Bell House Summer 2026 Newsletter

June 3, 2026 Cher Roque

Welcome! In this Summer newsletter we celebrate 10 years since Bell House opened its doors as a charity. Here’s just a few glimpses of what we have achieved so far.

Bell House Dulwich at 10: Education and Community

by Sharon O’Connor

Since 2016, Bell House has steadily expanded its programme and now offers creative workshops, courses, talks, performances and community events. Visitors might join an art class, attend a concert, learn lifesaving skills, adopt touch-typing or discover the world of honeybees. At times the entire house is transformed into an art gallery. People hone their sewing skills making quilts for premature babies. Filmmaking is both taught and used as a way to get events to a wider audience: 15,000 people have seen the local history talks via YouTube. Health-based projects began with dementia support and now cover anything from social prescribing to women’s health. The breadth of activities reflects a belief that learning should not be confined to any one area or stage of life.

Over time, the site itself has become an integral part of the charity with the rooms and gardens an active, inspiring resource. The cellars now house a letterpress and bookbindery studio offering a wide range of courses, while a purpose-built pottery studio welcomes newcomers and experienced potters alike. Regular open days invite visitors to enjoy the gardens and explore the house’s rich history.

Significant work has also been undertaken to preserve and improve the house. Restoration projects have included renovating 50+ windows and uncovering the historic ha-ha. At the same time, Bell House has invested in sustainability such as installing a ground source heat pump, solar panels and insulation, ensuring the building can serve the community while reducing its environmental impact. Similar skills are passed on to the community through the popular Repair Hub where people can bring objects and learn how to fix them.

As Bell House celebrates its first ten years, it does so with a clear sense that learning should be accessible, enjoyable and lifelong. Its success reflects the same spirit that shaped the house when Thomas Wright built it: a belief in community and shared benefit.

10 Years of Gardening at Bell House

by the Garden Volunteers

Volunteer gardening began in September 2017, a suggestion over coffee, between friends. "How about a gardening group?" There were nine the first Saturday, none of us professional gardeners but everyone keen and willing. We wanted to look after the garden, grow a community. We put up a welcome board and gave the growing group of volunteers coffee and croissants after ninety minutes of gardening.

One year in, we decided to start growing vegetables. A greenhouse followed, roses in the front, clearing of the front lawn and ha-ha, new compost bins. Duke of Edinburgh volunteers came forward with their parents, some of whom we persuaded to stay.

Our aim was gardening for community and wellbeing, but each new volunteer and new skill brought the chance to do more. In 2019, we opened for the Open Garden weekend, sessions became two hours, the grass became longer and we focused increasingly on how to support wildlife.

During COVID the garden became a lifeline. We stayed open, working within and adapting to changing requirements, with a list of suggested jobs on a board. We dug a bog garden in the hollow beneath the bridge and installed the winding dead hedge.

Eventually there were more volunteers, more expertise, more experience. We grew to three sessions a week, added ponds, shared produce, and were introduced to a fruit tree expert who advised on orchard trees to plant. After some consideration we began hosting the monthly Open Garden on the first Saturday of each month.

The year 2023 was when we started to grow organically. With the gift of the Pickwick garden, things really started apace. We opened up the fence line, recycled materials as habitat posts and shelters, built a circular log wall to enclose the bees in their new apiary. The next winter was spent organising and building sheds. Successful grant applications allowed the planting of native hedges and new beds with plants for pollinators. The polytunnel meant growing more from seed and propagation, and gave us somewhere to work on wet days. The Pavilion gave us an HQ to organise, run sessions and a warm space for coffee.

There’s more planned. The dry garden is starting to take shape and new beds, structures and planting schemes will emerge in the future. We’re recording wildlife, planning bio-blitzes, gardening as organically and as thoughtfully as we can.

We garden for wildlife, for visitors and for our volunteers. We’ve made friends, grown in our knowledge and gone on to do bigger things. None of this venture would be possible without the community we have created between us, the many many hours of dedicated volunteering, and the visitors to our open days who through their encouragement and generosity allow us to do more.

The Evolving Arts Events at Bell House - Behind the Exhibitions

an interview with Lucy Macdonald

How did you get involved?
I first started at Bell House as a beekeeper with Annie McGeoch as my mentor. Then, this time last year, having taken early retirement, it allowed me to pitch an idea to the Arts Events volunteers to put on an exhibition focussed on crafts grounded on traditional skills yet are contemporary. The display was entitled Threshold, running over three days in December with six exhibitors: a rug maker, basketmaker, embroiderer, painter and two printmakers.

A quarter of the exhibition sales went towards supporting the Bell House Creative Health project which partners with local health charities to demonstrate how art can enhance wellbeing and bring people together.

Do you plan exhibitions?
Yes, among six of us in the Arts Events group including Rosie Bayliss, artist-in-residence, and Anna-Maria Amato, group co-ordinator, where we rotate on who organises the exhibitions.

We had Saturday Characters in April, a life drawing exhibition co-curated by Rosie and Chris Allen, a member of the group and an apprentice in the Print Room.

I have just curated Viridis, a solo exhibition of Alexandra Oliver's landscape paintings, of which 25% of sales fundraised for the Bell House Adult Literacy group.

Beth Worth has an open call inviting artists to submit works for The Flower Show, taking place on June 12-14th.

We also branch out and invite others to curate. In October, Kirsten Hecktermann is putting on an exhibition of embroidered panels and smaller works by Kenyan artist, Dhahabu Ngambau Dadu, and will feature a stitching/free-hand embroidery workshop.

Collaboration?
All volunteers in the Arts Events group support one another from helping hang displays, to invigilating and running the Private View. The exhibitions wouldn’t be successful without the help of other volunteers, including those who lend their expertise. Sven Arnstein and Liam Sherriff recently recorded footage at the Viridis exhibition to create a short film. The Print Room members Simon, Tania and Chris have all helped with hand printing invitations and promotional materials.

Benefits?
The objectives of the group are to enjoy working with artists to support them on their career journey, foster collaboration, and raise funds to support the Charity's ongoing projects.

If this appeals to you and you’d like to join us, please contact [email protected].

Annie’s Nurture Group: Reflections

by Annie McGeoch

The Nurture Group evolved from the School Enrichment Programme, a single day out for up to sixty children organised in partnership with a local school just before the end of term.

At these meetings I noticed that there were some children who could manage those large groups and hectic days but some seemed at sea. I had a meeting with the headmistress of Crawford Primary school in Camberwell and we discussed what I and Bell House could do to improve the lives of some of the children. She suggested a Nurture Group where we would take a small group of children out for the afternoon. For three years we met on Wednesday afternoons at Bell House for an activity or an outing. It became clear that half a day was not always productive as we were short of time. By the time we had walked from the school to the bus stop, taken the bus to Dulwich Library and walked across the park to Bell House, we only had an hour before we had to travel back, often arriving late.

This year, we start making our way in the morning and return in the afternoon on Tuesdays, allowing an appropriate amount of time for travel and activities. The idea is that it's experiential learning - no aims and objectives, no measured outcomes. Just ten 7 to 10 year olds having a day out outside of school. The school selects the group members, described to me by the headmistress as the children who are perfectly behaved, though not necessarily in a positive way: they are the quiet ones alone in the playground, not engaging with the noise and all the activity around. Most were not born in London but speak adequate English while also speaking another language at home. They are from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Kosovo, with parents often working zero-hour contracts where one goes out to work when the other comes in to sleep, not allowing time or resources for outings. What the group is offering is a chance to make friends, to have something to talk about in school, and “stick out” a bit. It turns out they are envied by other children for their outings and the chance to go to Bell House.

The idea is to help them feel like individuals. We use their names a lot, talk about birthdays, family members, siblings, simply showing interest in them like we would with our friends. It’s about establishing relationships so they could support one another in school when surrounded by larger groups.

We have had outings at the Battersea Park Children's Zoo, Jurassic World, Horniman Museum and the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Had hot chocolate at a café, practicing not to make a huge mess. A trip to the Vauxhall City Farm, and one afternoon spent in the park, talking to dogs and their owners. At Bell House we did clay sessions, a drama workshop, printing courses, and heard stories of the history of the house. Before the end of summer, we will head to Westminster Abbey, the House of Parliament, and finally, a picnic in Ruskin Park.

If anyone has ideas for activities or would like to help with the outings, message [email protected]. We will have a new group of children next year so it would be great to have a new team member or two - it's always good for the children to meet new people.

Bell House Pottery is delighted to welcome its second Potter-in-Residence in August

by Birgit Pohl

On 11 September 2023, a modern pottery studio was opened in the grounds of Bell House.

The pottery studio has been a core part of the Bell House mission to provide creative learning to the widest community. Working with clay can be a satisfying creative pursuit with tangible results. In a kind and supportive environment, pottery classes can also support people struggling with mental health.

Burgess Architects, who specialise in sensitive restoration of historic buildings, were commissioned to design the pottery studio with sustainability and energy efficiency in mind. Key features include solar panels, a ground source heat pump, and the use of natural materials such as Douglas fir, with its low carbon footprint. The big picture window at the back of the studio looks out onto the beautiful Bell House garden.

A variety of courses and workshops are being offered to potters of all levels.

This summer, we are pleased to announce our second Potter-in-Residence.

Megan Cox is a potter living and working in Liverpool. Her work is grounded in a philosophy of slow living - valuing thoughtful design, mindful making, and the quiet beauty of everyday life. Megan’s work is inspired by the traditions of British studio pottery and a deep fascination with medieval and Anglo-Saxon pottery. Drawn to the simplicity, raw beauty, and enduring forms found in these historical pieces, as well as the use of local, natural materials. During her residency, she will utilise access to the vast collections of pots found in London museum collections. Through an open, iterative process of making and testing, she is hoping to create a body of work that establishes a visual language connecting the past and present, resulting in a resolved series of functional vessels that integrate form and surface within contemporary use.

Megan is planning on running a workshop centred on stamp-making and surface decoration towards the end of her residency. Keep an eye on the website for updates.

Bell House Spring 2026 Newsletter

March 3, 2026 Cher Roque

The four seasons of 2025 have flashed by! We are excited to bring you the first of this year's quarterly newsletter with four new articles which we really hope you enjoy reading.

Diary Alert: Inaugural “Wayzgoose Celebration” planned for Bell House this year

by Simon Trewin, Print Room & Bindery

Walk down the old steps into the basement of Bell House and you’re met not by silence but by rhythm: the clatter of type, the sticky crackle of ink, the soft thump of paper meeting platen. It’s a sound that once echoed through towns across Britain, when printing presses were as common as corner shops. Today, though, that sound has almost vanished.

That’s why the news that the Bell House Print Room & Bindery, co-founded by Tania Hurt-Newton and I, has received a major grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund feels so significant. The funding will allow us to expand the Bell House Print Room & Bindery and create a new home for endangered crafts such as letterpress, etching and bookbinding, collectively known as the Bell House Heritage Crafts Studio. It will also, crucially, allow us to expand our community reach.

The new funding means we can do far more than keep the lights on. We’ll be able to restore and preserve our presses, train volunteers, create new teaching spaces and host a celebratory Wayzgoose — the traditional printers’ fair. Most importantly, it means we can welcome people who might never otherwise discover this world of type and ink: children, older adults, and anyone facing barriers to creative opportunities.

I’ve seen it time and again. Someone comes in convinced they don’t have a creative bone in their body. Within minutes they’re setting their name in metal type, eyes narrowed in concentration. Then comes that first pull of the press, and suddenly their face lights up - a mixture of disbelief and delight.

'Unlocking creativity' is an overused phrase, but here it’s literal. We’ve seen retired teachers, teenagers and refugees all sitting around the same table, sharing rollers, jokes and cups of tea, producing something together that none of them could have done alone.

That’s what The National Lottery Heritage Fund is really supporting — not just machines and materials, but possibility. Thanks to players everywhere, we can preserve these skills and open them up to anyone who wants to learn.

One of my favourite recent visitors was a man in his seventies who arrived “just to watch.” Half an hour later he was at the press, grinning like a schoolboy. When he pulled his first print he said quietly, “I didn’t know I could still do something new.” That, to me, says everything.

We see this new phase not as preservation but continuation. The presses downstairs aren’t museum pieces; they’re instruments waiting to be played. Thanks to this grant, their song — and the creativity they inspire — will carry on for years to come.

We would love you to come and experience it for yourself when next at Bell House.

Please follow our instagram feed @intheprintroom and message [email protected] if you would like to organise a visit.

Printing & Bookbinding

Did you know? 13 acres of the Bell House Garden were donated to help create Dulwich Park

by Sharon O’Connor, House Historian

Dulwich Park was created in the late 19th century as part of a wider movement to provide green public spaces for London’s rapidly growing population. Sir Francis Peek, a local businessman, philanthropist, and governor of the Dulwich Estate, strongly supported the creation of parks and had been working towards establishing one in Dulwich since 1872.

That year, he offered the Estate a large donation to help create a public park, but his proposal was rejected. Undeterred, Peek continued to negotiate with both the Estate, which owned the land, and the local authority. In 1885 the Estate agreed to sell around 70 acres, taken from local farms and the gardens of large houses along College Road and Dulwich Common, including Bell House.

Thirteen acres were taken from the Bell House garden to help form the park. The garden had been extensive, stretching to where the rivulet and boating lake now lie. However, the Gowan family, who lived at Bell House, still retained three and a half acres for their garden.

Some Dulwich residents opposed the creation of the park, fearing it would 'lessen exclusiveness' and become a 'playground of the poorest classes.' Sir James Douglass, who lived at Stella House, 11 College Road, and was also an Estate Governor, initially supported the scheme but later tried to prevent it from going ahead.

Charles Gowan of Bell House also had concerns. When his lease was amended due to the loss of land to the park, he requested annual contracts in case the park’s presence prompted him to move. The Dulwich Estate was sympathetic and renegotiated his lease on a year-by-year basis for several years.

He must have been reassured however, as the Gowan family remained at Bell House for another decade. Their smaller, though still substantial, garden remained a source of pride. In 1890 and 1891, their gardener, William Farley, won prizes for his begonias, gloxinias, and sweet peas at the Surrey Floricultural Show.

Bell House Garden continues as a source of pride - particularly for the volunteer gardeners who spend time there each week, and for the local residents who can enjoy the Open Garden each month, due to take place on Saturday, 7th March.

We’d like to end with a quote from George, a Bell House garden volunteer:
“We garden because we care about the future - it’s a vote of confidence in the future.”

Gardening

Yasmin “tapping into her cheffing expertise to throw beautiful, bespoke plates”

by Jim Belben, Pottery Planning Group

We are thrilled to welcome a new member to the Bell House Pottery teaching team, Yasmin Hamouda.

Eureka moment

Yasmin has a distinctive story. She started out as a chef in Northern Ireland. She worked in hospitality for many years. She loved her work and was much in demand. She also ran her own supper clubs, offering creative tasting menus.

Then she had what she describes as her Eureka moment. In 2018, she started a pottery evening class and soon realised that

“I loved cooking, but I did not only want to make the food that went on the plate, I wanted to make the plate as well. So food and plate work together to enhance both. A conversation. That started me on the journey I am still travelling.”

Bespoke dinnerware

Yasmin took a pottery diploma in Bangor, NI, then came to London for a full-time ceramics degree at Central St Martins while still working full-time as a chef!

Since graduating she has developed her own unique approach to making. She works with restaurants, learning about their ingredients and their environment and their culture, then designs and makes bespoke dinnerware to enhance their whole restaurant experience.

Calm and peaceful

Yasmin came to Bell House thanks to our contacts at the nearby Kiln Rooms in Peckham – where several of our team have practiced. She teaches at the Kiln Rooms but has also taken on teaching an all-levels Wednesday afternoon throwing course, as well as regular taster sessions for beginners.

“I love the Bell House Pottery. Such a nice area of course, and the studio is so calm and peaceful. Super clean, well managed, it’s easy to teach here. The views into the garden are wonderful, I am so looking forward to the summer when we can enjoy the garden into the late evenings.”

Yasmin finally left cheffing at the end of last year but intends to continue to offer her supper clubs – food and plate in harmony – in the future.

Upcoming courses

You can see more of Yasmin’s work on instagram @yasminhamoudastudio, and you can catch her on her next Throwing on the Wheel taster session on Friday, 6th March 6.30pm or 6-week course from Wednesday, 15th April 3pm.

Pottery Studio

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.”

Benjamin Franklin

by Madeleine Hay, Dyslexia Committee

Jump. Hop. Punch the air. Lunge. Ballet steps. These probably aren’t the words that first come to mind when you think of dyslexia. Yet, for our Bell House dyslexia specialists, movement and whole-body engagement are central to how we teach. Why? Well, before we even look at the research, we know something simple: people learn best when they are relaxed, engaged and feel a sense of ownership over their learning.

Sitting at a desk using a traditional pen and paper approach may not tick these boxes, particularly in neurodivergent learners. But give the same child a Harry Potter wand to write letters in the sky, invite them to write giant letters on paper and jump on them to spell words, take turns in punching out letters in the air, and you see true learning in action: engagement, an eagerness to participate and, most notably, a child who remembers what they have learnt.

So, what does the research say about why adding movement has such a positive impact on learning? The most common signs of dyslexia include: difficulties with phonological processing (detecting and manipulating sounds in words), working memory, recognising spelling patterns and processing speed. One of the key challenges this creates is linking information — connecting sounds to letters, and letters to the spelling of whole words.

However, when we move the body and engage a range of senses, we simultaneously stimulate several different areas of the brain, encouraging new connections to be made and long-lasting memories to be formed. Consequently, when learning involves seeing, hearing, saying and physically doing, multiple pathways are created to link the same piece of information. The more pathways the brain builds, the easier that learning is to retrieve later. This is neuroplasticity at work — the growth and reorganisation of brain connections that are essential when we learn new skills or absorb new information. Importantly, purposeful movement can also support regulation and attention; a calm, alert brain is far more receptive to new learning than one that feels stressed or fatigued.

If you’re a parent, carer or education professional supporting a learner with reading and spelling, keep an eye on the Bell House updates and social media for the learning through movement sessions we are running in 2026. Every dyslexic individual is exactly that – individual, so there is not a one-size-fits-all solution for how we build movement into learning. The key is to work with a learner to find out how and when they want to move so that they feel in control of their learning. Dopamine, the body’s powerful, ‘feel good’ chemical is then released in the body, meaning we’re setting a child up to succeed in their learning. Get moving with your learner and build a great learning environment!

Join us for our next talk in the Dyslexia Series: Movement Therapy for Retained Primitive Reflexes by Learning DNA.

Dyslexia Support

Bell House Winter 2024 Newsletter

December 5, 2024 Cher Roque

In the 2024 Winter edition, you’ll find a selection of recent news and updates from Bell House, which we hope you will enjoy!

“Never throw anything out without asking …” Restoring a treasured house and finding treasure.

by Angus Hanton, Building Volunteer

For the last few years Bell House Dulwich has spent any surplus funds on the restoration and development of its buildings and grounds. On day one, in September 2016, we found a sword of a type made by George Widdowson a metal craftsman who owned the house in the mid-19th century. Since then we have had many finds, both inside and out, guided by the words of Sharon O’Connor, the Bell House historian, who told us, “never throw out old stuff, even scraps of paper, without showing me first.”

While building the pottery studio and the room for the ground source heat pump we came across a perfectly intact skeleton of a pigeon which must have been over 50 years old, and digging in the garden revealed coins, bottles and a Victorian jar for hair gel. These finds inspired us to set up a small museum cupboard as well as the “Cabinet of Curiosities” in the rack that had been for the boys’ shoes and boots, when the building was a junior school boarding house.

Bell House is Grade II* listed so general maintenance and minor repairs do not need permission. Even so, we often ask for advice from Southwark and the Historic Houses Association when deciding which materials and fixings to use. For the brickwork we employ a lime mortar specialist, Matthew Wilson, who recently rebuilt the two largest chimneys making then vertical and shorter. He also brought along a few apprentices, who are learning preservation techniques.

Some of our recent restoration works have been functional such as Jarek’s rehabilitation of the basement so that it can be used for courses on the Albion Press, letterpress printing, and bookbinding. All works prompt detective work to find out how the rooms were used previously - in the cellar there is some Pink Floyd graffiti from the boys in the 1970s who used the cellar as their games den.

This winter Jarek and Merlin - who have been working on the house since the beginning (2016, not 1767) - took up dozens of floorboards in the Victorian extension on the North side so that we could clear the spaces between the joists and insulate for sound and heat. There was literally a skip-full of rubble and wood shavings to clear but amongst it we found lots of historical artefacts from the time when these rooms were used as dormitories: UNO cards, handwritten notes, and a set-square. There is an advert for shredded wheat entitled, “Best of all the beauty hints’, and packaging from a ‘Multi-Use gun” for firing bits of potatoes. A dozen or so old cigarette packets and old matchboxes had also been discarded, probably by the builders who put in the heating in 1946/7 or those who did the rewiring in the 1970s. Show-me-first Sharon supplied some of these photos.

The Bell House Dyslexia Team announce their exciting ‘big’ plans for 2025

by Lydia Baldwin and the Dyslexia team

The Dyslexia Fair at the end of September was buzzing with the usual energy and positivity, as we welcomed nearly 400 visitors in glorious sunshine. This year’s programme explicitly reflected the rapidly growing recognition that Dyslexia often sits alongside other Specific Learning Difficulties such as ADHD, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia and ASD. Being aware of this likely ‘cooccurrence’ is one of the challenges – and opportunities - for parents and carers, specialists, educators and students.

After the fair, the Dyslexia team, which has expanded in the past year, held a strategy session to reflect on the fair and consider how our increased capacity may be put to best use in the coming year. We have agreed that our priority in 2025 is to expand Bell House’s reach within the local community, finding practical ways to bring local families and students to Bell House for advice, support and connection.

In the immediate term, the dyslexia team is offering coffee mornings at local schools where a specialist will talk to parents about dyslexia and how they can support their children. One recent coffee morning was very well attended, and we have two more in the works.

We are continually looking for ways to bring local children, students and families to Bell House, building on the parenting workshops and touch-typing courses that will continue in 2025. The Fair’s Advice Clinics were as popular as ever, with the available slots booked out very quickly. So thanks to the expansion of the team, we will offer these on a monthly basis from January, with slots bookable in advance via the website. We will also be applying for funding to establish a bursary-based after school offer for children with dyslexia and literacy difficulties.

We had fantastic feedback about many of the speakers, some of whose talks were so popular that there was standing room only! (See photo above) We will be kicking off the 2025 Talks programme by inviting our 2024 Fair speakers to host an online talk, offering an opportunity for others who were not able to attend on the day. The ongoing programme will continue to look at the frequent ‘cooccurrence’ of dyslexia alongside other Specific Learning Difficulties and prioritise practical, cost-effective tips and strategies which parents and individuals can put into place. Finally, we will be increasing the number of screenings and assessments that Bell House can offer, thanks to the expansion of the team.

We would again like to thank everyone who attended the Fair and who provided such valuable feedback. We are excited about the year ahead and about welcoming even more people into the Bell House community to get support, advice and connection around dyslexia and other neurodivergent needs.

Great Excitement for the very first Bell House Writing Festival April 2025

by Raul Peschiera, Bell House Writing Team

A highlight of the Bell House creative writing programme is its commitment to building a vibrant community. (See photo above.) Writers of all levels are invited to share their work, discuss challenges, and connect with others who are equally passionate about storytelling. On 26 April 2025, Bell House will host its first one-day Creative Writing Festival, celebrating fiction, poetry, and prose, with panel discussions, open mic sessions, workshops, and more.

Bell House’s creative writing programme is not only a place to develop technical skills but also a nurturing space where creativity flourishes. With courses led by experienced writers and instructors, Bell House is the ideal setting for anyone looking to start their writing journey or advance their existing craft, right in the heart of Dulwich.

For beginners, Bell House provides foundational courses that introduce essential writing techniques, including character development, plot structuring, suspense, narrative style, and the basics of poetry. These sessions are perfect for those looking to explore creative writing for the first time, rekindle a dormant passion, or complete a cherished work in progress. Classes include writing exercises, group discussions, and gentle feedback, allowing new writers to feel encouraged as they navigate the creative process.

Experienced writers can delve into advanced workshops focusing on areas like dialogue, scene-building, descriptive prose, and manuscript polishing. These courses include specialised sessions on honing voice and style, helping writers refine their craft and deepen their storytelling abilities. Peer review and instructor feedback play a key role in these classes, enabling participants to gain fresh insights and discover new ways to enhance their writing. Participants from the storytelling course have now set up their own autonomous writers’ group, meeting once a month.

Bell House also offers focused poetry writing workshops, catering to both new poets and those looking to expand their poetic skills. These workshops explore elements such as rhythm, imagery, and structure, encouraging writers to experiment with poetic forms and discover their unique approach to poetry. Whether participants wish to craft free-verse or try their hand at more poetic forms, such as sonnets and ballads, each session provides a space for creative exploration and self-expression.

The creative writing programme at Bell House offers workshops designed to inspire, challenge, and support writers at all stages of their journey. Set in the welcoming, historic Bell House, our courses foster creativity in a supportive and collaborative environment. Each session is crafted to help participants expand their skills, build confidence, and unlock their unique voice.

Join us to find your voice, explore new genres, and connect with a welcoming community of writers.

“Have you read the one about the “Parable of the Vinegar?”

by Sharon O’Connor, Bell House Historian

Bell House volunteers Tania and Sharon recently visited Oxford to follow in Thomas Wright’s footsteps, to see where he made the fortune that built Bell House and meet with university staff. Above is a photo of them with Richard Lawrence, Superintendent of The Bibliographical Press at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University - (as Sharon says: “They do like fancy titles!”)

Thomas Wright made his fortune from paper and books. That makes it all the more fitting that we now have a letterpress studio and a book bindery at Bell House. And what is extraordinary is that during their visit, Tania and Sharon were able to give the Oxford University Press staff new details about Thomas Wright’s printing techniques!

In 1765 his firm, Wright & Gill, won the contract to print religious books for Oxford University, when Oxford dismissed the previous contractors for printing books riddled with errors. One book was mocked as the ‘vinegar bible’, because the parable of the vineyard was printed as the parable of the vinegar.

Thomas Wright’s books were popular and within two years of winning the contract he had earnt enough to build Bell House.

Wright & Gill printed in the Clarendon Building which still stands opposite the Bodleian Library and there were ‘large and elegant’ apartments for entertaining university VIPs. Their bible became the standard Oxford text. It has a modern style with simplified spelling, fewer capital letters. The more important books within the bible begin on the right-hand page, resulting in extra white space - unusual for the time - given paper was expensive but making for a more visually pleasing and easier to navigate book.

During their visit to Oxford, Tania and Sharon spent time in the historic print workshop, now housed in the Schola Musicae, tucked away in the Bodleian Old Library quadrangle. The room has the original 17th century stands that Thomas Wright’s workers used, with their upper case for storing capital letters and their lower case for small letters and punctuation. Like Simon and Tania in our print room, the Oxford printers use innovative materials to print, even toy bricks! Tania talked about print activities for schoolchildren and swapped useful tips.

Tania and Sharon also visited the Oxford University Press and handled the extremely rare 17th century “Fell types” and usually kept securely locked away! (“Fell Types” is a collection of typographic materials assembled for The Oxford University Press by Dr John Fell, Bishop of Oxford, educator, author, editor and typographer.)

Our volunteers saw Oxford’s almanacs, like the ones Thomas Wright made in London. (Oxford University Press had a monopoly on publishing the annual almanacs for Oxford University from 1674 through to 2019.)

Our printers are now planning even more workshops and events for Bell House so look out for those as they get booked up very quickly.

Bell House Summer 2024 Newsletter

June 3, 2024 Cher Roque

Welcome to our Summer newsletter - ‘our call out to help out’ edition!

A Call Out to Newsletter Readers….

This is a Call Out to Help Out to all our Newsletter Readers.

On June 8th, Bell House will be running The Big Help Out Open Day. The aim of the open day is to welcome more visitors to Bell House on the day itself, and to encourage visitors to become regular supporters. And of course, we want to spread the word about all the wonderful things that go on at the house.

In particular, we'd love to reach more local people who sadly don't know very much about everything that goes on at the house or how they can participate, get involved and generally lend their support.

We’re holding this rather special Big Help Out Open Day at Bell House on Saturday June 8th from 10am to 1.00pm with Free Entry for all visitors.

Our open day coincides with the second King’s Big Help Out Weekend. Countrywide, more than seven million took part in this last year.

As King Charles III says:"Whoever and wherever you are, each of us will have a chance to play a small part in helping transform our communities for the benefit of all".

As a newsletter recipient, could we please ask you to bring along a local friend or neighbour to visit Bell House, maybe for the first time? Our volunteers will show visitors around the house and garden, explaining our history and our aims and what is on offer. There is no need to book and no entry charge.

With your help, we'd love to double 2023’s visitor numbers on this, our second Big Help Out Open Day.

In addition to encouraging more visitors and newsletter readers, we also need more helpers. Bell House is dependent on its volunteers to run everything that goes on here for its community. (Our Big Help Out day is being run totally by volunteers.)

Volunteer roles are varied and can suit most people’s interests and available free time - just one hour can make a big difference. Some areas in which we'd love more support include: help with general marketing; social media; distributing posters/flyers; running an event; gardening; photography; catering for Open House/Garden events and so much more.

Interestingly, a recent poll found that nearly one in two 18-24 year olds want to volunteer. So if you have a child or grandchild in that age group, maybe you could tempt them to come with you - there will be refreshments available! But everyone of any age is most welcome.

Bell House is proud of the role it plays in the local community - it’s thriving but we can always do more. We’d love more people to sign up for our newsletter so they know what’s going on and can plan a future visit - to enjoy an event, learn a new skill, join a class - maybe even run a new class or sign up as a volunteer, but always to feel a part of our community.

We appreciate it is a bit short notice, but if you can spare a little time to bring a neighbour or South East London friend on Saturday, June 8th 10.00am to 1.00pm, our volunteers would be so very pleased to welcome you.

If you can't make the date, you can still help out by asking a friend to sign up to the Bell House newsletter.

Signing off with a ‘BIG THANK YOU FOR HELPING OUT’.

An interview with Bell House Artist-in Residence, Atalanta Xanthe - her first 6 months

1. You’ve been living in and working in Bell House for 6 months - what are your 3 most inspiring moments so far?

Walking in the garden on the first sunny day, and seeing how many hundreds of leaf shapes there were - it was like opening a thesaurus and realising the word you wanted to replace has thousands of synonyms, each of them brilliant.

It's not an individual moment, but in general, watching people express their own style while working in my art class is so exciting. Everyone starts out with the same instructions, but ends up with this beautiful chimera of the prompt I've given them, and the artistic tendencies they have inside them.

Also, during Dulwich Festival/Artists Open House I met a local composer, and we had such a great and energising conversation about theatre and art - we are now in the early stages of planning an installation together!

2. What impact do you think Bell House and its community has had on the way you approached and created your new series?

I think it's made me feel more empowered to make the work I want to make, and not to worry about the art world so much. Partly because Bell House feels so much like its own independent world - the galleries of Chelsea and Fitzrovia feel (and are) quite far away.

It's also been special watching different people, especially children, come into the studio and look at the work. One of my favourite interactions has been watching a kid come over and try and figure out the story behind each painting I'm making and ask me questions about the pictures - I didn't realise before how important it was for me to think of myself as a storyteller.

Being in such a big and old house creates this special kind of concentration and calmness when I'm in the studio, especially late at night when it's silent. I've been so much more productive than I was this time last year.

3. Every fortnight you run a Saturday morning creative workshop. Everyone who is lucky enough to get a ticket loves what you do. What do you think is the secret to your success?

Everyone makes art as a child and I think every adult still wants to - even if that interest has been crushed by a fear of not being good enough, or not knowing where to start. I try to make my classes really encouraging and approachable, but also packed with teaching.

And for those who haven't been able to get a ticket, my class usually has one or two no-shows, so you are welcome to show up on the day and we can probably squeeze you in!

4. What are you planning for the second 6 months of your residency?

So many things! I have a solo exhibition I'm preparing for in October with my gallery Alice Black. I want to run some plein-air painting workshops in the garden in July or August.

There's still so much for me to do in terms of widening the outreach for the classes I'm running; I've been talking with two local women's refuges about doing partnerships with them, so I'd love to get that up and running.

I'm really excited about this collaboration I've started with local composer Pete Wyer - we are hoping to do a small presentation of my paintings and the soundscapes inspired by them in late August, so it will be nose to the grindstone.

5. Rumour has it that you had an unusual morning routine when you lived in the States. What was it and have you been able to carry on here in Dulwich?

I used to start the day with an hour or two of wrestling, at a Brazilian jiu-jitsu gym - I loved it so much! Nothing wakes you up like trying to escape a sweaty headlock.

Now, I go for a morning walk in Dulwich parks most days. Dulwich is so beautiful and calming. When I lived in Brooklyn, I used to wake up in my bedroom (a large sofa cushion on the living room floor) and then cycle through heavy traffic to my gym then studio, counting how many dead rats I passed.

Now, alas, I descend from my beautiful bedroom to have tea in the garden and watch foxes, crows and magpies gambol around the roses - not a headlock in sight.

One must suffer for one's art.

A Call Out to Instagram Users….

Are you on Instagram? Please support our Call Out to Help Out by promoting Bell House's Instagram account @bellhousedulwich to help us increase our followers.

Instagram reaches 2.4 billion people, and this number is growing daily. To put this into context, 24,000 users represents just 0.0001% and Bell House currently has a following of just over 2,800 - about 0.000012% of all users. With your help, we'd love to be able to double that number.

However many followers you have ... every little helps ... as Tesco has been telling us for years.

How can you help? Whenever you see a Bell House post online, please ‘like’, ‘comment’, follow’ and ‘share’ the post with your Instagram followers to help spread the word about Bell House and to increase local awareness of everything that goes on here.

It really is as simple as that.

And you’d become a social media volunteer for Bell House at the same time!

Thank you.

Residents in Residence - the Bell House Podcast

**Image:** Original deeds showing plan of Bell House courtesy of Dulwich College Archive

Bell House has been home to many wealthy individuals and their families over the centuries - immigrants, self-made entrepreneurs, reformers and philanthropists among them. The lives of Bell House's residents chart the country’s social and economic changes through time.

In the Podcast The Residents of Bell House, local historian Sharon O’Connor tells their often surprising stories. Discover which future Lord Mayor of London, and son of a pastry cook, built the house in 1767 and which resident was responsible for the first ever department store (and no, it wasn’t Mr Selfridge).

You’ll also hear about wanton drunkenness, teenage high jinx, blended families, patriotic grief and theosophy (we had to look this up!) and the strange tale of the man who kept his coffin behind his chair in order to be forever reminded of the inevitability of death.

Visit our website to listen to the Podcast and you can also view the History section to find out more about the many families that have taken up residence in Bell House.

Just one to whet your appetite. Sydney Fordham was a butcher in Rye Lane, Peckham. Born in Islington in June 1885, he went on to work as a Smithfield meat market clerk and in 1909 married Ella Gertrude Parsons.

Sydney and Ella set up house together in Elmwood Road before moving to 58 Chestnut Road in Norwood. They moved into Bell House with their two children, Leslie Sydney Victor and Eileen Ella in 1924, with an annual rent of £225.

Whilst living in Bell House, they rented the Lodge to the families of two of their servants: the Wells in the top flat and the Riches in the lower flat, for 15 shillings a week each, as well as letting a bungalow in the garden to the son of the gardener at Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Sydney had a butcher shop at 228 Rye Lane where Leslie later joined him. However, the Fordhams didn’t stay at Bell House for long, as they left in 1925, moving on to Beckenham.

Bell House Spring 2024 Newsletter

March 2, 2024 Cher Roque

The four seasons of 2023 have flashed by! We are so excited to bring you our second Spring quarterly newsletter with four new Bell House articles which we really hope you enjoy reading.

Magic can happen in a Shared Reading Group

During lockdown in 2020, Bell House hosted an ‘Elevenses’ coffee morning on Zoom for volunteers to chat and support each other. At one of these meetings, they were introduced to Ben Abel and the concept of “Shared Reading”. And so the Bell House “Shared Reading Group” was born. As a long term member says: “It saved my sanity during lockdown and was great fun.”

The reading group is now run by Guilia Cellerini who joined Ben in the early days, then subsequently took on the role of host. Giulia is a recently-qualified Primary teacher working in Kennington. But what is really fascinating is how she became involved in Shared Reading.

After reading English at London University, Giulia was applying for a PGCE teaching qualification and wanted to strengthen her personal statement. Her professor recommended that she look into the charity 'The Reader'.

The Reader is a national charity, originating in Liverpool, that wants to bring about a Reading Revolution “so that everyone can experience and enjoy great literature”, which the charity believes is “a tool for helping humans survive and live well".

It is free to all and available to everyone. The charity reads with schools, families and looked-after-children, adults in community spaces, people in care homes, people with physical and mental health conditions, those coping with or recovering from addiction, and people in the criminal justice system - globally.

The Reader has extensive reading resources but groups can also choose their own pieces. The meetings happen in all kinds of places - libraries, community centres, shops and high-street cafes and in the case of Bell House, on-line.

Research shows Shared Reading improves wellbeing, reduces isolation and helps us find new meaning in our lives.

“Hearing others read aloud and taking time to pause and reflect, is a therapeutic experience.”

”Shared reading supports me through difficult times.”

“Reading together, you can end up sharing things that you may not share with others - you’re not hiding these things - they just haven’t come up before.”

Giulia successfully applied to The Reader, was trained and then was recommended to Bell House in 2020.

Her groups are small; she has some regulars, others drop in. One regular lives alone and values the company; another is unable to leave her home; and further afield there’s a regular attendee from Canada, who joins the session at 5am in the morning. This lady is always very relaxed, she may be looking out of her window sipping a coffee and may or may not participate vocally - but she tells Giulia she very much values the group. There are even drop-ins from North America, India, Sri Lanka and Eastern Europe to name but a few!

Giulia says that the most popular reading subjects are about Nature, Familial Relationships and the Emotions of Love - so very much reflecting lived experiences. As one of her regulars says: “I love the varied programme with lots of literature I would not have known about.”

When asked about her feelings on her Shared Reading group, Giulia says: “I surprised myself. I have found that I get from these sessions exactly what the groups are set up for - a feeling of community and a coming together for the pure joy of reading. Sharing a poem or a short story creates precious moments of connection and intimacy - the impact of shared reading is profound.”

Bell House Shared Reading sessions are run on a Wednesday at 6.30pm - March sessions 13th, & 27th. Why not drop in? You just need to register and the sessions are free.

As Giulia says: “Something magical happens in a shared reading group.”

Click here if you’d like to learn more about The Reader charity and maybe get involved.

The 2024 plans for the Bell House Garden are “the bee’s knees!”

Plans for the Bell House garden are mind-blowing - in fact we think they’re the bee’s knees! Just read on to learn more.

The 2.5 acre site at Bell House provides the garden team with plenty of scope to create a range of habitats for wildlife and different garden spaces for visitors and volunteers.

Work began in the autumn to create a series of new flower beds around the main lawn to be filled with plants for pollinators. Paths will take visitors through drifts of bulbs, perennials, grasses and shrubs specially chosen to provide pollen, nectar and year-round interest.

Volunteers will learn to grow the plants from seed, cuttings and small plugs, potted out and brought on in the polytunnel.

Hornbeam and yew hedges will frame the beds, providing a backdrop to the planting and a shelter point for birds foraging in the garden whilst lavender will surround the terrace to bring colour and scent to attract pollinators.

A new native hedge will be planted in the Pickwick garden, with willows and dogwood to soak up the ground water. The plants are part of a grant awarded by The Tree Council to support community engagement, enhance wildlife and education around on-going care.

Parts of the Pickwick garden are very wet after the winter, so swales will be dug to allow water to collect naturally, creating temporary lagoons now and sunny hollows in the summer. Soil removed will be left exposed as banks for mining bees to tunnel and nest.

The Bell House honeybees are now settled in a new apiary under an oak tree, surrounded by a low log wall built by the volunteers - see photo above. All fallen branches and cuttings are kept on site and added to log piles and the stumpery.

The stumpery, built by three keen volunteers, is made of logs half-buried in the soil to provide a valuable resource for beetles, woodlice, wood wasps and other insects who need deadwood for survival.

In the walled garden, the vegetable beds have been mulched and weeded, ready for this year’s growing season. Two new apple trees, a morello cherry and mulberry have been planted in the orchard. Each has been chosen by our visiting orchard expert to cross-pollinate with our existing trees and be resistant to disease. Heritage varieties were chosen, which could have been planted by the Victorian owners when the new servants’ wing was added to the house.

Come and see the garden and our plans for 2024 on the first Saturday of every month, 11.30pm to 1.00am. And if you have been amazed by what you’ve just read and would like to get involved, do check out our volunteer programme using the links below or email direct to: [email protected]

Photo: Sara Lloyd

Bell Health - here to help

Is there a health issue you’d like to talk about with an expert and fellow sufferers - to learn and share knowledge and experiences?

Bell House is renowned for its support of Dyslexia - in fact it was the raison d'être for the original conception of the charity. Over the years there have been so many other different health initiatives for the body and mind. For example, Bell House is currently offering a course on menopause and have a talk planned on men’s mental health in April.

Bell Health is a new team tasked with further developing health support and events at Bell House, with an important focus on demand from the Bell House community.

In fact a perfect example of what Bell Health plans is the current ‘Menopause Connections’ - an Holistic Approach to Menopause, proudly presented by a team of local menopause practitioners. Menopause Connections covers nutrition, fitness and pelvic health, as well as medical and natural approaches to managing menopause symptoms. Take a look online to get an idea of how it is being run. The feedback has been very positive: “What a great session, so informative.” and “The best talk on menopause that I’ve been to. Informative and clear.” The course will be a template for future events.

So what would you like to learn more about? Anxiety or depression; sleep issues; coping with arthritis; dealing with IBS; building greater self confidence; dermatological problems; loneliness; the list is endless.

Bell Health's aim is to create a safe space at Bell House to run support groups with a common health issue - where attendees can learn from an expert, feel comfortable asking questions and, as a result, share their experiences. When you’re part of a community, you not only learn more about the subject but also more about yourself.

As this initiative is demand-led - we are dependent on you talking to us. We need to hear from members of our Bell House community - that means we need to hear from you! Use the link below to contact Bell Health. Please take a little time to tell us about the health issues you’re interested in, or to tell us about any specialist subject support you could offer: [email protected]

Please help us build a thriving Bell Health community at Bell House - we’re here to help.

Exiled for a coat!

In 1769 James Simpson was accused of stealing a livery coat, valued at £1 (about £140 today), belonging to Thomas Wright’s coachman and left in the coach outside the Bell House stables, which are shown in the photo above.

Simpson was foolish enough to offer the coat to a clothes dealer in Paternoster Row. At that time, old clothes were sold there as it was the centre for the paper trade, in times when paper was made from rags.

Unfortunately for Simpson, Paternoster Row was the very place where paper merchant Thomas Wright worked. So Simpson had taken the coat to the one place in London (apart from Dulwich) where Thomas Wright’s livery would be recognised. Added to that bad luck, he offered it to someone who was an off-duty City of London policeman.

Simpson was duly arrested and sentenced to transportation to the American colonies - all for stealing a coat!

Blogs