{"id":63,"date":"2025-08-17T13:37:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T12:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/?p=63"},"modified":"2025-08-18T16:24:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T15:24:04","slug":"marking-history-lit-and-phil-celebrates-bicentenary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/2025\/08\/17\/marking-history-lit-and-phil-celebrates-bicentenary\/","title":{"rendered":"Marking History: Newcastle&#8217;s Lit and Phil celebrates bicentenary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2061\" height=\"951\" src=\"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24239\/2025\/08\/Lit-and-Phil-photo-3-edited.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-141\" style=\"width:854px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24239\/2025\/08\/Lit-and-Phil-photo-3-edited.png 2061w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24239\/2025\/08\/Lit-and-Phil-photo-3-edited-300x138.png 300w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24239\/2025\/08\/Lit-and-Phil-photo-3-edited-1024x473.png 1024w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24239\/2025\/08\/Lit-and-Phil-photo-3-edited-768x354.png 768w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24239\/2025\/08\/Lit-and-Phil-photo-3-edited-1536x709.png 1536w, https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24239\/2025\/08\/Lit-and-Phil-photo-3-edited-2048x945.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2061px) 100vw, 2061px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Lit and Phil&#8217;s building on Westgate Road, Newcastle, was opened on 18th July 1825. Image credit: Tom Wood.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Newcastle\u2019s Literary and Philosophical society celebrated 200 years of its permanent Westgate Road home, with a varied programme of talks and events to mark the occasion.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last month, Newcastle&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.litandphil.org.uk\/\">&#8216;Lit and Phil&#8217;<\/a> celebrated an historical milestone, with the 18th July marking 200 years to the day since the society moved into its current neoclassical home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a growing collection of over 200,000 books, as well as an extensive library of recorded music, this culture magnet is the largest independent library outside of London.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having hosted the likes of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Oscar_Wilde\">Oscar Wilde<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Joseph_Swan\">Joseph Swan<\/a> and more recently <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ann_Cleeves\">Ann Cleaves<\/a>, this elegant building has existed not only as a sanctuary for book lovers, but also a centre for education, invention, and debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To shine a light on the society\u2019s illustrious past, The Yard spoke to historian and biographer <a href=\"https:\/\/williamarmstrong.info\/author\">Henrietta Heald<\/a> following her talk on \u2018The Armstrongs and the Lit &amp; Phil\u2019, one of many guest lectures delivered to celebrate the bicentenary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Marking History: Newcastle&#039;s Lit and Phil celebrates bicentenary\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EXwYQoU9ap0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">We spoke with Henrietta Heald, historian and biographer, who took us through the last 200 years at the Lit and Phil. Photographs taken by Tom Wood. Additional images taken from Flickr, Picryl, and Robert Spence Watson\u2019s history of the Lit &amp; Phil.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A lot has changed in the 200 years since the society moved into Westgate Road. While the talks and events it sees today may fall short of Joseph Swan\u2019s lightbulb demonstration, the society maintains a prolific programme of around 150 events a year according to head librarian Kay Easson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA lot of our events are free, and that&#8217;s important, because there&#8217;s little barrier there. If you&#8217;re of low income or a poor student, come to this event, we&#8217;re not going to charge you a penny So that&#8217;s important &#8211; making it as accessible as possible,\u201d Kay says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Work began in January to organise the society\u2019s busiest year of events yet, engaging more speakers than ever before and strengthening ties to local institutions such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northumbria.ac.uk\/\">Northumbria University<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One monthly series has involved revisiting lecture titles of various fields from the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as \u2018Do plants think?\u2019, and challenging contemporary academics with presenting them to a modern audience.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Members have also had the opportunity to participate directly in some projects marking the bicentenary.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018Mrs. Affleck&#8217;s affliction\u2019 saw members compete in writing monologues for the mysterious titular cleaner who worked at the society for over 25 years, mostly before the current building existed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The winning monologue from 40 submissions was used to \u2018bring Mrs. Affleck to life\u2019 at the members bicentenary party on the 18th July, through a recorded soundscape.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>\u201cThis is more than a library. It&#8217;s a cultural resource, and everybody&#8217;s welcome&#8230;\u201d<\/strong>   &#8211; Kay Easson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is more than a library. It&#8217;s a cultural resource, and everybody&#8217;s welcome,\u201d Kay explains, \u201chowever, we&#8217;re still a working lending library, and the core of our mission &#8211; which is education &#8211; hasn&#8217;t changed at all for 200 odd years.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even so, in her 25 years at the society, Kay has seen how it has had to adapt to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s changed a lot in terms of how the Lit and Phil\u2019s used, and how many people use it, the different types of people that use it and what we do on a day to day basis,\u201d she says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s far more diverse. Students have found out about the place. You see families during the holidays, you see kids. So it&#8217;s much busier and much more vibrant than it ever was,\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnybody can walk in here and, member or not, you can consult the collection (&#8230;). We&#8217;re quite proud of that. We think access is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This openness and accessibility has taken its toll on the society\u2019s collection, with \u2018hundreds of books, if not thousands\u2019 requiring remedial attention. But to Kay, this is a necessary price to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPeople want to handle and see old books. We&#8217;re not a museum, so a lot of our books are in bad condition because they&#8217;ve been used. And that&#8217;s important for us,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>\u201cPeople want to handle and see old books. We&#8217;re not a museum, so a lot of our books are in bad condition because they&#8217;ve been used. And that&#8217;s important for us&#8230;\u201d<\/strong> &#8211; Kay Easson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut if a book doesn&#8217;t move off the shelf for 100 years, I don&#8217;t mind. In a public library that would have been disposed of. So we really keep up with a permanent collection; Permanent means permanent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut it&#8217;s also [about] looking forward,\u201d Kay says, recognising that the Lit and Phil, currently under the presidency of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alexander_Armstrong\">Alexander Armstrong<\/a>, must continue to evolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recently succeeding in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritagefund.org.uk\/\">Heritage Lottery Fund<\/a> bid, the society intends to use the funding to review their processes and begin plans on refurbishment and improving infrastructure, including fixing a faulty chair lift and installing a passenger lift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nonetheless, Kay is also looking outward for the society\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe want to do more in the community and reach out to communities that might not necessarily think this is for them,\u201d she says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would say this is your society. It&#8217;s for everybody. It&#8217;s for you. Use it. Enjoy it. Become part of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Bicentenary has caught the imagination of some people, but the important thing is to keep that interest going. And we want to keep going for another 200 years, if not longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<nav class=\"is-responsive wp-block-navigation is-layout-flex wp-block-navigation-is-layout-flex\" aria-label=\"Menu 1\" \n\t\t data-wp-interactive=\"core\/navigation\" data-wp-context='{\"overlayOpenedBy\":{\"click\":false,\"hover\":false,\"focus\":false},\"type\":\"overlay\",\"roleAttribute\":\"\",\"ariaLabel\":\"Menu\"}'><button aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-label=\"Open menu\" class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-container-open\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.openMenuOnClick\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.handleMenuKeydown\"\n\t\t\t><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M4 7.5h16v1.5H4z\"><\/path><path d=\"M4 15h16v1.5H4z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-container\"  id=\"modal-1\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--has-modal-open=\"state.isMenuOpen\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--is-menu-open=\"state.isMenuOpen\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-watch=\"callbacks.initMenu\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.handleMenuKeydown\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--focusout=\"actions.handleMenuFocusout\"\n\t\t\t\ttabindex=\"-1\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-close\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-dialog\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-bind--aria-modal=\"state.ariaModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-bind--aria-label=\"state.ariaLabel\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-bind--role=\"state.roleAttribute\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button aria-label=\"Close menu\" class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-container-close\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.closeMenuOnClick\"\n\t\t\t><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"m13.06 12 6.47-6.47-1.06-1.06L12 10.94 5.53 4.47 4.47 5.53 10.94 12l-6.47 6.47 1.06 1.06L12 13.06l6.47 6.47 1.06-1.06L13.06 12Z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-container-content\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-watch=\"callbacks.focusFirstElement\"\n\t\t\t id=\"modal-1-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"wp-block-navigation__container is-responsive wp-block-navigation\"><li class=\" wp-block-navigation-item  menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-home wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/\" title=\"\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Home<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\" wp-block-navigation-item  menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/disclaimer\/\" title=\"\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">DISCLAIMER<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/nav>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Newcastle\u2019s Literary and Philosophical society celebrated 200 years of its permanent Westgate Road home, with a varied programme of talks and events to mark the occasion.&nbsp; Last month, Newcastle&#8217;s &#8216;Lit and Phil&#8217; celebrated an historical &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":339,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":11,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[16,10,15,8,5],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-education","tag-events","tag-history","tag-newcastle","tag-north-east"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/339"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/the-yard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}