A History of Horncastle Part 15

The company had at first a capital of 15,000 in 50 shares, no member being allowed to hold less than one share or more than 20. The surveyors for the undertaking were Messrs. Robert Stickney and Samuel d.i.c.kinson.

When about two-thirds of the work was completed this capital was exhausted; and in the year 1800 a second Act of Parliament was obtained, which authorised the raising of a supplementary sum of 20,000 in shares of 50; additional members being enrolled, and mortgages raised on the tolls. The whole profits of the concern, for several years, were absorbed in paying off the debt thus contracted, so that no dividend accrued for the shareholders until the year 1813. The channel, from Horncastle to Dalderby, was an entirely new cut, the rest being the river Bain deepened and straightened in its course. It was adapted for the pa.s.sage of vessels of 50 tons burden; and in the whole length of 11 miles there was a fall of 84 feet.

The original rate of charges was 2/- per ton for the whole length of the ca.n.a.l, 1/9 to the seventh lock, and 1/3 to the fourth lock; vessels laden with lime, manure, or material for roads, were granted free pa.s.sage.

{127} By the second Act of Parliament, in 1800, the charges were raised to 3/3 per ton for the whole length of the ca.n.a.l, 2/7 to the seventh lock, and 1/6 to the fourth lock; lime, manure, and road material being exempted, as before.

[Picture: The Ca.n.a.l]

The whole structure was completed in the autumn of 1802, and the ca.n.a.l was formally opened on Friday, Sept. 17th of that year. The occasion was observed as a general holiday by the towns-folk. At one o'clock the boats the Betsy of Horncastle, and the Martha of Dalderby, the property of Messrs. Gilliat & Wilson, and the British Queen, owned by Mr. Boyers, were hauled into the two basins of the ca.n.a.l, elaborately decorated with colours, amid the cheers of spectators, who are said to have numbered more than 2,000. The vessels having been brought to, several salutes were fired, and a band of music, on the pleasure boat of Mr. Lane, played "G.o.d save the King," "Rule Britannia," "Hearts of Oak," &c. Having traversed some distance on the ca.n.a.l the company afterwards landed at the wharfs on the two branches, and a large number of the shareholders partook of a festive repast at the Greyhound Inn, East Street, near the south basin. The navvies and other workmen who had been employed in the construction of the ca.n.a.l, were also regaled on the boats, and afterwards feasted at the Greyhound.

In following years an excursion was made annually by the Directors, conveyed down the ca.n.a.l, in a fine barge, which was their own property, named "The Lady Banks," in order to inspect its condition; and this was followed by a public dinner at the Bull Hotel, which continued to be an established inst.i.tution during the period of the ca.n.a.l's prosperity.

The shares quickly rose considerably in value; a great number of barges came to the town, and it was no uncommon occurrence to see the whole distance from the South bridge to the Bow bridge packed closely with heavily laden vessels, carrying coals, grain, or other merchandise. In 1836 it was computed that about 30,000 quarters of wheat, and 3,000 packs of wool, pa.s.sed through the ca.n.a.l annually; and in 1850 the profits of the traffic amounted to about 2,000 a year.

Consequent on the opening of the railway in August, 1855, the ca.n.a.l, as a means of goods conveyance, gradually became disused, until, of late years, it has become worse than a mere derelict, since it forms an obstruction to the free pa.s.sage of the water brought down by the two rivers, and after heavy rain it has led to temporary inundations of the town, to the great inconvenience of those residing near it, as well as interfering, as might in some circ.u.mstances be serious, with the sanitary arrangements.

A few years ago an attempt was made to restore the ca.n.a.l traffic, but the railway monopoly had become too thoroughly established, and the project failed; yet the compet.i.tion, could it have been maintained, might have had a salutary effect upon the cost of railway conveyance, to the advantage of the general public.

Our ca.n.a.ls, it should be remembered, are a time-honoured inst.i.tution; the Lincolns.h.i.+re Card.y.k.e and Fossd.y.k.e date from the period of the Roman occupation of this country. The Magna Charta of the early 13th century took cognizance, not only of the roads, called "The King's Highway," but also of inland navigation, under the term "Haut streames de le Roy." The latter half of the 18th century was remarkable for great achievements as regards internal waterways, notably in the Bridgewater Ca.n.a.l, and the Grand Junction Ca.n.a.l of London; and to this period, as we have seen, the Horncastle Ca.n.a.l belongs.

In this twentieth century, again, notwithstanding the great railway facilities, there is a wide-spread movement in favour of extended water traffic, headed by the very successful Suez Ca.n.a.l; with a prospect of the sister channel of Panama. Berlin is said to owe its prosperity largely to its well-organized system, connecting the rivers Oder, Elbe, Spree, &c., which have an annual traffic of some million and half tons. Our own Manchester s.h.i.+p Ca.n.a.l is another instance; the most recent case being fresh developments of the Aire and Calder Navigation, in South Yorks.h.i.+re.

The ca.n.a.ls, too, which have been recently constructed in India, are yielding, by the latest reports, {128} a handsome revenue to the Government, as well as greatly benefiting the native population.

It is acknowledged that a more general use of waterways, throughout the kingdom for the cheaper transport of our heavier and more bulky produce, would be a national boon; and a Royal Commission was engaged in considering the subject of the acquisition of all ca.n.a.ls as Government property. {129a}

It is now being more and more recognised that, on the establishment of railways, everyone jumped too hastily to the conclusion that the days of ca.n.a.ls were over; whereas, in truth, there is still a large field, probably an increasing field, for the cheaper traffic in heavy goods, which ca.n.a.ls can provide for. The Belgian town of Bruges, though situated several miles inland, is now to be converted into a port by the government of that country, through the creation of a ca.n.a.l, which is expected to increase the prosperity of that city. Similarly it is suggested that our own town of Nottingham could be made a great inland port, if water carriage were provided; and Sir John Turney, before the Royal Commission, has recently (July, 1907) stated that the trade of that town might thus be greatly increased. These, be it remembered, are not isolated cases.

[Picture: On the Ca.n.a.l]

As to our own local interests, we may reasonably regret that, after so much money being invested in the Horncastle Ca.n.a.l, and the serious losses incurred by so many investors, no further effort should be made to utilize it. The trade of Horncastle is not so satisfactory but that we might welcome every adjunct, which could in any way contribute to its furtherance; while, even from an aesthetic point of view, it were desirable that, with the present dilapidated locks, and the banks in some places broken, the channel, which is in parts little more than a shallow bed of mud, befouled by garbage and carrion, or choked by a matted growth of weeds, should be superceded by a flow of water, pure and emitting no pestiferous exhalations.

THE RAILWAY.

In few things has there been more remarkable evolution, or we might even say, revolution, than in our methods of locomotion. In these days of historic pageants we might well conceive of a series of scenes pa.s.sing before us, shewing the means adopted at different periods, or under different conditions, in this respect. The war-chariot of Queen Boadicea, charging the legions of Caesar, or (in our own neighbourhood) that of the British warrior Raengeires, routing his Saxon foes, at Tetford, with their wheels of solid wood and other ma.s.sive carpentry, would form a, then inconceivable, contrast to the future taximeter cab, to be evolved in this 20th century.

The lumbering "wain" of the Saxon churl, though still surviving in the name of a constellation, befitted only an age little advanced beyond barbarism.

The primitive "shout" (Dutch "schuyt"), or "dug-out" boat, hollowed by Celtic flint-axe from the bole of a mighty oak, and slowly propelled by the almost wild Girvian, through the tangle of fen mora.s.s, had but a remote connection with the steam packet which, within living memory, plied on the neighbouring Witham, between Boston and Lincoln. Although the speed of the latter was so slow, that (as a friend of the writer has done) a pedestrian, travelling by road, could reach either of those places, from our town of Horncastle, in less time than it took to go by carrier's van to Kirkstead wharf, and thence by the said steamer.

While, again, both these would provoke only a smile of contempt in the voyager who now crosses the atlantic, at a rate of 20 knots or more in the hour. Then, again, compare with these the cyclist, who now flashes past us with the speed of lightning; or the motorist, who vanishes from our sight, almost before the dust he has raised is blown away.

Another humbler mode of progress, again, was a familiar sight in our boyhood, when the farmer's wife jogged contentedly to market, seated on a pillion, behind her husband, and carrying her b.u.t.ter, eggs, or chickens, in roomy market baskets by her side. Even the gig, to carry two, of the better bucolic cla.s.s, has now become obsolete, as the train pours out, at the station, its living stream of market folk, male and female, within a few minutes of leaving their own doors several miles away.

As to our country roads we are, it is true, well supplied with them, but a pageant view of the past, such as we have here conceived, would reveal to us our British forefathers, toiling, in wearied gangs, under Roman task-masters, at the forced labour of road making; by which the town's markets and chartered fairs were to be accessible, from all directions, for generations yet unborn. In our present iron ways, we might well suppose that we have attained the highest evolutionary stage in expeditious traffic; but who, indeed, shall venture to gainsay, that as a sequel to our wireless telegraphy, we may one day eschew the mundane altogether, and become a race of aeronauts.

The Great Northern loop line, connecting Boston and Lincoln with Peterborough and Grantham, and so with the further north and south, was opened in October, 1848. At that date, except the "Navigation" for heavy goods, such as corn, coal, &c., there were only coaches, once a day, for public conveyance to Boston, Lincoln, Market Rasen, and Louth. But through the enterprise of Mr. Samuel Sketchley, of Horncastle, Solicitor, of the old firm of Selwood and Conington, an Act of Parliament was, not without difficulty, obtained, July 10th, 1854, for the construction of a branch line, running from Kirkstead to Horncastle; the importance of this event being recognised by a joyous peal of the parish church bells being rung, and crowds parading the streets, at 10 o'clock at night, at which hour the news arrived. The next day the rejoicings were continued, the bells of St. Mary's Church being again rung, while the tower of the church was adorned with a tricolour flag, bearing the inscription "G.o.d speed the railway," and crowds again pa.s.sed through the streets, headed by the town band and a large tricolour standard.

The construction of the line was begun in April of the following year, 1855; the contractors being Messrs. Smith & Knight. The original capital of the company was 48,000, in 10 shares, but the ultimate cost was about 60,000. The G.N.R. Company undertook the working, paying half the receipts to the shareholders; and as, for the distance (about 7 miles), the expenditure was, compared with that of many such undertakings, small, so, as an investment, the enterprise proved a profitable one, few lines yielding so good a return for the outlay; the 10 shares still (in 1907) sell at nearly half as much again (14 17s. 3d., July, 1907).

A brief account may well here be given of the opening ceremony of this important event in the town's history, condensed from the public journals of the day. The line was examined by the Government Inspector, Colonel Wynn, and a few days later Mr. Seymour Clarke, the G.N.R. manager, stated that it could not be in a more efficient condition. The opening ceremony was fixed for Aug. 12th, 1855. At an early hour the town was crowded with visitors and shops were closed. At 7 a.m. 2,500 lbs. of beef were distributed among the poorer people. Peals of bells were rung, the Horncastle and Spilsby bands added their music of popular airs. The streets and station were profusely decorated, under the direction of Mr.

Crowder, florist, Mr. John Osborne, parish clerk, Mr. Archbould, head gardener to Sir H. Dymoke, Mr. Nelson from Stourton Hall, and a local committee. Flags displayed the arms of the town, those of Sir H. Dymoke, Mr. J. Banks Stanhope, the Bishop of Carlisle, then lord of the manor, the Rose of England, and the Union Jack. About noon a procession was formed in the Bull Ring, to meet the Directors of the G.N.R., by Mr. F.

Harwood, master of the ceremonies, in the following order:

Navvy bearing bronzed pickaxe and shovel.

Banner.

Navvies, four abreast.

Banner.

Two navvies, bearing silver-gilt wheelbarrow.

Banners.

Horncastle Bra.s.s Band.

Contractor. Engineer.

Secretary. Solicitor.

Auditor. Auditor.

Banners. Directors, two abreast. Banners.

Churchwarden, Dr. B. J. Boulton.

The Vicar, Rev. W. H. Milner.

Banners. Shareholders and their friends, four Banners.

abreast.

Spilsby Bra.s.s Band.

Parish Clerk, Mr. J. C. Osborne, in his robes, preceded by his Standard Bearer.

Banner. Members of the various Clubs, with Banner.

Banners.

Banner. 1,000 School Children, 4 abreast. Banner.