Week ending Friday 8th October

Our Friday miscellany

of the week's

news and events

Killjoy was here ... We were saddened to read an item on Boston Borough Council’s website
(which was slavishly reproduced by our local “newspapers”) headlined “Illegal campers.” The story told how the council’s anti-social behaviour team “acted quickly” when locals complained about an “illegal campers’” site in Witham Country Park. But , the fearless team sounded more like killjoys when the borough handout went on to report “Taking into account the small amount of litter that surrounded the tents, mainly soft drink cans, crisp packet and sweet wrappers, it is thought the site was most likely to have been used by young people on a sleep out.” A night under the stars under canvas used to be a rite of passage for youngsters in happier times, and it is a crying shame that for once the borough hit squad couldn’t have acted more kindly, rather that clearing the site and taking the kids’ tents to their Fen Road depot where they will be kept for two weeks - presumably before being destroyed.
Letter lout ... We believe that the inexorable campaigning to keep the BBI name in the headlines in the long run up to next May’s local elections has set something of a record. The Beloved Leader, Councillor Richard “Papa Dick” Austin, has had a letter on one or another of the local papers for four weeks in a row. Admittedly, the cunning old councillor has achieved this not through originality, but by staggering his missives so that the same letter appears in different papers on consecutive weeks, but the fact remains that the only party making its mark in the local papers is his. Don't be surprised if the opposition parties fall flat on their faces next May - which they will if they don’t soon get their act together.
The lamppost is the one on the left ... And to prove getting into the papers isn’t that hard, the Leader manages it again in a photo to promote the Boston 200 flood fest. He provides what the used to call “foreground interest” by posing beside a lamp post carrying a banner for the event. Fortunately, the paper had the forethought to caption the picture so that we know who’s who.
Snap unhappy ... Those of you who've paid a visit to the “Room52Gallery Giles Arts” (The Giles School community arts space) to view what sounded like a highly promising and relevant exhibition, will have come away disappointed. The advertised display of historical photographs and artefacts by local photographer/historian Steve Woolhouse failed to materialise - even though it was promised “from October 4th.” Instead, a hand scribbled note on a flyer tells us that it will start tomorrow. Who is running this facility? And since when did it become the property of the Giles School and “supported by the Arts in Empty Shops scheme and the Boston Bid (sic)? More on that next week.
Words of Wisdom ... The same flat cap, the same cheeky sense of humour. Yes, Sir Norman Wisdom may be have left us but that doesn’t mean comedy has died along with him.

Our photo above shows the distinct resemblance between the late, lamented slapstick comic, and another comedian whose slightly less funny turns are famous sadly only on the Boston political stage. Can you tell who is whom? We’ll give you a clue. Norman Wisdom was proud of the fact that he never wore glasses whilst the other is naturally short-sighted.
Now they know how it feels ... Lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth at County Hall on the news that government funding delays will force back the start date of building work on Lincoln's £130 million eastern bypass, which was planned to begin in 2013. Councillors were miffed that despite giving unanimous approval to the road on Monday, the government may not come up the the cash on time. Chief among the moaners was the county’s highways overlord and Mr Jolliman lookalike Councillor William Webb, who very recently as good as said that Boston will never get its by-pass and that a distributor road may not even be on the cards. We hope that a delay for the citizens of Lincoln may give him a greater sense of empathy with the plight facing Boston.
Lowering the tone ... The on-off debate about the abilities of the town’s resident poet and busker, opens a wider issue about the quality of music heard on our streets. Recently our ears have been assaulted by two newcomers - both female - who crouch by shopfronts beating the living daylights out of either a guitar or an accordion. We like street entertainment. If well done (like the extremely talented accordionist who appears in Strait Bargate occasionally) it enhances what the borough calls the “street scene.” Done badly, it spoils a morning out shopping, and can ever seem threatening. If the council can summon up a squad to ruin an innocent bit of fun by a few kids in a park, surely they must be able to police the cacophonous offerings of some of your so-called “street musicians.”
And finally ... Has the Mayor been caught in the act of  sending an unconventional greeting to the voters of Boston?

We’re sure that he wasn't - but thought that the photo might amuse some of you. The shot appears in the current newsletter of the Butterfly Trust.


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