IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
The Brambles, BOURNE, PE10 9TF

A Royal Mail box was uprooted in North Road shortly before Christmas in 2004, a particularly regrettable occurrence because it was put there to serve the nearby housing estate and was particularly necessary at that time of the year when the volume of mail was much heavier than usual. Ten trees along the grass verge were also destroyed and estate agents' signs smashed. See also Image

One of the post-war estates with a mix of highly sought after homes is Stephenson Way, built to the east of the town in the 1970s and named after George Stephenson of railway fame because the old Bourne to Sleaford line ran through part of the land eaten up by the development.

Heading north towards Sleaford.

Heading west from the A15.

Farming in the countryside is an unending cycle of activity to maintain the continuous production of our food, from spring through to winter, and no sooner has one crop been harvested than another is planted. This field to the north of Bourne which is outside my study window is the perfect place from which to observe the farming year with the misty outline of Morton church tower and the white-washed cottages of Dyke village on the horizon. A few weeks before this picture was taken the field was full of golden corn which was soon harvested, the land ploughed and harrowed and now, on a morning of bright but hazy sunshine, it is the turn of the drill to sow winter wheat which will soon become established to withstand the cold weather to come and so ensure a strong and healthy yield next summer.

Urban back gardens have become a haven for flora and fauna as intensive farming practices and the constant use of agro-chemicals continue to destroy their natural habitats out there in the countryside. Putting out morsels of food regularly and the judicious planting of small trees, shrubs and flowers can attract birds and insects all year round such as this small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) photographed in Stephenson Way, Bourne, feeding on a buddleia, the only survivor on a bush of that year’s fading blooms.

New cast iron town signs were erected on the four approach roads into Bourne in 2006 bearing the town council’s coat of arms while the previous signs in use since 1990 had become dilapidated and were scrapped except one which has been preserved for display in the Heritage Centre.

West of the A15.