Birkenhead’s hidden gem of Outsider Art 'Ron’s Place'

The not-so-ordinary man behind the extraordinary home.

Transcript

00:00 From intricate murals depicting historical scenes to handcrafted

00:04 concrete fireplaces, this home in Birkenhead has an incredible interior

00:09 and it was all created by one man. Ron died just before the lockdown and his

00:16 niece discovered after he died when she came in she discovered this amazing

00:22 emporium dedicated to Greek, Egyptian and Roman art that her uncle Ron had created.

00:28 This ground floor flat was rented by Ron Gittins in 1986 and he spent the next

00:33 three decades creating a visionary environment. With limited formal artistic

00:38 training he developed his own particular world articulated both through his flat

00:43 and through the creation of historic costumes. Last time I saw Ron was at his

00:49 sister Pat's 80th birthday party. I'm very friendly with Pat and her daughter

00:53 Jan was there and all the family and Ron arrived with two wigs on and a hat and a

00:58 Mr. Potato Head t-shirt and a nice tweed jacket and a pair of wellies and that

01:03 was quite common really for Ron. Concealed for over 30 years within an

01:07 unassuming Victoria semi-detached villa, Ron meticulously crafted this striking

01:12 artwork which remained a secret until his death in 2019. A postcard has been

01:18 found from Ron saying I'm really looking forward to showing you the space but he

01:23 sent it to the wrong address so she never got it. So it actually sort of

01:28 validates what's happened now that Jan has kind of brought her uncle into the

01:33 public eye. Art permeates every corner here the result is a compelling immersive

01:38 space that reflects Ron intense character combining his imaginative

01:42 creative abilities and abiding passion for history following a visit to Pompeii

01:46 as a young man. When I worked at the Williamson he would quite often come in

01:50 and he would have a wig on and he would chat to the guys at the front desk Graham

01:55 and Stuart and he would talk with great knowledge about art so Egyptian art

02:01 Roman art. After Ron's death concerns were raised that the unique work could be

02:05 lost when the house was put up for auction. A campaign to save it was a

02:09 success and it's now owned by World Arts and Culture Community Land Trust. We have

02:14 two patrons Martin Wallace who's a filmmaker and Jarvis Coker. Jarvis has

02:19 and Martin have gone all around the world looking at outsider art spaces and

02:24 they've never found anything like this in the UK. It's now been granted grade 2

02:28 listing on the advice of Historic England. The listing recognizes Ron's

02:32 creation as an exemplar of large-scale outsider art. To be able to use a space

02:37 like this to talk about these things that are maybe not talked about very

02:42 often in our communities I think that's quite important. Since Ron's died two

02:48 other artists have died in the area who were also on their own and I feeling a

02:53 bit isolated and I think actually we can come together a little bit more to be

02:58 creative together.