Take the BBC "Country Tracks" programme, which divides Britain up into a series of journeys that have places of interest en route.
The show on Sunday 31st January left quite a number of our readers baffled.
Presenter Ellie Harrison hosted the trip between Sutton Bridge and Sherwood Forest, taking in Boston and Woodhall Spa along the way.
In Boston she told the story of the Pilgrim Fathers.
And that's where the confusion crept in.
After a trip around the soulless Guildhall, where the wainscoting now looks like something bought off the shelf from B&Q, we took in a view of Fish Hill, then faded into an elegant granite plaque set in the cobbles engraved with the legend "Mayflower 1620."
One of our oldest readers - Boston born and bred and now in his eighties - got in touch to say that he couldn't recall where on earth this plaque was in the town, and we undertook to find out.
We had already hazarded a guess - which turned out to be right - but before we tell you, let's look at the sequence of pictures from the programme.
The opening title sets the scene ...
And here's where we're going ...
The shot of Fish Hill takes in the cobbles ...
Then cross-fades ...
To the plaque apparently set in the ground ...
We were equally sure that no such monument existed in Boston, but we guessed that there might be one in Plymouth.
And guess what? We were right - and here it is ...
So did the BBC really subscribe to the old journalistic tenet "never let the facts get in the way of a good story?"
You betcha!
We wrote and asked Dick Sharman, the series producer for "Country Tracks," who replied quite unashamedly:
"Hello there Boston Eye Team.
"Many thanks for your interest in the Mayflower commemorative stone. The reason why you have never seen it in Boston is that it is in fact in Plymouth - where the Mayflower and the Pilgrim Fathers actually sailed from. Point of interest - Plymouth Argyle FC have the Mayflower as the emblem on their shirts, and the team's nickname is 'The Pilgrims'. Of course, that's another story..."
Interestingly, the Boston segment of the programme was the only one which did not use a local "expert" to add to the story - despite the fact that John and Judy Cammack are trustees of the Historic Bostons Partnership.
And why fake a shot commemorating the Pilgrim Fathers using footage specially shot 300 miles away when there is a far more handsome memorial on the north bank of the Haven?
You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.
1 comment:
My uncle and aunt, named Wilkens, lived in an isolated house by the river outside Boston, without electricity and mod cons. He rigged up a generator for lighting. At the bottom of the garden was a small gate, outside of which was the Pilgrim Fathers' monument. We used to watch the boats go up and down the broad estuary. As children, we knew: Boston, to Plymouth, to America. Why else did the early Americans speak in a Lincolnshire accent? Stephen Bigger
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