Week ending 15th October

Our Friday miscellany

of the week's

news and events

Market well – or you’ll miss it ... Boston had a continental market last weekend. You didn’t know? We can’t say that we’re surprised. It was tucked away at the rear of the Ingram Memorial, obscured by a trader’s large truck. As well as being out of sight the event also went almost unadvertised. Although it was apparently organised by Boston Borough Council, it rated just a one line mention in the council’s events diary published on its website – almost invisible within the listings of the Lincoln Comedy Festival. We won’t be surprised if events like this eventually fade away. We recall the Christmas Continental Market of a few years ago, which traders who had travelled hundreds of miles abandoned after being dumped on a limb in West Street. It’s almost as if the borough wants these things to fail and vanish rather than giving them the billing and prominence that they deserve.
None too well policed … On Market Day we noted a couple of PCSOs giving a motorist who’d parked in Strait Bargate a hard time because her vehicle was impeding the smooth progress of the sainted Into Town bus service. The officer, who seemed to be a little heavy handed in his treatment of the driver, apparently failed to realise that the bus could easily have passed the offending car had the police’s own large pantechnicon plastered with notices telling us how wonderful our local cops are was not parked a mere six feet away … A lesson in public relations to us all.
Parking mad … As was the sight of a traffic warden patrolling Pump Square, and descending on any hapless motorist silly enough to stop for a split second, like a vulture on a piece of road kill. This technique is known as shooting fish in a barrel. We all know that parking is hard to find on market days, so we use wardens who are seldom seen on the other six days of the week to make a pile of easy money. It’s been suggested that the few remaining market stalls which now close The Green could – with a little ingenuity – be relocated on to the former poultry market, freeing up dozens of spaces for hard pressed drivers. But that might be too easy and helpful.
War of words - 1 … Another week, another record. Council Leader Richard Austin has a letter in the local press for a fifth consecutive week – although we can’t quite think why. It relates to an item in the Grantham Journal which appeared as long ago as September 17th and refers to a man whom Councillor Austin wrongly calls Nick Bowles. The man in question is in fact Nick Boles, Grantham’s new Conservative MP, who has called for South Kesteven District Council to be scrapped. It’s not clear whether Councillor Austin’s letter is addressed to the Grantham Journal or to Mr Boles, as it is somewhat confusingly written. He takes Mr Boles’s argument that “nobody in Britain feels a surge of pride when the name of their district is mentioned,” and uses it as a launch pad for yet another polemic on how great Boston is under the rule of “my council.” For once we find ourselves in agreement with the Leader. Whenever we hear mention of Boston under the BBI, we do feel a surge – but it usually passes after a liberal dose of Doctor J Collis Browne's mixture.
War of words – 2 … Meanwhile, in the remorseless BBI campaign to keep its name in the papers in the run up to next May’s elections, a letter appears congratulating everyone involved with the recent gala concert for the restoration appeal at Boston Stump. It is signed by Councillor Alison Austin. We are glad that she liked the show – but what does being a councillor have to do with it?
War of words – 3 … Fewer worries on this one. A third letter in the papers comes from our old friend, and "Mouth of the Haven," BBI Councillor Ramonde Newell. Its heading “No place for national party tribalism on local political scene” will spare most people the effort of reading further. In synopsis it is the same old rant blaming previous administrations for all the things that went wrong, and lauding the BBI for picking up the pieces. We assume that he is attempting to gain acceptance by repetition, and wouldn't last long on “Just a minute.”
Was this wheelie necessary? … A murder in Boston last week dominated the local headlines. But one of the pictures tells a story of its own.

We know that the police are hard pressed to buy the right sort of equipment, but really feel that they might have shown more consideration and sensivity by using something other  than a wheelie bin on which to string their evidence tape.
That's it for this week. Thanks for reading. Don’t forget tomorrow’s new feature … The Week in Words – our startling graphic which highlights which words appeared in Boston Eye most often during the week.


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