The Chesman Family Shops.

Thank you to Pat Edwards for sending me these photo's to share. They are of businesses run in Boston by her family, the Chesman's. She says The Pram Co. was running in the 1940's and as you can see by the reflection of the war memorial in the window it was in Wide Bargate.

 

 

The ladies in the doorway L to R are Kath Carrington, Joan Townsend and Joyce Chesman (nee Steward).

The Army and Navy Store was not far down the street. It is Jack Chesman in the doorway. This shop would have been running well into the 1950s and possibly longer she says.

 

 

It is also Jack Chesman standing beside one of the vans run by his father Anthony Chesman.

 

Thank you once more Pat.

Holland Brothers in Wide Bargate.

This building, right of centre, in Wide Bargate, is today (2013) the premises of Heron Foods.

It was acquired by local garage firm "Holland Brothers" in 1900 and has undergone extensive changes over the years.

Holland Brothers, just after the turn of the twentieth century.

It had major rebuilding around 1930 but was wrecked by German bombs in 1941 and it was ten years before it was rebuilt again.

The scene after the German bombs dropped. The car in the picture was owned by the former chairman of Fisher Clark (a local label manufacturers) Mr. Vernon Clark.

 

In the 1980's Holland Brothers leased the site to the national chain of hardware stores Wilkinsons and Heron Foods moved in when Wilkinsons moved to premises in Pescod Square. Even on the modern building old features (original?) like the two thin pillars at the front can still be seen.

Edward Whites.

In May 1939 Mr. Edward White died at his home "Ashleigh" in Horncastle Road.
Mr. White, who was 76, entered his father's business when it consisted of just a blacksmith's shop and a wheelwright's and from such small beginnings he had seen it grow to a well known motor engineering business.
When he entered the business the internal combustion engine was, of course, unheard of and horses were the transport of the day. There were no frost nails for horses' shoes then, (a nail with a sharp head driven into a horse's shoe to keep him from slipping) and in the winter they were frequently kept busy "turning up" which consisted of removing the horses' shoes, turning up the ends so that they would bite into the ground, and replacing the shoes on the animal's feet.
His father was an accomplished iron worker and, in addition to making his own horse-shoes, made a number of pieces of fancy iron-work. These included two pieces for inclusion in the Communial rail of Boston Parish Church, a pair of gates measuring 18ft. by 8ft. for a country house and a panel for one of the gates of Fydell House.

 

White and Son, High Street.

His father allowed him to sell bicycles as a sideline (which were then in their infancy) and in 1881 he built an ordinary (Penny Farthing) bicycle on which he cycled to Sutton Docks. Three or four years after entering the business, he took it over from his father, and carried on with the cycle trade. They then began to build their own bicycles, and had their own enamelling and plating plant.

Mr. White also built the first motorcycle in Boston, he saw a similar machine at the Cycle Show at the Agricultural Hall. It was a Singer machine, with the engine in the back wheel, and Mr. White purchased the necessary components and built a machine in Boston.

The firm had their first car on show in 1898/99.

 

White's motor garage, Bargate End, can just be seen near the left hand side of Bargate bridge.

Bombing and civilian deaths in World War Two.

Many Boston folk were killed in action either in the Army, Navy or the R.A.F. This small article deals only with the civilian deaths of Boston during World War Two,  if there are any I have not mentioned and you can tell me about them I will update it immediately.

Most of Boston's bombings in World War Two occured between August 1940 and June 1942. On nine nights during this period bombs actually fell in the town but there were a few false alarms where people had to sit up, in their air raid shelters or under the stairs, sometimes for hours, because the siren had gone off. On the days after any bombs had fallen the boys of the town turned up to look for fragments of the bombs or the fins of the incendiary bombs. There was rarely more than one enemy bomber involved in each raid and often the bombs were delayed action or duds and the bomb disposal squads had to be called in. One such bomb, outside Cammack's shop in Wide Bargate, took several days to get out and two more, in open fields, are still there to this day.

 

The unexploded bomb outside Cammack's shop in Wide Bargate.

 

On the night of 12th. June 1941, a single heavy bomb burst behind West Street, near James Street. The Royal George pub, several houses and Lovely's Commercial Hotel were destroyed and when the ruins were cleared the next day it was found that there was a tragic death toll. Mr. John Faulkner, an old man in his seventies, Mrs. Nancy Harris and her three little children and two well known teenage girls, Kathleen and Audrey Loveley had all been killed. In all nine people died in what was Boston's worst air-raid incident of the war.
There was a lull of more than a year without any serious air-raids on Boston, but the town had two more serious raids to come, one in July and one in August of 1942.

Above : A Dornier 217, one of which flew across Boston in July 1942,  machine-gunning and dropping four bombs on the town.

 

The first of these was in broad daylight when a Dornier 217 dived out of thick cloud, flew across the town machine-gunning as it went, and then dropped four bombs aimed at the railway goods yard in High Street. Three of the bombs hit the railway yard and caused some damage but one bomb fell short and burst near houses in the Liquorpond Street - High Street - Bedford Place area. One old lady, Mrs. Harriet Gee was killed, several people were injured, and over 100 were bombed out of their homes.
One month later on a Saturday evening, a German bomber dropped a line of white flares near the dock and a few minutes later four bombs exploded between Main Ridge, Silver Street and Threadneedle Street. Many of the surrounding houses were destroyed and four people were killed, five injured and 150 bombed out. Among the dead were an 18 year old young man William Taylor, and his girlfriend, 15 year old Gertrude Creasey. He and his young lady were the last civilians to be buried in the war plot in Boston Cemetery. May they all rest in peace.
Fifty seven high explosive bombs, and also four oil bombs, fell between the town's boundaries, and around 500 incendiaries were also dropped. Sixty four homes were either destroyed or so badly damaged that they had to be demolished.

The Fair

The smell of candy floss and toffee apples, the caterpillar and speedway, the steam yachts, Rhona the Rat Girl and the boxing booth……….
Boston Mayfair has a very long history (to at least 1125) and traces it’s origins back to the great trading fair of medieval times although this was very different from the modern funfair that we know.

In the Middle Ages fairs were like markets and were held only once a year with merchants coming from all over Europe to buy and sell at the Boston fair.

However, by the 1890’s, the mix of fair rides and stalls that we know was certainly occupying both the Market Place and Wide Bargate and it is now one of the few remaining street fairs in the country.

The event, which has a Royal Charter, occurs in the first week of May (usually the 3^rd) and is surrounded by tradition and ceremony.

The Mayor declares the fair open at noon (see below) from the Assembly Rooms balcony overlooking the Market Place and the ceremony is attended by VIP guests including representatives of the Showmen’s Guild.

After the Fair has been declared open the mayor and guests tour with representatives from the Showmen’s Guild and are allowed to ride free on any of the attractions.

Families of showmen have been coming to Boston for generations, occupying the same pitches with their rides and stalls, which are jealously guarded. The Fair stays in the town for seven or eight days.

Below (1) Sideshows outside the Peacock and Royal Hotel in the 1940's.

Below (2) The Helter Skelter near the Post Office in Bargate in the 1920's.