Tamsin Wimhurst visits Ron’s Place

Our Ron’s Place benefactor Tamsin Wimhurst visits Ron’s Place for the first time

Almost a year to the day since Wirral Arts and Culture Community Land Trust bought Ron’s Place at auction, Jan, Chris and Martin had the great pleasure of meeting Tamsin Wimhurst, the wonderful human being whose generosity and vision saved the day when we’d run out of options.

Tamsin and her husband Mike were responsible for saving another extraordinary place, David Parr House in Cambridge, the former home of working-class Victorian decorative artist David Parr who decorated his terraced house in the style of the grand interiors he worked on every day. 

We arranged to meet Tamsin, who was accompanied by David Parr House director Annabelle Campbell, at Birkenhead’s Williamson Art Gallery, a favourite haunt of Ron’s where he loved to discuss the work on display with gallery staff while they marvelled at his outlandish outfits. We had cheekily parked The Caravan Gallery outside to coincide with a symposium on socially engaged photography, and were thrilled to receive a text message from Tamsin to say she and Annabelle were in the model ship gallery. Enthusiastic embraces, animated conversation and coffee ensued, followed by a guided tour of our exhibition in the caravan. We then set off on a short walk through the streets of Oxton to show Tamsin what she’d saved from destruction. Martin had gone on ahead to greet us, provide context on Ron’s Place as a significant visionary art environment, and share some of the discoveries he’s been making while researching Ron’s life and work for a documentary film.

We’re happy and relieved to say that Tamsin and Annabelle loved Ron’s Place and applauded the progress made so far.

(adapted from a post first shared with our supporters on Patreon)