Tried hard - could

do better

It’s very easy to criticise a lot of things that go on in Boston – we should know, because we do so often …. and sadly, with good cause.
This year’s Christmas Market found us in something of a quandary as it is clear that, whilst a lot of individuals put a lot of effort into trying to make things go well, the overall impression was of something lacking.
Ahead of our critique, we have to say that we agree with comments about the town’s Christmas lights.
The switching-on fiasco over BBC Radio Lincolnshire’s airwaves made the town look pathetic, and the efforts to claim it as a PR masterstroke in the last borough bulletin only served to underline just how disastrous the affair was.
The lights and ratty bunting have been rolled out and strung up since the days when coppers wore high hats, and are now more than merely past their sell-by date – they are a disgrace.
The Christmas Market was not – but it could have been a whole lot better.
For some strange reason the stalls were crammed along the western edge of the Market Place in rows that unnecessarily mimicked the weekday market layout. It produced  a formalised, unfriendly almost military ambience, and left the opposite side of the Market Place looking empty and neglected. In fact it was mostly used for parking of emergency vehicles, a rock stall and a seasonal fire brigade demonstration of how to cut up tin cans.
Just look at the photos we took.
The first shows the hostile outlook produced by the back of the stalls that bordered the market. Why are they all bunched to one side facing inwards towards the shops, when the Market Place is such an attractive, open area?

…. And look at what could have been a wonderful Christmas view of the Stump with market stalls in the foreground on a bright December morning. Instead, it is an unsightlly mess that does nothing to promote the town.

As we left the Market Place to walk through Strait Bargate, we were stuck by how much more attractive the atmosphere could have been if stalls had been placed along the bus lane which operates there on the remaining six days of the week.

Look at our little map on the right of how it could have been laid out.
Starting at the northern end of Strait Bargate, our line of stalls runs through the precinct then opens out along the outer limits of the Market Place. The stalls face inwards, emphasising the huge space of the arena, with their backs to the shops. Santa’s shed could have been in the centre here – rather than lurking on the edge of all the activity. This leaves the way clear for Sunday shoppers who don’t wish to get involved in the Christmas Market to window shop virtually unimpeded.
Lots of effort went into yesterday’s event.
But as so often happens in Boston, it was let down through lack of vision and imagination.
One final thing.
Will those who reckon that the Assembly Rooms are such a fine building do something about the staircase, whose dangers are underlined when several people use it at once, as they did yesterday.
It is more like a fairground cakewalk, and sometime soon some poor devil will go head over heels because of the precarious tilts and angles that the stairs present. It is not fit to host a public event in its present condition.

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