October

Saturday 1st October 2005: There was a time when turning this fifty acre field between the north of Bourne and Dyke village would have taken several weeks for the solitary ploughman and his horse-drawn single furrow implement but times have changed and mechanisation means that powerful tractors pulling multiple blades can slice through the soil like a chocolate cake and finish the job in a day, even working into the night by headlights if necessary. Yet some old sights never fade such as the flocks of birds that follow to feed on the worms and grubs thrown up by the fresh soil, providing a feast for thousands of many species, seagulls predominating with crows, lapwings, pied wagtails, starlings and blackbirds close behind. Ploughing is the most familiar of all farming activities, tilling the soil in readiness for a new crop and therefore a reminder that we still depend on the earth for our existence and should not abuse its productivity.

Sunday 23rd October 2003: One of the last remaining open spaces in North Road is the paddock and surrounding grassland at the Croft, an imposing house built in 1922 as a family home by Richard Boaler Gibson, a local corn merchant. The present owner is intent on selling the land for residential development and despite two unsuccessful attempts to obtain planning permission, in 1993 and 1994, a third application has been submitted to South Kesteven District Council, this time for 37 new homes on the site. The house is approached from the main road by a driveway with an avenue of magnificent horse chestnut trees but there are fears that they may be felled and that wildlife in the area, which includes foxes, squirrels and many species of birds, will be driven out. There have been a mass of objections, including those from Bourne Town Council and the Civic Society, because of the traffic and environmental issues involved, and the application is due to be decided by the council's planning committee next month but in view of its past record on such issues, the prospects do not look good.

Monday 20th October 2003: One of the beauties of the fens here in South Lincolnshire are the glorious skies we see in autumn and because the landscape is so flat, we get an uninterrupted 360º panoramic view which on a day such is this is ever changing and full of interest. The billowing cumulus clouds move slowly across it like ships at sea and, as here, bringing an occasional light shower with long bursts of sunshine and even an intermittent rainbow. This is the view from my study window, showing the countryside between the north of Bourne and Dyke village. The far field has been sown with winter wheat and the green shoots are already pushing through while the land in the foreground awaits the plough and still has its covering of corn stubble from last month's harvest. Those who are not lucky enough to live in the countryside do not realise that the land is constantly occupied with food production, from preparation and seeding, to growth and harvest, and, as here, the cycle then begins again.

Tuesday 15th October 2003: Lengthening shadows at mid-morning are a sign that autumn is with us for although the sun still rises with a trace of its summer strength, it sinks lower in the sky as the days go by and if we doubt the changing seasons, then look around at the trees that are taking on new colours before shedding their leaves for another year. The russet shades of gold, yellow and copper brown are everywhere as a reminder that summer has faded and winter is on its way and this dramatic transformation can be seen even in the streets. One of the most beautiful scenes on a sunny day is here in West Road, between Kesteven Way and Westminster Lane, where a row of four roadside lime trees have taken on their seasonal coat to the delight of all those who pass this way.

Wednesday 30th October 2002: The Bourne Eau in South Street is a popular place for children because of the large number of mallard that can be found on the water here and most have learned to live with the attention they receive and swim towards visitors in the hope of getting a few tasty morsels. It is half term from school this week and so our young visitors have been more numerous than usual, among them Thomas Edwards, aged 7, (left) and his five-year-old brother Joshua, who arrived with their grandmother Mrs Joyce Turner to feed the ducks and they were not disappointed as dozens flocked round to find out what they had brought for them. Feeding the ducks is one of our first contacts with nature and the thrill of seeing strange birds flocking to our call, enticed by a few pieces of bread, is one of those childhood pleasures that remains in the memory through the years and so we who have grown up enjoy it all over again when we see others do as we did sixty or more years before.

Saturday 19th October 2002: There are many attractive villages around Bourne and all are worth a visit because they invariably produce something interesting, a building or a garden, the church or the village hall, or merely a view of the countryside that you have never seen before. We visited Dyke village today, one mile north of Bourne just off the main A15, and after lunch at the Wishing Well, the 18th century hostelry, took a stroll round. A farm track leads off the village green in the direction of Morton village and although it peters out into a meadow, it provided us with this peaceful pastoral scene of sheep safely grazing under an autumn sky. In the distance on the left is the 15th century tower of St John Baptist church while the trees along the hedgerows have taken on the autumn tinges of brown and yellow. This was a scene reminiscent of the painter John Constable for little has changed in this part of the countryside since he recorded the landscape of England 200  years ago.

Wednesday 16th October 2002: Autumn leaves are everywhere in Bourne but they provide one of the prettiest street scenes here in Woodland Avenue, part of the housing development built to the west of the town during the 1970s. This is a particularly attractive residential area with large houses built around a grassed area lined with trees, mainly horse chestnuts, and in October the golden brown leaves fall and crunch underfoot as you walk past. The falling leaves are also a reminder that the conker season is upon us for they are here in abundance and are regularly collected by schoolboys for their playground games but no matter what your age, who can resist picking up a few of these highly polished, ripe brown nuts to take home and place on the study desk as a reminder of the pleasures that we pursued in our boyhood.

Wednesday 9th October 2002: The water level at St Peter's Pool recedes further as the dry spell continues for although there has been no rain for more than a month to replenish our underground supplies, this valuable resource is still being pumped out at the rate of more than four million gallons a day to supply homes as far away as Peterborough. The town of Bourne was founded on the seven springs that rise here from the limestone strata but despite warnings over the years that misuse will cost us dear, we carry on with the reckless extraction that leads to this sorry sight. In 1909, Joseph J Davies, headmaster of the Abbey Road Council School and a local historian of some distinction, wrote: "Bourne's most valuable natural asset is its unrivalled supply of the purest water in England but it behoves us to conserve this grand underground store, and to guard against reckless prodigality of this natural source of wealth." There was a time when the guardianship of this commodity was in the hands of the people of Bourne but since 1962, the undertaking has been controlled by Anglian Water and so our supplies are piped elsewhere. For a glimpse of what the pool looks like in normal times see St Peter's Pool

Friday 19th October 2001: The English country churchyard is known as God's little acre because that is usually its size and it was built in His name. But whether you are a believer or not, autumn is the perfect time and this is the perfect place for reflection because it is here that you can see the passing of the year and the memorials to those who went before. Too many churchyards have become neglected and overgrown and it is a delight to find one so well kept as that beside St Stephen's Church at Carlby, four miles south west of Bourne, where the trees have begun to take on their russet tinges before the leaves start to fall and a glimpse of the inscriptions on the grey headstones reminds us of the feeble grasp we all have on life for one of them says: "Oliver Smith died suddenly in his chair on 21st May 1872, aged 54 years. In the midst of life we are in death." 

Thursday 11th October 2001: Autumn in Bourne Woods is a magical time as the leaves turn from their summer green to the varying shades of russet and those that have fallen, rustle underfoot as you pass. Grey squirrels that live here in great numbers can be seen scurrying about their business collecting acorns to see them through the winter ahead and for those who walk these paths quietly and with care, you may catch a glimpse of the fallow deer that have made these woods their home, crossing the path ahead in single file, but they remain elusive and wary of intruders and take flight when they are disturbed. The seasons are like a wheel forever turning and soon the leaves will have gone and the woods that we have enjoyed all summer for their delightful freshness will become a dormant place as most small animals hibernate and the trees protect themselves against the possibility of severe winter weather although even now, if you look closely, you will find signs of the new life that we can expect to see next spring.

Thursday 26th October 2000: We are now into autumn and here in the South Lincolnshire fens, farmers are preparing their land for another growing year, another crop. This is the latest picture taken from my study window from where I can see the farming activity in the countryside throughout the year between the outskirts of Bourne and Dyke village, from springtime to summer and autumn into winter. Here is one of those glorious fenland skies that we see at this time of the year over corn fields that have just been harvested and now await the plough and soon the seed drills will be planting their next crop of winter wheat or barley and so the cycle of food production begins again, a reminder that the changing seasons are markers for our own life span. 

Saturday 30th October 1999: A phenomenon of modern agriculture is that large tracts of farmland remain green throughout the winter months because of the autumn sowing of cereal crops. These fields between Bourne and Dyke village that I can see from my study window were planted with winter wheat during September and October and the green shoots have already broken through. Frost and snow in the coming weeks will harden the plants and produce a higher yield than those varieties planted in spring.

Sunday 25th October 1998: Autumn in the Wellhead Gardens is a most colourful sight and the best time to see it is early on a Sunday when there is no one else around. This was the morning that the clocks went back and I was up at 7 a m to capture this scene of falling leaves and bright sunshine. I had the park entirely to myself except for a lone jogger who hardly noticed me as he puffed and panted his way along the path. As I was leaving, one of the park staff arrived with his brushes and cart to start clearing up some of the leaves that had been blown down by high winds during the night and we chatted for a few moments about the marvellous colours that this time of the year brings to the urban landscape.

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