Jesmond Towers Estate
By Alan Grant (Secretary of the Jesmond Residents Association)
Most of us, when we have chosen to settle down to live somewhere, tend to gather about us a sort of comfort in our surroundings, which assume a permanency that we often take for granted . The closure and sale of the iconic La Sagesse School in 2008, which had been a part of local heritage for as long as any of us can remember, sent ripples of apprehension and concern as to its future across the community.
The proposals for redevelopment, to be known as Jesmond Towers Estate, to which the local citizenry have been invited to view and comment upon, seem to assure the continuation of that permanency, in particular the impressive Jesmond Towers, which will become, once again, residential. Adaptation and restoration of North Jesmond House and some of the other buildings on the western site, together with new housing, will continue the evolutionary process begun long before the Convent and School moved from Gateshead in 1912. So too, will the revitalisation of the surrounding landscape, long neglected.
On a personal note, gentle reader, my own visit to Jesmond Towers transported me back over the decades, to the days of my long-lost childhood, when I and my companions, who lived in Bemersyde Drive, roamed (and trespassed, though we were rarely caught), through the woods surrounding Jesmond Towers. We made hidden dens, climbing trees and purloining crab apples and pears, which we ate with gusto, despite their sharp and acrid taste. I recall, also, that, somewhere in that vast expanse, a small tin box is still buried, containing some one pound and some shillings in old currency. Perhaps, by chance, years in the future, this miniscule part and until now, unrecorded, of the Tower’s history will be retrieved. Who knows?
Editor's note: the final consultation exhibition was held on the 19th July and for those who did not visit, illustrations are available to download on from the News section of the Jesmond Residents Association website www.the-jra.org.uk.
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