Sunday School parade of 1912

One of the highlights of the year in Bourne a century ago was the annual Sunday School parade and treat for boys and girls who had been attending lessons at the Congregational Church in Eastgate [now the United Reformed Church], an event that is particularly well documented because the photographer Ashby Swift who was organist there took a series of pictures including this one from 1912.
The parade that year was blessed with fine weather and children and parents turned out in their best clothes and assembled outside the church before marching through the town, stopping long enough in the market place to have their photograph taken for the church records.
The procession then continued down South Street and is seen here with flags waving, the girls carrying parasols and accompanied by parents with babies in perambulators. Many sightseers also stopped to watch as the parade continued on its way to Park Field in the Austerby for the children’s annual treat of games followed by a picnic, an enjoyable occasion which continued well into the evening.