Linda talks about her classes at Wensum Lodge and running a life drawing class with her husband Michael. Michael’s story is also on this website.
Wensum Lodge, for many years, has been a very important place for me, especially after I retired from teaching in 2001. I remember going to dynamic life drawing classes with Diana Lamb. More recently, I went to a number of French and Spanish courses, and did a lovely printmaking summer school about ten years ago. At one point I started a photography course, but it didn’t run because the numbers weren’t sufficient. But those are just some examples of my connection with the place.
The architecture and location
I’ve always been very fond of Wensum Lodge’s architecture and its location. Jurnet’s Bar is architecturally magnificent, and the Riverside Cafe was always a very friendly place. The Riverside Studio, which is alongside the river has beautiful views from the window and lovely light. That’s where, for many years, we held the Thursday evening life drawing workshop, which was run by the Norwich 20 Group. That was started in the early 1980s, I think it was ‘82 or ‘83, by a teacher called Hubert Forward. He was the Head of Art at the City of Norwich School, and I think he set it up principally so that his A-level students would have an opportunity to do life drawing once a week.
Meetings of the Norwich 20 Group
But it wasn’t exclusively for them, it was also open to the general public. It became popular for many members of the Norwich 20 Group for people of all ages. We’re still doing it, although obviously no longer in Wensum Lodge. It was held every Thursday evening, starting at 7.30 and went on ‘till maybe 10 o’clock and with a little break in the middle for a trip to Jurnet’s Bar.
It was always very informal, and it worked on a drop-in basis, so people paid the fee, which was just a few pounds in cash at the time. It was really very good value, and people could come when they felt they wanted to. It followed school terms, so we always had the same holidays that the school year followed. Michael and I took over the organising in 2011. There was a lovely chap called Les Burton who’d been running it before us, and I think he’d taken over from Hubert Forward. There’s definitely a continuity and it was in the lovely Riverside Studio. There was a plinth that we could put out where the model stood, sat, or lay down. All the artists circled round the plinth. The lighting was a bit difficult, and an artist called Josie Brett was very vocal about how we should only have one source of light and not five! But I think actually it was a very good venue, and there were some loyal people who came for years on end, and there still are. We started this custom of putting the work out on the floor afterwards. When we stopped drawing, and the model could rest and get dressed again, we put away the easels and the chairs and drawing boards. We spread the work out on the open floor afterwards so that we could walk round, and it was a kind of pop-up exhibition, really. Everyone could look at each other’s work, and this promoted lots of discussion, and people were really influencing each other.
No more life drawing at Wensum Lodge
There was a lovely sense of community in Wensum Lodge and that went on, term by term, until 2020, when in the spring term of 2020, of course, everything closed down because of the COVID outbreak. Then we were not asked to return. Although the 20 Group had been renting the Riverside Studio on Thursday evenings, way back since the early 1980s, and had this long-term commitment, the County Council didn’t get in touch with us at all. We were simply not asked to return. Frances Martin and her partner Richard Cleland looked around and found another venue. So, post-COVID, we started up at a scout hut in Colman Road, next to St Anne’s Church, and we’re still there, actually.
No communication at all from the County Council. I think we just learned that they were not going to rent rooms out. I suppose it was leading up to the actual announcement of closure. But the life drawing class continues in a very basic venue although we’re hoping to move to a smarter scout hut next term.
But it was lovely at Wensum Lodge, and I think everyone has fond memories of it, because it’s such a beautiful building and in such a beautiful location. I think it was very much in that spirit of providing something for people. From time to time, we had quite a few students from the Art School who came along. There still is a good cross-section of ages. It’s amazing, some people like David Jones must have been doing it since it started. I felt very sad about Wensum Lodge closing, but I suppose it wasn’t a total surprise, because Michael was telling us about what was happening. But, you know, for me it is a place in Norwich that is very precious, very much treasured, and I think for many, many people as well.
Linda Chapman (b. 1943) talking to WISEArchive on 11th March 2025 in Norwich.
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