The Bensham Grove Chronicles Edition 4

What a mild winter we’ve had!  Our piece of the North East seems to have missed completely the terrible floods elsewhere.  Yes, we’ve had some rain but, for the first time in a long while, we haven’t had water coming through the roof at Bensham Grove.  An architect’s quick eye spotted the mystery historic problem during the restoration and, so far, the repairs seem to have done the trick.  

Although the weather has been mild, it has produced a sort of gloomy, dank weariness at times.  This is also the feeling that our Chair is suffering from.  Expecting to be in and out of hospital for a hip operation before Christmas, it is now heading to mid-March before it can be done due to emergencies and cancellations.  The term ‘in limbo’ takes on very personal connotations, and whoever would have thought that a contraption called a sock-puller-onner could cause such elation.  She was unable to chair the recent Management Committee meeting, which is held bi-monthly, but stories of a rather rumbustious meeting are unfolding and the words ‘Health and Safety’ have taken an urgent place at the top of the agenda.  It would appear that we haven’t been taking things seriously enough and need to sort ourselves out in this matter.

Our small, cluttered and exciting little pottery is busy all day long: potters and tutors pounding away, mixing powders, creating dyes and generally producing wonderful stuff.  But the accumulated residue is clogging the drains and, due to lack of space, bags of this and piles of that are also blocking exits, light and escape routes, making it a H&S person’s dream (or is it nightmare?).  Added to this is the hard-learnt lesson that potters and silversmiths should never share the same space for their activities, even at different times.  Potters’ dust and silversmiths’ detritus do not make good bed fellows and never the twain should meet.  Lack of space is of course the problem (or, in politically correct terms, the challenge).  It is not possible to put two such messy and volatile disciplines in the main house or in the activity hall.  There is a scheme, spearheaded by John Sanders, our lovely architect, but it requires plans and of course money, which sends us back to the poor over-burdened Fundraising Group.  Watch this space!

Moving on to happier things, we have hosted the most wonderful International Women’s Day event, with large numbers of women cramming into our house, hall and garden.  Celebrating the role and the rights of women was the name of the game but it morphed into a right regular bun-feast.  As previously mentioned, we are renowned for our fabulous buffets to suit all tastes, and we also had workshops in such diverse crafts as beading, card-making and flower arranging vying with ones on how to make a glorious African headdress and on beauty pampering.  Two of our more mature committee members were spotted coming out of the library in a rather shaken condition after undergoing eyebrow threading treatments.  Elegant silver hair topped rather suspiciously-reddened brows but did they care?  Not at all!  They were off to have their nails done next.  A little suspicion lingers however that a strong cup of tea might have been needed to take away the heat of the brow when they returned home and took their first look in the mirror.  Another more seasoned fan of threading however, raved about the speediest, most pain-free session she had ever had, including those at Fenwick.

International Women's Day

A bit of interest for all was the display of art work in the hall of the old house of all 52 of the entries for the dragonfly competition, and what a pot pourri of arts it is: watercolour, embroidery, glasswork, pottery, woodcarving and metalwork - all examples of people’s creativity, both from members and some outside entrants.  Luckily, the committee is not being asked to judge as we would find it impossible to choose.  Instead, over the next few weeks every visitor, member and student will be asked to complete a form to vote for their favourite.  Hopefully, it will then be clear which entries are the winners.

The catering group!

Finally, and wonderfully, we now have a new group (please see previous blogs on groups).  Six efficient ladies now form our Catering Group.  Bustling around in both kitchen and hall, wearing colourful pinnies, they enthusiastically created and cleared away the whole buffet.  The Chair gingerly asked how it had all gone, expecting to hear stories of sore feet and difficult customers, only to be told of plans already in discussion on how to be more efficient in the future.  Wonderful!  Hurrah!!  Thank you ladies.  Now, is there any chance the gardeners can get an influx of some experienced diggers and delvers?

The Bensham Grove Chronicles Edition 3

At this time in any year people are battening down the hatches determined to get through the next couple of months.  The days are long and gloomy and darkness seems to go on for ever.  Christmas scarves and woolly hats abound.  This winter has been particularly very wet and windy.  It hasn’t been really cold however and large thrusts of snowdrops can be seen in gardens vying with bewildered roses that are still flowering.  Even the birds are puzzled.  One North-East Council is unable to take its rather battered Christmas tree down because a black-bird has built a nest and already laid some eggs.

As the mornings are lightening imperceptibly and day-light is lasting a little longer in the evenings Bensham Grove is full of new energy.  The groups and classes have returned from their Christmas break filling the house yet again to capacity.  It has always seemed both to members and learners that they were meeting in rooms that really belonged to a long distant past.  Although things had got sadly shabby over the years the newly restored rooms are now enhancing that feeling of being in a cosy family home.  The Settlement people who took over from the Spence Watson family relied wholly on donations to keep thing going and were so intent on their social do-goodings that there was never any money left over to pull out old fashioned fire-places and stained glass.  Practically every day we heave a collective sigh of relief and thanks for this.

As you may imagine if you have read the previous Chronicles the groups are particularly busy.  It is the peculiarity of Bensham Grove that two things go on here.  A visitor from outside is always bemused and bewildered by the intricacies and differences between the groups and the classes.

The classes are professionally run by the Learning and Skills arm of Gateshead Council.  The groups are a law unto themselves and answer to no-one.  They are run by volunteers and have their own Constitutions.  They are also the hands that steer the Centre.  They sit on the Management Committee and any other committees that come under the same umbrella (See previous blogs about the dangers of spawning!)

Recently two of these groups have been particularly busy, the Fund-raising Group and the Events Group.  The fund-raisers are breathing a sigh of relief as the rather complicated form to obtain money for the gardener’s plans has finally been finished and sent off.  A decision is to be made in 6 weeks and we hope that such puzzling terms  as ‘bosh grass/edge trimmer’,’ fiskars weeder x2’, and ‘cold frame materials from b+q (?) £150 ft traditional wooden’, don’t confuse the funders too much.  If we succeed in our quest for the gardeners,  their work will definitely appear in future Chronicles.

Since we received the Lottery money it has been bourn upon us that we must tackle things more efficiently hence the meetings to forward plan all the events for the coming year.  It has been a good exercise for us and ideas and laughter and of course the obligatory cups of tea have echoed around the library.

The 1^st of March is the deadline for entries into our Dragonfly competition.  If any of you creative people would like to enter please look at our web-site.

A previous International Women's Day

International Women’s Day will be celebrated on 10^th March.  We do it every year in some form or another.  This time it will consist of pampering, crafts and activities and of course one of Bensham Grove’s famous buffets.  We are renown for them but sometimes things can go a little awry.  Take our Faith Suppers  for instance.  The meaning is lost in the mists of time and may have originated in a religious gathering but these days it is just a supper that is served at some of our events such as Christmas parties and social events.  The idea is good in theory when everyone attending  brings a contribution to the meal and it used to work well in the days when women had time to bake tasty pies and cakes. Nowadays things have changed somewhat and we are quite likely to receive half of the offerings in sausage rolls and the other in cheese scones.

This is when the catering group panic and Chris and Dorothy return from shopping with a guilty air and every kind of meats, cheeses, salads and cream cakes.  We are always frightened that we will not have enough food and end up with far too much.  Not that anyone is complaining, the groups and classes have very interesting tea-breaks for the next few days.  This particular volunteer however often wonders how the same bottles of very dodgy wine, donated by people who obviously have the same opinion of the said bottles, make an unopened and dusty appearance time after time!!!

Preparing another feast in the kitchen

Easter will see an event for children with and Easter-egg trail and the makings of the ‘Bensham Bunny’.

May History Month is when we host a 1940’s Tea- Dance.  Plans for a dance band of that era, clothes and a make-over if desired are on the cards.  We hope to provide the feel of those brilliant Village Hall Tea-Dances where the floor was smoothed for dancing with talcum powder or soap flakes (not sure what health and safety would make of that these days) and where every one just enjoys a good dance with lots of tea to fuel the energy before returning home to beat the black-out.  Looking forward to this!!

A Garden Party will be held on 5^th July in the main house and garden.  If any of you out there are interested in cake baking or jam and preserve making there will be a competition held.  Watch out for more details.

October will bring an early evening of ‘freaky face painting’, ‘creepy crafts’, and ghostly shadow puppets with ‘scary story telling’, and this is just for the children!  The adults may well be wondering what our resident ghosts will think of all this.

OK I can hear all you sceptics out there saying everything has an explanation and on the whole I agree.  Robert Spence Watson looks down benignly from his portrait in the hall and is very unlikely to be accused of hurting a fly but just around the corner is the severe-looking painting of Elizabeth his wife which has often evinced comments of having ‘eyes which follow one around the room’.  It’s true that lots of old houses have these portraits and various creaks and groans from the attics can be explained by the settling of old timbers.  Even strong smells of tobacco and perfume can be accounted for.

What, however, about articles that jump across the room for no apparent reason and the very scary experience of our Chair who had her newly acquired hearing aid wrenched from her ear and thrown across the room??  Can you really explain these away?

Nicola our Activities Officer has named our Halloween party ‘Creep Night’!  It appears to be very fitting.

For all our events please consult the website or telephone us and when necessary book as soon as possible.

                                                UNTIL MARCH! 

The Bensham Grove Chronicles Edition 2

Christmas is well over but the house is still quiet.  The New Year hustle and bustle of returning classes and groups has not yet begun, the beautiful decorations have been removed, and Bensham Grove waits.

One of the big conundrums that plague us every year at this time, and even more so now that the house restoration is almost at an end, is what to do with the garden!

Always a mess at this time of the year, it is looking particularly forlorn and battered after the weeks of high winds and rain we have been experiencing.  Leaves, inches deep, cover the lawn, small twigs and branches litter the paths and one rather disgruntled Health and Safety officer has pointed out that overgrown hedges are obscuring signage.

To be fair to us, during the restoration the lower garden was a no go area to anyone who was not a workman.  We consoled ourselves by promising to come up with wonderful new plans and ideas to completely transform the garden into something that would compliment our lovely house.  Just how to do it however is another matter, and to help you understand our dilemma it is worth considering the question ‘What is a community garden?’.

The garden at Bensham Grove

This is where things begin to unravel almost straight away.  One of the many dictionary definitions for ‘community’ is ‘common ownership or participation’, and herein lies the nub of our problem.  The garden at Bensham Grove belongs to everybody, but also to no-one in particular!  This means that one or two things happen.  Either everyone has conflicting ideas on what should be done, or else no-one really cares as long as it is pretty to look at when being peacefully regarded from the safe distance of the terrace, preferably with a cup of tea and a biscuit close to hand.

Over the years various people have worked hard on the garden, cutting the lawn, pruning shrubs and planting.  And with that particular word lies another nub.  Many enthusiastic gardeners have in the past looked at a plant or shrub in their own garden and wondered what on earth prompted them to buy it in the first place.  It is big and growing well, and did I mention ‘big’, and is in fact in danger of robustly trampling over every other plant in the garden.  What to do with it is the question until a ‘light-bulb’ moment occurs and its relieved owner decides that the best place for it is in the community garden.  In a twinkling of an eye the plant is dug up, transported and put to rest in a place which leaves it free to bully its way happily all over the community’s own delicate plants instead.

The words ‘volunteer gardener’ also have  connotations.  We volunteers  are a mixed bunch.  Mostly reliable but sometimes not.  Many of us have done the rat race.  Been there and got the tee-shirt.  We are just looking for something enjoyable whilst helping us to stop  falling quite apart, or at least warding off the evil day.  Others need something to add to their C.V’s and keep someone else happy at the Job Shop whilst they wait for the ideal position to surface.

Sometimes, if so moved, we will work longer and harder than a paid employee, but then the unreliability creeps in.  A chance of a tantalising holiday or a visit to see the grandchildren occurs.  Will we worry that the Monday Gardening Group will miss our input during those weeks? Not really!  Not at all actually!!  We have better things to do.

There also seems to be a profundity of ‘ladies who garden’.  Who are happy to float.  Large straw hats are particularly useful at this point as the ladies do a bit of pruning and insist in referring to every plant in Latin.  What we are always short of are the diggers.  The real, get down to it, gardeners.  The ones who can fork over a particularly exuberant border in an afternoon.  The ones who don’t mind sweeping the paths or gardening in the rain.  We want you, where are you?

During the years of planning the restoration many architects, historians and the like have posed the dreaded question ‘what are you going to do with the garden’?  So this is another problem.  Photographs which we have managed to collect point to the Spence Watson family having a distinct predilection for photographing family groups posed outside.  However it is always in one spot, outside the garden door and beneath the library window so we have many views of the house, remarkably unchanged by the way, but none of the garden.  

The Spence Watsons posing in the garden

We know that during the Settlement days the garden, which then stretched down as far as Elysium Lane, was arranged out into plots for the unemployed men to grow vegetables, but even then there is still a mystery on how it  looked.  The small dedicated group who meet on Mondays are actually reproducing one of these plots in the top garden, using some of the methods that the men would have used at that time.  The main garden however has defeated us (please refer back to bullying plants, straw hats, and tea and biscuits).

Because of all the pressure and the need for urgent action this particular volunteer also had a ‘light-bulb’ experience.  Of course!  We have a predominately Arts and Crafts house so what we need is an Arts and Crafts garden!  Coming swiftly back to earth though it is obvious that books need to be read and the internet scoured.  Very soon a plan is beginning to emerge and Gertrude Jekyll begins to look like a very best friend.

It becomes obvious that we need swathes of wisteria, climbing honeysuckle, roses and clematis which would jostle with paths lined with lavender and pinks.  Secret topiary outside room would suddenly appear.  Our little group decide to walk around the garden to see what features we already have.

Well we do have two interesting brick arches although one of them is nattily decorated with graffiti, compliments of some of Bensham’s finest.  We also have a couple of wisterias even if one is struggling in a pot.  Our total contribution to topiary is our box hedge which borders one of the beds and has taken ten years to grow to its present height of ten inches.

We have an interesting bit of wild land at the side in which the gardening container is hidden and which could at a pinch be described as a bit of woodland.  We also have a very exuberant mixed border next to the hut which was originally built in the 1930’s.  In short we have the very, very bare bones of an Arts and Crafts garden already.  We are decided!  This is the year for a transformation.  This however will necessitate a meeting of the Fund-raising Group and not to mention the need for volunteers.............which brings us back to where this Chronicle started!

All this talk of an abundance of flowers and a plethora of  perfumes leads naturally to the insects which inhabit these gardens.  During the restoration we came across stained-glass depictions of tiny dragon-flies in the attics.  We absolutely love them and have decided to celebrate their discovery by organizing a competition for the best rendering of a dragon-fly in any medium.  Why not enter?  We are really looking forward to seeing what all you dedicated craft people out there will produce.  Proper digging people will also be met with open arms!!!

The stained glass window in the attic

The Bensham Grove Chronicles Edition 1

Many years ago, as a young bride, Elizabeth Spence Watson began to write her ‘Family Chronicles’ and continued throughout most of her life time.  She told about the highs and lows of family life at Bensham Grove, the happy times and the sorrows, family holidays, maids, the garden and the many visitors who frequently made a bee-line to the house to enjoy true Northern hospitality.

As we still consider ourselves a family of sorts, albeit a much larger one, we thought it would be nice to produce our own Chronicles to record a few of the highs and sometimes occasionally our lows.  This is therefore the very first edition of ‘The Bensham Grove Chronicles.’

We are, at this particular time, riding on a very mixed wave of exultation and sheer exhaustion after spending ten long years buried in paper-work, fund-raising, arguments, meetings and soul-searching to finally get to the point of almost completing the restoration of the downstairs rooms of our much loved Grade 11 listed house.

The question now is where do we go from here?  Community Centres are not now receiving the monetary help from the hard pushed councils as in the days gone by.  We need to toughen up and become more self-sufficient.  We also need to climb back on the band-wagon and start to raise more funding for the restoration of the upper stories of the house and we want to keep the long tradition of welcoming friendliness to any one who enters our doors.

We have come to realise that the Groups here, almost totally manned by volunteers, are the mainstay of everything we do.  Their fund-raising was wonderful, from ideas as diverse as sponsored slims to sponsored swims, knitting, sewing, and tomato growing, to beautiful art and craft work, digging the garden and forming new groups with new ideas.

Here however I detect the stirrings of something we need to be cautious about.  This is the curious way that one new group seems to spawn another and often another.  The original Fund-Raising Group has suddenly become surrounded by  smaller groups.  In planning forward events to be held next year it is fast becoming clear that a catering group is need manned by ladies (or gentlemen if we are lucky) who are happy ‘to do’.   Who don’t mind washing, scrubbing and serving endless scones and cups of tea.

Every successful event requires someone to collect entrance fees, sell raffle tickets and make a note of the proceeds and the banking.  A new little group begins to rear its head, a few responsible finance people.  The Fund-Raising Group itself is becoming very vibrant again but it too seems to be splitting into multiple occupancy.  The jam makers and tea cosy knitters are happy with their lot but want nothing to do with high finance.  Those who want to be more ambitious are sometimes downcast at the realisation of just how long a largish amount of money takes to raise and how much red tape needs to be waded through.  Visions of beautiful iron railings and gates, or the creation of a history trail through our attics suddenly takes on a different dimension and yet again a new group almost emerges by itself!  Tough and pushy we need to be, but also paragons of patience.  When the same piece of funding appears time after time on our agenda with no visible forward movement we need to be stoic and congratulate ourselves on at least getting another quote or drawing up another plan.  A word of warning however to ourselves.  We need to make absolutely sure that we don’t start another group with the title ‘The New Group Starters Committee’!!

It will soon become apparent to readers of ‘The Bensham Grove Chronicle’ that nothing is simple here.  The very best of plans often go awry.  Humorous things happen and sometimes, sad.  A Centre full of well intentioned volunteers is often a recipe for success or disaster in equal measure.  Sometimes even the most meticulous and hard working planning is met by outside forces hell-bent on destruction.

Take our Christmas Fayre for example, the first real event after the restoration.  The house looked beautiful on Friday evening.  New chandeliers sparkled, wall-papers glowed, the Christmas decorations, co-ordinated by the Flower Arranging Group were an absolute delight.  Our stained glass, both old and new, gleamed and old wood warmed with its depth of colour.  Everything was ready and the stall-holders who were expected early the next morning would be thrilled we told ourselves smugly.

Not So!!!  The early morning team arrived to find that half of the house had been plunged into darkness.  The entrance hall, our lovely dining room and our cosy library were shrouded in grey winter gloom.  The first impression was as if one was stepping into the Black Hole of Calcutter.  The sitting room, conservatory and Activity Hall on the top path were basking in both warmth and light.  What was to be done?

I am filled with admiration when I tell you that the team sprang into action.  Little individual lights normally used by the needle workers were dragged out of cupboards and set up.  Fairy lights twinkled around the stalls creating a rather magic-like atmosphere.  The poor bemused stall-holders tried to convince themselves that this was part of the plan, to try and sell their goods in the gloom of an underground cavern .  Well done to them all for their forbearance and good humour.  Thank you all!

Huge thanks go also to all our volunteers who still managed to create a wonderful, friendly atmosphere for all our visitors, and ‘hello’ to the emergency electrician who might now still  be wandering the streets of Bensham looking fruitlessly for a building in need of help.  Where did you go??  A big thank- you however for trying and never mind, it’s all in a day of the life of Bensham Grove!   

                                              SEASON’S GREETINGS TO YOU ALL.

Party time

The opening party on the evening of the 12th September was a brilliant success.  Everyone was thrilled with the house and a good evening was had by all.  Look out for more photos from the evening that we will display at the community centre.

Pasties and polish

The week before the opening was a long slog for everyone - thanks to all those who volunteered their time to help clean the house and move furniture ready for the opening.

We captured a few of those moments on camera...

Selecting Frames at the Laing

Tyne and Wear Museums are kindly donating frames for the walls, to authentically recreate the eclectic feel that the house once had.  We met with Christina at The Discovery Museum and Rory and Jenni at the Laing to hunt for suitable contenders.

This is the look we are aiming for...

And this is what where we are currently!  We have been instructed to find 50 frames as a 'start'.

Shirley reluctantly posing whilst Jenni and Rory search for frames in The Laing stores