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“The Flying Beacon” (an epic tale of how the Boultham Park Beacon flew across the lake).

 

Toast Anybody ?

        Once upon a time…originally, the 2002 festival was planned for the 1st and 2nd of June, and entitled B.P.M & A.Festival presents “A Lakeside Celebration of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee”. All set up and things underway when the BBC got to hear of us through our general communications with the media, and asked to join us. Not promising us anything except promotional items for the BBC “Music Live” organisation and maybe, some “live” telly. We thought that the local authority in Lincoln would be involved in all manner of Jubilee celebrations, but no, virtually nothing. So there we were, it seemed it was us, the major show in the county and only in our 2nd year, we were part of the BBC “Music Live Queen’s Golden Jubilee Celebration” representing Lincoln and Lincolnshire on television and part of a chain of beacons stretching all around the U.K. and the Commonwealth, 600 of ‘em and ours to be just one of 10 televised.

    WHAT WAS THAT???????…OUR BEACON??????? OH,    ER…OH,OUR BEACON.

 So there we were, and by the time things were established, we were already in January, and the Festival had hutched up one day to the 2nd and 3rd of June.

I had previously been a specialist builder, and among a number of houses had designed and built both the 106 Squadron Memorials on Metheringham airfield 10 years previously, and never thought that I would build another. But Boultham Park deserved something appropriate as a Victorian legacy, and we didn’t want Lincoln to look like the ”poor relations) on the telly, and I was aware that most local authorities were purchasing “ready made” beacons from a company in Dorset, so our needed to be “different”.

       On top of that, we had no materials, no money, and our local authority have to go through many “procedures” to process permissions etc, and it was unlikely anything approaching “yes” could have been obtained before the end of April and I couldn’t lay my hands on a copy of “How to Build a Beacon in Three Weeks”.   Only one thing for it…BUILD IT ANYWAY…but where??? I know …THE BOTTOM OF MY GARDEN beside the park, and “fly” it over the lake later to where the Council choose, and if they haven’t by Festival time, we’ll put it on a low loader and claim it as the first self propelled beacon ever, Lincoln built a reputation of being World leaders in innovative engineering didn’t it. SOLVED, WE’RE UP AND RUNNING?? Oh yes, no materials and no money!!!

       Actually Lincoln is still leading in the business world, as I simply knocked on a few doors and ALL OF THEM, YES ALL OF THEM SAID YES. No begging, no persuading, all of them were eager to help and the “Spirit of the Festival” prevailed over all the difficulties. Steel for the frame (this was now an extra as the 2 and a half tonne structure now had to be transported over my fence and across the park) Victorian bricks, Steel brick ties (to tie the  brickwork to the frame) Sand, Cement, A blacksmith’s

forge (to form the bars on the brazier) An  industrial welding company( to do the extensive welding required on the inner frame) Gas cutting equipment (to cut holes in the high grade manganese steel) Coach bolts (to hold thing together) Special primer & paint (designed specifically for painting the Queen’s gates & railings at Sandringham) A specialist sign company (for the script and the brass plaque) Transportation and lift (brazier & pillar, and fuelling platform) And heavy lifting equipment (for lifting and transportation) BBC TV (making a documentary film as work progressed).

       Everything I needed to do the job except for one thing…time. So many other aspects to the Festival, I had to rely heavily on the other members of the team, but I discovered that with practice, time is compress able. (not really, you just stop thinking about it , put your head down and push).

       As time went by, there were constant visitations by many people local and from afar, and of all ages, to whom I gradually got across to them the fact that this was “their” beacon, just as it is “their” Festival. I am just part of a whole team of people who equally took part in this community project, and the beacon now belongs to the community standing as a memorial to the 50th year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

And at the same time a symbol of what the Festival is all about. The encouragement of ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and the support and facility to express themselves as they are, and become personally involved in community projects.       

My grateful thanks to all the people listed below, without whom the construction of the Boultham Park Beacon would not have been possible.  My thanks also to Cllr Gary Hewson, Mayor of Lincoln with his lovely lady Jill and their party. Gary’s ceremonial lighting of the beacon was the final crowning moment that was shown on T.V. all over the world, and resulted in a full colour whole front page spread in the Lincolnshire Echo on my birthday June the 4th, with the words. ”The Light Fantastic”          

 John Pye. 

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EUROPEAN METAL RECYCLING (Lincoln)…DAVID TONGE (Recycled Resources Martin Dales)…ACORN HAULAGE (Lincoln)…JEWSONS (Lincoln)…HINDLES (Lincoln)…KEWELD (Lincoln)…PETER SMALL (Doddington)…HARVEY FABRICATIONS (Bassingham)…ABBA PLANT (Lincoln)…WITHAM OIL & PAINT (Lincoln)…St.VINCENT PLANT (Lincoln)…MUSGRAVE & Co (TOOLS)Ltd (Lincoln)…THE SIGN SHOP (Lincoln)…BBC TELEVISION (U.K.)

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We may have now moved to different venues, but the Beacon remains as our logo, symbolizing the foundational intentions of the Festival.

That ALL, whatever their situation, background or abilities, have an equal opportunity to be part of the Festival either as participants, or audience members.