Having been aware of Wensum Lodge for a long time, Mary first took language classes there after retiring from teaching. A Wensum Lodge Latin class led her to new connections and friends, with whom she is now working to translate the letters of the first bishop of Norwich from Latin to English.
Mary’s Career
I did a history degree followed by a post graduate certificate in education and then started teaching history in secondary schools. After taking time out while I had my children I returned to teaching but mainly at middle school level where I had to teach virtually everything.
My Introduction to Wensum Lodge
My first connection with Wensum Lodge goes back a long time. My husband worked at County Hall in the education department and part of the building was used as storage for school furniture. We bought a desk and chairs for my two daughters. I also went to quite a few functions there.
I knew that this ancient building, under the leadership of the wardens, Ken and Brenda Davis, was providing a variety of educational opportunities but I was not able to take advantage of anything on offer until after my retirement.
Learning Italian at Wensum Lodge
Perhaps about 15 years or more ago I joined a short course in holiday Italian at Wensum Lodge. We had spent many holidays in Italy and I felt a bit ashamed that I had not done more to learn the language.
The course was actually free. There must have been government money for classes which might help people back into employment.
However, it was very popular with retirees like me. We turned up regularly with a lovely teacher and broke up into little groups and did conversation together. Some people were more serious in their approach than others; some did their homework more thoroughly but all enjoyed it. It was so much more satisfactory than using the audio courses available at the time. It was fun! I did feel more confident in speaking the language on subsequent holidays to Italy.
Latin classes at Wensum Lodge
A little later I saw they were offering a Latin course at Wensum Lodge. I had just completed a post retirement MA in Medieval History at the University of East Anglia, which had introduced me to Latin palaeography (reading medieval historical documents). I thought this course at Wensum Lodge would be an opportunity to work up my classical Latin from its rusty ‘O Level’ standard. This, I hoped would improve my ability to read medieval documents and enable me to do some research. I signed up for the class but it was a bit slow paced for me, as it was aimed at people who had less background in Latin than I had, so I only did one term.
However, it didn’t end there! The teacher, Angela, saw that the class didn’t fit me and suggested I join another Latin class which she led. This was a U3A group which I joined and am still with. So the Wensum Lodge course opened a wonderful door for me; it was a way into another class, a small group of people that I fitted into nicely. Angela and the other two students, the survivors of this group, are great friends of mine and we meet once a week to work on our classical Latin. We improve our grammar but also study some of the great classical texts which I had always wanted to read in the original Latin.
Current Translation Project
There is a final twist in this story! In this group we are now also working on a new translation of some of the letters of Herbert de Losinga, the first bishop of Norwich who started the building of the Cathedral some 900 years ago. There is a nineteenth century translation available but we are helping Angela to produce a more modern, colloquial version which we are hoping will be published. So, I am using my Latin to translate medieval texts.
Classes at Wensum Lodge
There were possibly about 15 or 20 people in the Italian class, which I suppose was quite a lot, but we broke up into small groups. I think the Latin group was also perhaps a dozen to 15, that kind of number. It was very nice to appreciate this historic building being used, and for educational and social purposes. Having a coffee bar by the river was also a bonus; it was a good place to sit, chat and relax.
It was an ideal place for adult learning to the city, friendly and accessible. Both my classes were weekly and held in the morning which suited me but I believe there were classes throughout the day and evening. On both occasions I found the level of teaching was excellent. The whole place felt welcoming; the friendliness of the participants and the general ambience created by the clerical and reception staff was also appreciated. This was a place for me, and I’m sure that was probably the universal experience of it. It was something of which Norwich and Norfolk could be proud.
I think there is considerable value in having lessons in a live group. it is nice to feel that there are other people like you who want to do this. They tend to have some of the same interests as you and they’re people who have come out for the same purpose as you. There’s a social aspect to it as well as the learning.
At in-person classes, if you make mistakes, or if you’re fumbling over something, it’s easier to get feedback than it is, than it is online. Online learning is fine, but it can be quite lonely.
This is even more so for modern languages, because you need to be able to speak it, not just see it or hear it. Therefore, being able to talk in groups with people and get input from a teacher that you’re not pronouncing things correctly is indispensable really, rather than just ‘useful’.
I know online courses have improved considerably since I last had experience of them and that the speaking element is now much better, but I still don’t think it’s going to be quite the same as a ‘real class.’
Jurnet’s Bar
I’ve been to Jurnet’s Bar, named after the Jewish family whose home it was in the Middle Ages, a few times over the years but not when I was attending classes as I think it was only open in the evening.
It was not the only place in Norwich in an ancient undercroft where you could go for a drink, but I just felt it had a special atmosphere.
A few years ago, I did meet up with the King St Neighbourhood group there, to build links with the Dragon Hall Heritage Volunteers to which I belong.
Wensum Lodge and Dragon Hall
There has, therefore, been an overlap between Wensum Lodge and my involvement in Dragon Hall, the other iconic historic building on King St. I am a tour guide at Dragon Hall and have coordinated the study group there.
When I bring a group out to look at the King Street frontage, I always point down to Wensum Lodge, the pinkish-coloured building at the far end of King St., which used to belong to wealthy Jewish people but was also owned and extended by other notable Norwich families in later periods.
In the Study Group, the Latin I’ve learned has helped in the translation of documents though I’ve still a long way to go. I joined the original Latin class to improve my ability to read Medieval Latin through Classical Latin and this has happened!
The Closure
When I heard Wensum Lodge was going to be closed, I was very sad and signed the petition produced by the group established to save it. Perhaps I should have taken a more active part but I think maybe I felt the writing was on the wall. It is very, very sad to see it no longer being used as an educational institution, but things do change and possibly something will come out of it all. New developments, new changes, the future, we can but hope.
I think it leaves a big gap in opportunities. I know people retire later than they did, but there must be lots of people in retirement who would have liked to have had the opportunities that were available for my generation and younger people too. As well as leisure time courses for filling in gaps in your own knowledge and experience, I am sure there were courses which led on to other qualifications and were steps in people’s careers.
But I know it’s not just Wensum Lodge as these courses are no longer available elsewhere through – what my dad used to call a long, long time ago, because that’s how he got his training – night school. At that time , it was accepted that most people had to leave school at 14 or 15, but there were opportunities provided by authorities – local government and national government and other agencies as well – for learning and development. I am aware that the educational situation is different and that there are financial constraints and implications but it all seems a great shame.
Hopefully Wensum Lodge can be preserved in some meaningful form or another. I do know that there was a possibility that it was going to be possibly a museum for the Jewish community of Norwich, but I don’t know what has happened to this plan.
Mary Bradford talking to WISEArchive in Norwich on 08th October 2024. © 2024 WISEArchive. All Rights Reserved.
