NOSTALGIA: This week in 1973 and 1993

Youngsters are pictured at Staniland School in March 1993, helping excavate the site of a planned environmental nature area.

* The Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire, The Earl of Ancaster, officially opened Ancaster Court in Boston.

The scheme off Peck Avenue – described then as ‘old people’s flats’ – had been built by the Royal British Legion Housing Association.

The demolition of the old Tower Road Primary School in 1993. EMN-180703-165458001

Lord Ancaster said it was a great compliment that the development had been named after him and joined residents for tea after the opening.

* Boston’s two 40-ton dock gates had been lifted out of water after 18 years in position.

A 125-ton mobile crane was brought in to remove the gates for maintenance works.

The gates had been floated down to Boston from the Tees 19 years earlier and this was their first time out of the water since.

* ‘You can’t beat rising costs – even if you die’ ran the gloomy headline this week in 1973.

Bostonians who paid for maintenance of graves in the town cemetery would have to pay 10 per cent more after April 1 because of VAT being introduced, The Standard reported.

To help keep the cost down the Boston Corporation had written to those whose annual payment was due to suggest that they pay before the end of the month and thereby avoid the extra charge.

This week in 1993 ...

* A survey revealed what people in Boston wanted most for the town – its character preserved, extra parking, and ‘name’ shops.

The poll by Boston Borough Council found that 83 per cent of those asked wanted the traditional character of the town centre to be protected.

Some 81 per cent, meanwhile, wanted more parking to serve the town centre, and 70 per cent wanted more shops to be built – particularly national chain stores.

There was also strong support for more being spent on maintenance (particularly on pavements) and more facilities for tourists – 78 per cent in favour in each case.

* It had been revealed that only one only per cent of the population of Boston, Massachusetts, knew of the existence of its mother town on this side of the Atlantic.

The figure had come to light at a meeting of the council’s Culture and Leisure Committee as it discussed a report by John Ward, manager of the town’s Tourist Information Centre, on his visit to the Focus America exhibition in Boston, Massachusetts.

* The old Tower Road Primary School was in the process of being demolished to make way for 26 Longhurst Housing Association homes.