enlarge the diameter of the existing one. The pipe was made of
mild steel and would not last indefinitely. To use the public
water mains would cost the laundry at least £430 a year, probably
nearer £1,000, whereas to sink a new shaft would cause an
initial outlay of £600 and cost £10 a year to maintain. The
inquiry ended unexpectedly after a ten-minute adjournment during
which time agreement was reached that the laundry should have its
new borehole provided the old one was closed after three months.

An aerial view of the premises in Manning Road taken in 1965.
At this time, the firm was known as the Bourne Laundry and
Cleaning Services Company Limited, employing 108 people with eight
large and four small vans. The company had shops in Bourne,
Sleaford, two in Peterborough (Broadway and Millfield), Oakham,
Stamford, Market Deeping, Whittlesey and Spalding. Welfare of
workers was high on the firm's agenda, running a social club with
various attractions including an annual dinner dance and
children's party, draughts, darts and table tennis competitions
and annual outings such as a trip to the Blackpool illuminations.

The chairman of Bourne Urban District Council, Mr John
Wright, accompanied by his wife, visited the laundry in 1969 to
see some of the latest equipment that had just been installed, and
they were shown round by Basil and Stuart Stroud, sons of the
firm's founder, Ernest Stroud. At that time, the firm employed
more than 600 staff with shops in eight towns in the surrounding
district.
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