Guest blogger for TWAM
Tyne & Wear Archives invited me to be a guest blogger on their website to write and present the Spence Watson Archive Project. You can read the article here.
Hannah Festival: Echoes of Bensham Grove
On the 17th April, Echoes of Bensham Grove took place. Pete Ross, the Scribblers group and some of Progressive Players of the Little Theatre performed and read poetry, plays and spoken word inspired by Bensham Grove as well as a visit to Tyne & Wear Archives to research the Spence Watson collection. Sound artist Nick […]
Women of Bensham Grove
For the workshop Women of Bensham Grove, artist Jane Dudman worked with participants at Bensham Grove took place over two afternoons, 21 and 28th May. Jane concentrated on Elizabeth Spence Watson and the archival material found in a number of archives in the region as well as online. Participants were given audio recorders and camera’s […]
List of Vistors to Bensham Grove
Here is a (incomplete) list of visitors to Bensham Grove at the time of Robert and Elizabeth living in the house. Most of these would be staying at the house when theye were speaking at either the Lit & Phil, the University or for the Liberal Party. Some would have just been invited by Robert […]
Two FREE Workshops in Bensham
As part of the Spence Watson project I am organising two free workshops and performances at Bensham Grove Community Centre run by artists Stevie Ronnie and Jane Dudman. These workshops are part of the Arts Council funded digital arts and heritage project, ‘The Spence-Watson Archive’, I am currently undertaking with Tyne & Wear Archive and […]
Lit & Phil
The Lit & Phil has quite a good collection of material related to Robert Spence Watson including books of poetry written by him, tracts of speeches that he presented at the Lit & Phil on a variety of subjects as well as a dissertation about Elizabeth Spence Watson which is very helpful for there is […]
Scribblers visiting Tyne & Wear Archive
The Scribblers writing group visiting Tyne & Wear Archive, some for the first time, on the 27th February, to get inspiration for their writing for the Echoes of Bensham Grove event on the 17th April.
Bensham Grove
A few images of Bensham Grove inside and out. The internal photographs show the house after the restoration, which was achieved through a Heritage Lottery grant to try and bring the house back to its Arts & Crafts history as well as keep and maintain it as a working community centre. Also included are a […]
Tyne & Wear Archive
I have been spending time in Tyne & Wear Archive researching the collections of the Spence Watson family, in particular the letters sent between Robert and Elizabeth and their daughter Mabel. The collection includes roughly a thousand letters between the family members, a book of reminisces dictated by Robert to one of his clerks, a […]
