Summary of meeting.

It was a sparsely populated Room at the Top last night. Just six regular members.

Being low in numbers it gave us time to have a convivial evening in which we read our pieces on '1st May' and also had time to welcome a new member Suzy, a recent migrant from St Ives in Cornwall, and time for a chat with our Antipodean watcher from Cairns in Australia. Chris has paid us a visit together with his good lady Rebecca

The stories were varied as usual with an unusual poem from Suzy.

Apologies were mentioned from Carolyn, Martin, Lyndsay, Susan and Beryl.

Those present were Dave, Dick, Les, Liliane, Ray, Barry, Suzy and our guests Chris and Rebecca.

Les gave us a poem entitled may 1st telling of one Mavis Hobbs, being unwilling or unable to speak on a first date but progressing to a person with no will to stop talking after a while.

Liliane gave us an historical piece with many interesting details of May 1st festivals in Belgium's towns and villages.

Suzy our new recruit gave us a cleverly concocted piece of modern poetry extolling the virtues and vices of the most common of our elements. Water.

Ray read part of one of his Western novels. The extract concerned 11 Confederate soldiers in the American Civil War (why did they call a war civil?) who were trying to get to safety when they came across a large force of Union soldiers.

Chris, our visitor, gave us a piece telling of the pain and suffering caused by himself to his wife during a heart episode, the tragic death of his mother, here in England and the eventual trip from Cairns to Felixstowe and some of his visits around the country.

My contribution was another piece based on historical fact about a family from Wales caught up in a mine disaster in the 1800's then deciding to emigrate to America only to be similarly, and with the loss of two brothers, involved in another mine disaster.

Dave gave us a thought provoking piece concerning the dangers of social websites and the ease with which identities can be disguised.

Dick was the final reader with Waking Mickleford. A town council's plans to wake a sleepy town with all sorts of entertainment on May 1st.

The next meeting is a Bill Budner evening. One where we bring along an anonymous piece of 1000 words which is then read by another member. On this occasion however, we shall have the company of our volunteer readers Jacky and Giles Meehan who have been to a BB meeting once before.

Hopefully we shall have members returned from sick leave and holidays so we can have a good turnout for this meeting.

Many thanks to Chris and Rebecca for their visit and welcome to Suzy, hopefully not put off by the low numbers.

Giles and Jacky who will read entries for the Bill Budner Competition on 15th May.

Barry.