Bill is a member of King Street Neighbours and has worked closely with Wensum Lodge, both as part of the management committee for Jurnet’s Bar and in organising the 50th anniversary celebrations in 2015. He describes the celebrations and highlights how the involvement of local people and students in the management of Wensum Lodge created something more than just a centre for Adult Education.
The 50th Anniversary Celebration
I was born in Paisley in 1947 although I’ve been living in Norwich for 29 years now. I would like to start by talking about the events organised in July 2015 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Wensum Lodge as an adult education community centre.
The King Street Neighbours (a community group) to which I belong, worked together with the staff of Wensum Lodge, the Friends of Wensum Lodge and the management committee of Jurnet’s Bar to organise the celebration. We had a stonemasonry demonstration outside Dragon Hall where three apprentices were learning the art of repairing stone buildings and we had a look at medieval graffiti. We looked at creative photography, art and stone. We had a talk about the ‘blood libel’ because the Music House part of the Wensum Lodge complex was originally built for Isaac Jurnet, a Jewish moneylender and trader. The ‘blood libel’ was actually first written down and spread from Norwich cathedral, sad to say.
There was a nature walk; we shared memories of the Argyle Street squat which ran for many years and was the longest squat outside London.
We arranged a tour of historic King Street which goes back to the Danes when they occupied the eastern part of the country. King Street was originally known as Konning Street, which was Danish. The Waterfront, (our local university music place) joined in and played a series of recordings from their dance events over the years.
We invited along Ken and Brenda Davis, who were the original wardens and were mainly responsible for the ethos of the place and the way in which problems were solved – this was not by running to the County Council and getting money, because that was difficult, but, as the County Council told them once when they applied for money, ‘You have to replace that with improvisation’.
Wensum Lodge – improvisation and the beginning of democracy
That word improvisation I think is a key word for looking at the history of Wensum Lodge. The buildings were in a terrible state when they were designated for adult education use and over the years a lot of the work was done by the staff and by the students themselves as volunteers. For example, the creation in the cellars of the Music House which was turned into Jurnet’s Bar. That was a lovely historical place. It’s probably got a better claim to be the oldest bar in Britain than a lot of the places such as the old Jerusalem in Nottingham. But the work was done by the voluntary efforts of the staff and students themselves. As far as the furnishing of the bar was concerned, as Ken Davis put it, it was furnished by begging, borrowing, and not necessarily stealing, but finding things – by voluntary efforts.
I think Richard Hoggart, the author of the Uses of Literacy, who was the president of Goldsmiths’ College at that time, talked about how Wensum Lodge pretty much ran itself. He called it the beginning of democracy. ‘’They are a very civil society. They know about the politics and the committees, and they run their own things very well’.
I think that is one of the greatest aspects of the history of Wensum Lodge. That it was done by the people for the people with the people.
Wensum Lodge closure
I think it’s an act of civic vandalism that the place has been allowed to be run down in the way it was. Two years before they announced that they wanted to close the place, the County Council had actually agreed to fund a development officer to reorganise Wensum Lodge as a creative hub for local people, because they recognised that it really brought a huge amount of interest and jobs to Norwich. By closing it down they’ve cut off the opportunity for people to have second chances in education, second chances in learning skills for work, second chances to mix among different people with different interests, and it’s a real shame that that opportunity has been lost.
Jurnet’s Bar
I was a member of the committee for Jurnet’s Bar for a few years and that was really interesting because it’s the ancient cellar of one of the oldest stone houses left in England. Again, it was run by volunteers, not by the County Council. It was a lovely place to be. It was there for the relaxation of the students of Wensum Lodge, but it was also open to thepublic so that was a really convenient and interesting place to go for a pint. The King Street Neighbours community group held
their meetings there for years. Not necessarily the quietest spot, because every evening there were activities going on as well as the bar. There were poetry nights; acoustic guitar nights; story telling evenings. All sorts of local community activities were given a chance to be tried out there and that was good.
It was interesting and a wee bit alarming that a few years ago a couple of people from the Council finance department demanded to meet us and said that we were running a business without paying rent to the County Council. Well, we weren’t paying rent to the County Council because we weren’t running a business. We were providing a service to Wensum Lodge, staff and students and to the local community. The County Council just did not recognise that and so they did insist on a rent. We were able to pay it but it was a sign that the County Council really wasn’t interested in backing the efforts of the local community.
Bill Monaghan (b. 1947) talking to WISEArchive in Norwich on 13th November 2024. © 2025 WISEArchive. All Rights Reserved.
