Georgina’s memories go back to her school days when she was a member of a Wensum Lodge choir. In the 1980s and 1990s, she worked as a life model and throughout the time she lived in Norwich, she visited Jurnet’s Bar and the music nights. She was involved in the campaign to save Wensum Lodge as a centre for adult education but also as a cherished community facility of architectural value.
Early memories of joining a choir as a schoolgirl
I was born in the West Norwich hospital in the late 50s and have lived in Norwich, on and off, all my life. I went to Thorpe Grammar School in 1970, then went to Notre Dame High School for Girls for A levels 1975, and left in 1977 to go to university and after that, I came back, for holidays and for longer periods, sometimes for as long as a whole year.
When I was quite big, I was probably in the fifth form, there was a melody choir started up by a certain Andrew Pierssené based in the vaults in Wensum Lodge. At that point, Jurnet’s Bar had not even been thought of, it was simply the vaults – an L-shaped room – as people may remember. But there was a piano in there and the acoustics were amazing for a choir, probably almost too good. He managed to get access on, let’s say, a Wednesday night and I together with a girl friend of mine, Annette Downing, joined the choir. I came from Thorpe and would catch a bus or get a lift and would walk along King St. to get to Wensum Lodge.
I believe it was called Wensum Lodge in those days; I think it had the same name. Now what your listeners and viewers may be interested in, is that in those days, in the 70s, King St was the red-light district in Norwich. I didn’t know and I think my mother didn’t know because she happily let me go by bus, all on my own. I was a very independent teenager, and got off the bus, presumably at Castle Meadow, and walked along King St and didn’t notice anything. Then one day, probably it was still light when we went in, a man pulled up his car, leaned out and said, ‘are you on business?’ And I said, ‘what, sorry!’. ‘Are you on business’ and I didn’t know what that meant and I hadn’t twigged at all. Anyway, by the third time he said, ‘are you on business – Oh, forget it!’ He obviously realised I was a schoolgirl; I wasn’t quite in my uniform, but I must have looked very young. I only realised later what was happening, I must have asked somebody or twigged. In those days, King St was a red-light district but not a dangerous one, not in any shape or form and I have never ever been scared in Norwich. I was a bold independent child encouraged by my mother. I went to Cambridge when I was 13 or 14 because she was working. She gave me the bus money and I went to stay with my sister in Cambridge on weekends.
So, anyway, we went for the choir every week and did some performances, and I am afraid that is more or less the end of my memories except it was lovely. It was a small, very small choir and I probably sang alto in those days. We did a couple of performances but years later, a good ten or twenty years later, I did meet Andrew Pierssené again, he was at a function at St Gregory’s when St Gregory’s was an arts centre, not what it is now, but a very active arts centre.
Life modelling at Wensum Lodge
In 1977, I left to go to university, and I wasn’t in Norwich except in the holidays. But somewhere along the line, at university, I started modelling. First of all at Brunel University because it is very well paid per hour, and I realised it was very lucrative. So, when I came back to Norwich, in the summer and after my first stint at university, maybe around 1980 or ‘81, I got various jobs here modelling for the 20 group and other things and some of those were at Wensum Lodge. We all know that Wensum Lodge was very important for all kinds of fine art, so there was pottery, modelling, life drawing and painting and so on. And some of these needed models, both clothed and naked, nude. I am going to mention the names of two of the tutors, who I believe are still around, Toni Hayden, she is a woman and Toni is T O N I. She was lovely and another lady was Diana Lamb, both totally putting me and all the other models at ease. They made sure you were warm enough, comfortable, that’s the word, and you had a little room to change in and usually provided a dressing gown. I have to say, just on a personal level, that modelling, fine art modelling, really gives you great confidence in your body because the artists are not looking at wrinkles and crinkles or fat or anything, they are looking at you very objectively and enjoying the curves.
Later, when I came back from Nairobi in ’97 and stayed in Norwich for a whole year to look after my mother who was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, I did quite a lot more modelling – it is well paid, well worth doing and it’s off the books.
Jurnet’s Bar
During the late 1980s and 1990s, I used to go to Jurnet’s Bar. In 1999, I moved into Normandie Tower on Rouen Road which is dead opposite Wensum Lodge and Jurnet’s Bar, up a little alley. I am going to mention Richard Fryer, now known as Richard Penguin, who did many musical gigs there. He is a great icon of music in Norwich, and he set up sort of folk nights on a Friday and then, there would be, oh, I don’t know, Spanish music on another night, different night themes. Jurnet’s Bar was also used by various clubs – the psychiatry club or the psychology club met, let’s say on a Tuesday at five, sort of early evening and it was all open to the public – Jurnet’s was a functioning bar with paid or voluntary workers.
I remember folk weekends. People didn’t stay there, there was no accommodation then in Wensum Lodge. All the sessions were held in the crypt – I remember the soft seats before they took them out, it was absolutely ideal because it’s got nooks and crannies, and you could actually, believe this, have two sessions going on at once. And then, they had one of the bigger rooms for lectures that often go on during these folk weekends. The folk nights went on right to the end, as far as I know, new things were installed but Jurnet’s was never spoilt. Nothing ever happened to the infrastructure. I keep saying folk, but I should use the work acoustic because the crypt lends itself to acoustic, it’s not appropriate for loud music, although, of course, a solo singer might have a mic for a small hall. I am also going to say that many local artists must have been born and nurtured in that venue under Richard Penguin and another chap called Shane. They were great promoters of music. So that went on right to the end of Jurnet’s and I think that by the time the pandemic came, when I was living in Oman, it was just about to close. It would have closed for the pandemic for sure and then they discovered this rot or damp or whatever it was. Then, I think the City cried because it was loss of such a centre, such a social centre and a community facility, yes, that’s the word I’m looking for.
A role as a polling station
Now, two things come now – during the pandemic, I did some work for Norwich City Council. I was incredibly lucky to get it because I had come back without a job – I had been teaching music in Oman and I had to come back because my income dried up. Amazingly, because I had worked on the Lord Mayor’s Procession in the past, I got work as a Covid officer, patrolling the streets of Norwich checking people were abiding by the rules. It was quite a serious, strict job really.
Then because I was on the books, when the local elections were held in 2021, I was employed as an elections officer. They had to make sure that all the Covid rules were applied in voting – it was quite early on. It would not be safe going into a tiny little room to vote as in the past. But Wensum Lodge was spacious, it was ideal, and we had three different teams working there. So, the King St area and the Rouen Road area as far as Ber St. all voted there. People all came down and were filed into the different large rooms where they could maintain safe distances. They could also queue outside and luckily it was not a rainy day. I remember it was a rather nice day so that’s a small, short memory of a long day spent doing the elections.
Continuing as an Adult Education Centre post pandemic
After the pandemic, Wensum Lodge reopened and still functioned as an Adult Education Centre. It was still doing languages, probably English and I’m guessing some of the art things and pottery. I remember the pottery studio from when I was working there in the 1980s; it was delightful with the big French doors opening flush onto the Wensum with railings so nobody could fall out. Computer training also continued. I have a very good friend who can’t see, and she is always trying to develop her skills, including with a computer which she relies on. She had one-to- one tuition with a very good computer teacher at Wensum Lodge, she could already touch type, but she learnt about listening, how to make sound work, all these things. I think her going there was one of my last memories, computing was probably one of the last things to die out. Nothing to do with the pandemic, this was afterwards and then, as we all know, it went up for sale.
A great loss
So absolutely a great loss to Norwich and not just to us oldies or us natives who remember it way back in the 80s. It had always been an Adult Education Centre, and when they built the gym, it was also important as an art exhibition centre. So, it’s been lost. It will be missed. Even people who have only been here, oh I don’t know, for five, ten years, even if they went there and only did one course, they will miss it. And where have those things gone? Where do people do courses now? It was such a valuable asset. Selling Wensum Lodge is a total loss.
However I must add an addendum, I have recently learned that the Music House is a separate entity, and I believe that that is not being sold or certainly not in the same package. So that’s sort of most of my memories over the years since 1977.
The campaign against the closure
I remember from the summers of 2022 and 2023, there was a huge campaign to `Save Wensum Lodge’. Everything was still going – all the arts departments, the language courses and other bits and pieces. There was a famous silk screen printer which lived in one of the back rooms and we made posters there – we had used it earlier when we were campaigning about something else. A good friend of mine, Amelia Pearson, was fundamental in that group, not the absolute leader but very active – she is an example of somebody who came back to Norfolk and just became so passionate about it. We printed our posters, which we plastered everywhere, on the silk screen printer, reeling them off in one colour -either green or red – ‘Save Wensum Lodge’ and as well as a hand printed sign for the emblem. The silk screen printer has to be rehoused, I hope someone has given it a home – it must be twenty or thirty years old and together with Wensum Lodge was part of bringing the community together.
Hopes for the future
Now we know that the ship has sailed, that it really is going to be sold. My understanding is that it is going to be sold in a couple of sections – the Music House, is a separate entity and as one of the earliest, oldest merchant houses in Norwich, it cannot go. It cannot be changed anyway. It just needs some TLC and that’s where Jurnet’s Bar is. It lives at the bottom of the Music House and was probably used by the merchants for storage once upon a time. Wensum Lodge is made up of lovely, lovely buildings including where the café was and the pottery room which overlooks the river and another one for art which is quite old. I can’t put a date on them but beautiful architecture. I hope there is some kind of listed buildings status on those buildings. More recently, I don’t know when, they built the gym – the sports hall which is quite ugly so if that is scrapped, I don’t think anyone will be crying. However, they shouldn’t build a high building there because it would block the view of all the buildings behind. And ironically, the car park is still there, I presume still feeding the gym, I’m guessing, or it is simply a public car park for anyone, it might be that because you do pay. But funnily enough, that’s still very open as a going concern.
I am sure they must have listed building status. I’m sure they can’t just be pulled down and I hope sincerely that the café is kept as a café or an art gallery or similar and that the pottery room turned into an art gallery or a café or a pub because you could view the river, I mean to sit there, you are behind glass so it is warm and you get the view of the other side of the river. They are beautiful buildings.
Georgina Benison talking to WISEArchive in Norwich on 8th October 2024.
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