NOSTALGIA: Pram race in 1968 and nuclear dump fears in 1988

St Nicholas Hall provided the start and finish point for the Boston Pram Race in 1968. On the way, the five pairs of competitors called in at the Queen of Spades, the Woad Man, and the Napoleon.

* Hundreds of people turned out to line the route of the Boston Pram Race, in which five pairs of men dressed as mothers and babies careered through town streets, followed by about a hundred cheering children.

The race was the highlight of the St Nicholas’ Church fete, which had been held as an experiment, but proved such a success a follow-up was being planned for 1969.

Mayor of Boston Coun Bruce Veal opens the door of 77 Staniland Road, one of the first of 40 bungalows being built in the street for Boston Corporation 50 years ago.

The wining pair was Eddie Burt and John Myers, who received £5 each.

* The first block of ‘old people’s bungalows’ built in Staniland Road for Boston Corporation was handed over.

In all, 40 bungalows would be built off Woodville Road as part of a £78,600 contract with Cambridge firm Kerridge.

To mark the progress in the scheme, a ceremony was held at the site.

Some of the first bungalows to be completed in Staniland Road.

Coun Norman McClement, chairman of the housing committee, told a small gathering: “They are the quickest construction of bungalows we have had carried out in this borough. Because of this, and the new type of construction, we thought we would mark the occasion in this way. I hope you will think the council has done a good job and provided grand homes for some of the old people of Boston.”

This week in 1988 ...

* The Wash and South Lincolnshire coast formed the second favourite site for a nuclear waste dump, according to an expert with inside knowledge.

And if the nuclear waste disposal agency NIREX chose to construct an offshore dump, the Wash area was ‘certainly the favourite’, said George Pritchard, who had recently resigned from the disposal company Consolidated Environment Technology.

“They will either go to an area where they will be welcomed – like Caithness, where there is support from local councils and a large proportion of the public – or they will go off-shore where they don’t have a problem with the people, as they see it,” he said.

* Plans for Boston’s new swimming and leisure complex in Rowley Road appeared to be under threat.

Full council agreed in November to spend £850,000 on the complex, but rising building costs had forced them to think again.

At a special amenity committee meeting, councillors met behind closed doors to discuss new figures with the quantity surveyors and the consultant engineers.

The plans included a six-lane main pool, fun pool with beach area, and a splash pool with water slide.