Lewis Sommerfield

1924 -

The most impressive private collection of old photographs from the Bourne area and the village of Thurlby in particular, is that of Lewis Sommerfield, a retired planning engineer with the East Midlands Electricity Board. Over the past 40 years, he has amassed over 900 pictures of life in years past, showing not only how the street scene has changed, but also the trades and industries and the clothes and customs of yesteryear.

Lewis is the son of Thomas Sommerfield, and his wife Isabella, who was miller at Dyke village during the early years of the 20th century. He was born at the mill on 14th June 1924 and his father's passion for old photographs, mostly collected from newspapers, soon rubbed off and he became equally interested. Collecting began in earnest in 1950 when he began with old traction engines and he now has 4,000 photographs of them, all neatly filed and catalogued in 12 albums. Railway stations and steam engines were also an interest, together with industrial and naval engines, and ships, which now total another 3,000 pictures and of course windmills, another early passion which now number 1,000.

His topographical photographs include many scenes of Bourne but also extensive views of both Thurlby and Rippingale and it is doubtful if there is another more comprehensive collection in existence. Lewis and his wife Peggy have lived at Thurlby since 1955, their home being a stone cottage in Northorpe Lane where one of the upstairs bedrooms which he calls his den is devoted to his hobby, the walls lined with albums and reference books while photographic equipment can be seen everywhere.

The Thurlby collection now numbers 450 photographs and began when he started arranging a display for the village festival in 1974 and felt it would be a good idea to portray the community in pictures over the years. Villagers started searching through their homes, in drawers and albums, and produced a large number of old photographs and postcards which he carefully copied and returned. He then added his own photographs of existing properties to enable his display show the old and the new.

His saddest find while searching for old photographs in Thurlby was to discover a quantity of glass half-plate negatives in the yard of the old shop once occupied by J Lyon, the village photographer, but weather had taken its toll and the gelatine-based light sensitive emulsion with which they had been coated had softened and the rescued plates were all stuck togther. They dated from between 1934 and 1939 but only two were fit to print, one of Thurlby railway station and the other of a girl in costume, ready for the village celebrations to mark the coronation of George VI in 1937.

There have been other displays, notably the festival weekend at St Firmin's Church, Thurlby, on Saturday and Sunday 24-25 June 1989, and his pictures are often published in the local newspapers and two have appeared in a book entitled Lincolnshire Steam to Camera.

Lewis is now almost 80 but his enthusiasm for old photographs is undiminished and the search goes on.

See also Dyke Mill

WRITTEN MARCH 2004