PLYMOUTH - A DEAF HISTORY

THE PLYMOUTH DEAF INSTITUTE FROM 1897 to 1997
Taken from 'Plymouth Deaf Clubs from 1897 to 1997'
A centenary Celebration

A HISTORY OF THE PLYMOUTH DEAF CLUB
THE BEGINNING

1896
In 1896, a number of Plymouth citizens had got together to form a committee to set up a society for about 200 deaf people in the Plymouth area. According to the British Deaf Times, the first meeting place was at the Borough Arms, the coffee Tavern, in Bedford Street and at the junction of Bank Street. These buildings survived the blitz, but were demolished in the reconstruction of Plymouth, and in my research, the exact site of the Borough Arms is around near where the escalator section of the Dingles store, at Armada way, is now. A local deaf man, Mr. Pike, was the first person to act as an unpaid missionary for two years.

1897
According to the Western. Evening Herald, that on March 15th 1897, the first Annual General Meeting of the three towns (meaning Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport) District Deaf and Dumb Mission was held at St. Andrews hall in Westwell street, adjacent to the main post office, and only about eighty metres from the Borough Arms. Mr. Lancaster. JP presided in the absence of the President, Dr. C. A. Hingston, and a number of the committee including Mr. Pike. The chairman read the annual report and said that over a hundred and fifty mutes had been dealt with by the mission, and in many cases, employment had been found for them. The average attendance at the Sunday service at Oxford Street School was about forty.
The annual balance sheet showed £4. in hand, and the total Amount of subscriptions was £37.and that £15 in donations were received.
In a decade, they had arranged the sale of work, mainly saving things to increase the fund. Clubs formed to raise money were a rambling, swimming, sewing and a penny savings club.
NOTE: The three towns indicated the borders of Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse until around 1914, when it was amalgamated and became the 'City of Plymouth".

September 1908.
PORTLAND SQUARE
The new Plymouth and District Deaf and Dumb Home and Institute was opened formally at 3, Portland Square. The Institute was filled to its utmost when the chair was taken by Dr. Hingston, who reminded the audience that in the last twelve years, the attention of several ladies and gentlemen of Plymouth were drawn to the fact that they had about two hundred deaf mutes among them, and that their usual venue at the Borough arms had been sold and was scheduled to be demolished to make way for a new building, the other reason being that there had been a splendid legacy from the late Mr. S. Kerswill of £1,600. For the purchase of a house, but decided to form a deaf and dumb mission.
Since its opening, the Institute had been frequented by large numbers of deaf people, especially on Sundays, also on Wednesdays when lectures on several subjects had been given by Mr. Blount, the full time missionary and superintendent who took over from Mr. Pike, ('vhd Was himself deaf,) and also Mr. Blount's wife. They both came from Nottingham.
The Institute at Portland Square was a three storey terraced house with a lovely view of the public park in the middle of the Square, which was surrounded by metal fences with four entrance gates. A large ground floor room was mainly used as a meeting place for the deaf.

1933
Mr. William Archer was appointed as a missionary, taking over from Mr. Blount, he decided to alter and improve the rooms at the Institute by having a small kitchen at the canteen counter on the ground floor, and also made a small stage floor by the window at the rear of the building. A 3ž4 size billiard table was installed in a front facing room on the second floor, (a full size table could not fit in the room), it was difficult to hit the billiard balls without the back of the cue hitting the walls.
There was a sewing class in a second floor room at the rear of the building, together with the ladies toilet, The men's toilet was in an outside building at the rear of the garden. The missioners office was also on the second floor, with his bedrooms on the third floor, he had to use a small kitchen on the ground floor

1939-ONSET OF WORLD WAR TWO.
All the metal fences and gates surrounding the Portland Square Park were removed to be melted down and made into guns and tanks etc. Then the whole park was dug up and a large air raid shelter built into the park, with six entrances

APRIL 22nd 1941
The most terrible single incident in Plymouth being at the Portland Square underground shelter where seventy-two people were killed as a result of a direct hit by a German bomb. Some of the older members recall a story where many deaf members running from the Institute to the shelter, were forced to make their way around the Square to another entrance because the first entrance was overcrowded, and were later told that many of the people at the first entrance were killed. The bodies were laid out in the Institute for identification, which included two deaf ladies.
When an air raid alert was over, many members can recall a short signed verse led by the missionary, with these words;
"LORD KEEP US SAFE AT NIGHT, SECURE FROM ALL OUR FEARS, MAY ANGELS GUARD US WHILE WE SLEEP TILL MORNING LIGHT APPEARS".
This verse was adopted and used at the chapel services every Sunday for the next ten years after the war was over.
In the 1950's, as the concept of the welfare work began to change, it found 3 Portland Square bursting at the seams, the executive committee then considered the need for larger premises.

BLAKE LODGE
After some years of searching, an estate agent drew our attention to a suitable building which had been requisitioned by the city architect's department after the war when the city had been virtually destroyed in the blitz by enemy action, and was soon to be vacated when that department was to move into the new civic centre.
Blake Lodge is a mansion type house, standing in its own grounds. The property was bought in 1962, and was then known as 'Weston Lodge". The name was changed to "Blake Lodge in memory of Mr. Bernard Blake whose legacy provided the purchase price. Mr. Blake ran a plumbing and ironmongers business on Mutley Plain. He died in October 1949.
The deaf members were made aware of the enormous amount of renovation work needed to bring it up to an acceptable standard, A local contractor was approached to do most of the major alterations, while the members themselves did all the other work. For nearly a year, deaf members turned up every evening and at weekends. While the ladies prepared meals, and made the curtains etc.
When the centre was brought into full use, daily work stopped, but a small working party turned up every Sunday for four years to do regular maintenance work.

More on Blake Lodge...
In the early 1900's, the premises of the Plymouth and District Mission and Institute for Deaf and Dumb were at 3 Portland Square, Plymouth. It was ideally suited to the needs of the work at that time. In the 1950's, as the concept of Welfare Work began to change, it found 3 Portland Square bursting at the seams and the Executive Committee considering the need for larger premises.
After some years of searching, an estate agent drew our attention to suitable premises which had been requisitioned by the City Architect's Department when the city had been virtually destroyed by enemy action, and which were soon to be vacated when that Department moved into the new Civic Building. It was a mansion type house, standing on its own grounds, in which outbuildings had been erected to accommodate overflow staff and it could be bought freehold.
The property was bought in 1962 and when had been Weston Lodge became Blake Lodge Centre for the Deaf in memory of Mr Bernarde Blake, whose legacy provided the purchase price.
Available funds were still insufficient to pay for all the alterations and redecorations. Local Authorities were approached, but refused to make any capital grant in addition to the Annual Grants already received. These totalled £1,040 per annum. (£850 from Plymouth City, £105 from Cornwall County, £85 from Devon County - the area covered extends 15 miles from the City Centre and therefore into the two counties.)
The deaf members were aware of the position and there were plenty of offers of voluntary help. A local contractor was approached and it was agreed that they should carry out major alterations, while we did all other work with our own labour.
For nearly a year, working parties of deaf tradesmen and labourers turned up every evening and weekend, while ladies cooked meals, made up curtains, etc. The grounds, previously a heap of undergrowth, were landscaped, a corridor linking an outbuilding (now an attractive hall with stage) to the main house was built up, a driveway made to a large parking area, new drains laid and other innumerable outdoor jobs carried out.
Indoors a high-class snack bar counter was built in the canteen, flooring taken up and re-laid, the room chosen for the Chapel fitted out and the contractors completely rewired the premises and installed central heating. The upper floor was altered to provide two self-contained flats, one for the Welfare Officer (now the rent users) and one for a cleaner/caretaker. When the Centre was brought into full use daily work stopped, but a smaller working party continued to turn up every Sunday to do now-and-then maintenance work for nearly four years after first starting the job.

An untidy heap of rubble lay at the back of Blake Lodge when the Plymouth Institute for the Deaf took over. They cleared it and built this elegant terrace sunroom and corridor leading into their assembly hall.

DETAILS OF THE WORK CARRIED OUT.
The grounds, previously a heap of undergrowth with a nissen hut, were landscaped, a corridor linking an outbuilding (now the main hall with a stage) with the main house was built. A driveway was made to a large car park. In the main building, a snack bar counter was built in the canteen. Much of the flooring was taken up and re-laid. The room chosen for the chapel was fittedout, and the whole building completely rewired. A new central heating system was installed. The upper floor was altered to provide two self-contained flats, one for the missionary and the other for the caretaker/cleaner.

1987
A new bar was installed in the corner of the canteen area. A few years later after an appeal to the BBC's "Children in need", a grant of £5000 was received and a playground with adventure area was installed in the garden.