One of the most influential figures in the field of education in Bourne during the 20th century was L R W Day, a Cambridge graduate who served not only as a senior master at Bourne Grammar School but also as headmaster of Bourne Secondary School which was to become the Robert Manning College.

Leslie Robert William Day was born at Church Gresley, near Swadlincote, Derbyshire, on 2nd July 1900 and educated at Chesterfield Grammar School, the first Derbyshire pupil to be awarded a scholarship to a grammar school. He went on to study at Westminster College, London, from October 1917 until May 1918 but the Great War intervened and in July he joined the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps, remaining in uniform until February 1919 when he returned to Westminster College where his course was completed the following year.

He went on to Fitzwilliam Hall, Cambridge, his studies being impossible without the money he earned as head of the City of Cambridge Evening Institute, an investment that paid off because he graduated with a BA degree in 1923, his MA following in 1926. It was customary for ex-servicemen to graduate after two years and so he spent the third year profitably by studying and improving his French at Grenoble University in France.

Mr Day moved to the town in 1923 as a young French teacher at Bourne Grammar School, graduating to senior master and taking on many essential extra curricula duties such as cricket, choral music and the debating society. In 1946, he was offered the chance to become head of Bourne Secondary School although some wondered why a Cambridge man would want to lead a school where pupils might be regarded as academically inferior to those with whom he had shared his knowledge and expertise for the previous 22 years. His son David recently supplied the answer when he said:

He did not think of pupils merely in terms of academic potential but saw the provision of maximum educational opportunity as the right of all children, regardless of what was said to be their intellectual capacity at the age of eleven. His understanding of his job as headmaster was founded on that belief and he made a long and hard effort to ensure that his pupils were given the circumstances that would enable them to develop and, if possible, thrive. For example, he paid close attention to the fulfilment of all that was needed in the way of a dignified, commodious environment.

Accommodation was a continuing problem at the secondary school which was operating on a split level site but additional classroom space was urgently needed and this was provided by the opening of new but temporary wooden huts or HORSA buildings in the school grounds off Queen’s Road, pending a further and more extensive addition to the main buildings in 1958 which gave him particular pleasure, having lobbied for the improvements for many years. He continued as headmaster of Bourne Secondary until retiring in 1968 but it was to be 1987 before the name was eventually changed to the Robert Manning School.

Mr Day’s work in the public sphere was impressive but it was also an essential part of his life, particularly in the early post-war years when running the Evening Institute, thus facilitating opportunities for people to exercise their minds in the pursuit of qualifications in such subjects as accounting, shorthand and typing and English, but also to find enjoyment in creative entertainment through ballroom dancing, art appreciation and even sewing.

He also stood for public office, becoming a member of Bourne Urban District Council and served with distinction as chairman of the housing committee during an active period of council house development. During this period, he was additionally elected to Kesteven County Council and was subsequently elevated to the aldermancy. When the urban council was wound up under the local government reorganisation of March 1974, he became a member of Bourne Town Council until he retired in 1979.

As a member of BUDC, he was also instrumental in the organisation of both the celebrations for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 and the opening of the War Memorial in South Street in 1956. He was chairman twice, in 1956-57 and again in 1966-67, and his work after 21 years was recognised with the presentation of an inscribed silver bowl. Eight years later, in June 1979, on retirement after 29 years, he was presented with a silver salver by the Mayor of Bourne, Councillor Shirley Cliffe. Thanking members for the gift, Councillor Day recalled his time in Bourne and added: “The most interesting thing is that I taught the new mayor and her husband [Ray Cliffe] who were both my pupils.”

There were other numerous appointments, trustee and sometime chairman of Bourne United Charities, chairman of the South Lincolnshire Water Board and a member of the East Midlands Economic Planning Council. It also gave him the greatest pleasure in later life to be appointed to the board of governors of Bourne Grammar School.

Leslie Day, then living at 5 Coggles Causeway, Bourne, died on 4th December 1989, aged 89, and his funeral service was held at the Abbey Church on December 11th, conducted by the vicar, Canon John Warwick, who was also a Fitzwilliam man, as was the organist, Michael Kee. In 1927, he had married Constance Notley, daughter of Sam Notley, owner of Notley’s Mill in Bourne, and they had two children, a daughter, Marjorie (born July 1929) and David (born December 1932), who all survived him but Mrs Day died on 23rd March 1997. In later years, Leslie Day's son, David, remembered the busy life his father had led:

Mother always provided support. I especially remember his chairmanship of the housing committee just after the war and she often had to put his lunch in the oven when yet one more anxious phone call arrived in connection with housing provision. It was not easy then for newly-married couples to find accommodation and he was as eager to help as he was when leading other committees. I recall that the table next to his leather chair in the sitting room was never free of documents relating to his council work. The names and activities of fellow councillors were constantly on his lips. It was perfectly appropriate when he was made an alderman, one of the few [Kesteven] county councillors to be honoured in this way. Fortunately, his work on behalf of others did not mean that he was a tediously solemn man. I remember once asking him why anyone would want to attend a water board meeting and, as usual, he was quick to respond to levity, replying: "You would understand if you had the opportunity to eat the meals provided."

After the funeral, Canon Warwick wrote to Fitzwilliam Hall saying: “His death deprived the community of a distinguished figure”, a letter that remains in the college archives, a fitting tribute to an educationalist who spent so much time trying to improve the lot of others.

See also

Bourne Grammar School      The Robert Manning College    

Jack Burchnell     The War Memorial     The river and two uncles