Campaigning for our heritage benefits all
TRAVELLING along the Midland & Great North Joint Railway from Saxby to Bourne in the steam era, one had to pass many bridges, viaducts and tunnels – but it was Bridge 234 which was seen by the locals as the last gateway into Bourne. The locomotive, along with its carriages, would then pass a further footbridge, known locally as the ‘red steps’, before coming to a halt at Bourne station.
Bourne had been a four-way junction with the lines leading to Spalding, Billingborough, Essendine and Saxby. The railway had brought prosperity to the town, with many workers heading for Bourne town. The street known as Austerby was home to quite a few railway workers; they had even been a pub down the street called the Railway Tavern. The house still exists today (built 1790).
Many businesses in Bourne boomed because of the railway. These businesses included the cress trade and the water industry (Mills and Baxter, and Lee and Green).
Today, there are no public vestiges of significance within the town to memorialise the golden age of Bourne’s railway, apart from a few gatehouses dotted around, but these are now private residences.
The last of the public railway structure of any significance was Bridge 234, an occupation bridge that had remained hidden from an ever-growing housing development which was slowly creeping nearer and nearer.
Monumental campaign
There had been an almighty campaign led by the Bourne History Group to preserve the bridge as a monument in recognising the town’s railway heritage. Sadly, as reported in issue 297 of Heritage Railway, this 1891-built occupation bridge was demolished in the name of progress in 2022.
As much as it pained a community to see the demolition of the bridge, and another piece of heritage erased from existence, all was not lost. As much as the campaign had been to save the bridge from demolition, there was another element to it – and that was to ensure that the bridge stood long after its demolition as a symbol for shining a light on our heritage, both locally and nationally.
In this sense, the campaign had been a huge success, much to the dismay of those who probably would like to have seen the Bourne History Group deflated in defeat and disbanded. Little did they know that the campaign was the beginning of something bigger, better, and brighter. A new light had been shone on our heritage – and it is here to stay.
Bridge 234 was a turning point in our town’s history, (everyone could feel it, and still feels it) because for far too long, Bourne has suffered from cultural vandalism – probably no different to many other towns around the UK.
Maybe you are suffering from something similar right now. Maybe you are campaigning to save your heritage, but you are met with much apathy from a few people on social media who do not understand that the only real road to failure is the trend of doing nothing.
I therefore urge you to carry on your campaign with much enthusiasm, even when you are feeling downtrodden and alone (and there are times where you will feel completely alone). Keep your eye on the prize. Make sure your campaign is more than the heritage you are trying to save; make it a campaign alerting the community to the many other heritage assets in your town. Help them see how important our heritage is and why we should always fight for its survival, even if it sometimes seems futile.
Bridge 234 brought a community together, and who would have thought that a town would know the number of a bridge... how many towns do you know that know the number of its bridge?
Thus, we encourage you all to use Bridge 234 as a symbol to fight for your heritage, whether that be railway heritage or some other kind of heritage that your town boasts or has simply forgotten. Use our story to fuel your energy, to inspire, to persevere. Ours was a success story with a twist, because even though we lost our heritage, we gained something too, and now I hope that our experience might influence you to fight like the community of Bourne did. Bourne fought back – and so can you!
Be a brick
To help realise the symbol that Bridge 234 has become, we are attempting to rebuild parts of the pillar at Rippingale station from some of the demolition pile. Unfortunately, we are short of a few thousand bricks – therefore we are calling upon the good nature of this wonderful community in helping us to obtain the necessary number to rebuild part of the pillar, to stand as a symbol of our heritage and your heritage.
If you have any spare blue Staffordshire bricks and would like to donate to the Bridge 234 project, or you would like to donate money so we can purchase the blue bricks, please email me at bournehistory@hotmail.com
We hope the story of Bridge 234 will inspire you in your campaign, or your future campaign, to save and protect your heritage – even when the efforts may seem like a loss. All I can say is this. If I am asked, ‘Would I campaign all over again even if I knew the outcome would be exactly the same?’, my answer will always be ‘yes!’ without hesitation, because to see the community of Bourne come together for the love of our heritage is priceless, and that, right there, is down to Bridge 234.
Steve Giullari, chairman, Bourne History Group,
Lincolnshire