Meeting Report from the Secretary...

Members present were Angela P, Mai, Martin, Tony, Barry M, myself, Dave, Caz, Beryl, Liliane, Dick and Les.

The meeting was well attended and produced writing of the usual excellence.

Angela gave us a moving tale of a shepherds meeting round a fire and the ensuing fight between a troubled young man and his tormentor and the care taken of the young man's hand by his sister.

Mai read her piece called The Destruction of Gomorrah which told of a woman called Mariah and the sacrifices she made to the Mother of bull calves and sheep and then the shock of her son being offered for sacrifice. She then fought her way from the crowd captured a horse to flee with her son from the destruction of Gomorrah.

Martin's story was called Blood Fire and Thunder and gave us a modern day slant on Margaret Catchpole, a young girl who was lured by the wrong sort of man into crime only being saved from the death penalty in the 1700's by a wealthy benefactor and subsequently transported to Australia where she became a respected midwife.

Tony's piece was the usual eclectic mix of names places and ideas involving the ABC(sea) and an old merchant ships, hammocks and the eventual destruction of an approaching pirate ship by his command to 'Fire'.

Barry M gave us Up In Smoke, a story of Richard, a hard of hearing writer who loved to sit in his thinking chair and had a room piled high with manuscripts. He would not entertain computers until the day of the fire, when all his work went up in flames. As they watched the firemen a heartbroken Richard was told by Martha, his wife that she had copied every piece he had ever written and was therefore saved.

My piece was a trip through Greenwich and a young welder who wondered if he was responsible for the fire that almost destroyed the Cutty Sark.

Dave gave us 'Muffled Explosions in the Night' a tale based on fact from his earlier days when a fire had been carelessly started by the 'posh gits' who lived nearby and the son throwing a cigarette down in the garage and the resulting conflagration that nearly destroyed a whole street of houses.

Caz told of her battle to stop smoking and the way her mother, herself a smoker for many years, became converted and spent countless hours trying to convince Caz and any other smoker of the folly of the smoking habit.

Beryl gave us a tale called Fever, regarding young Jess and her fight with the nightmares brought on by a high fever and the demons she fought with while sick.

Liliane continued her family saga with 'Now we're all together again' and the morning meeting of the family for breakfast of hot drinks and warm rolls.

Dick went out of his usual comfort zone to write a piece called 'A problem for Rick' Rick was a drunken cowboy on a cattle drive, and how in Millers Creek, he lurched from the saloon and kicked over a lantern in the livery stable causing the building to burn and the way the whole town came together to fight the fire and release the horses.

Les gave us 'The trouble with Paradise' a tale of his last Christmas when he visited friends and family in Australia and how although he experienced sights he would never see in England, the dangers of living in such a hot and dry country far outweighed the life he knows in Felixstowe.

Thanks to all who attended and the next meeting will be on the 5th of March with the homework subject being a piece of 1000 words or less from a part of history of your choosing.

There is also a meal being arranged for all members and their spouses to be at the Book Hotel on the 12th of March. Les would like to know the numbers interested so if you could let him know (or me) we would be grateful. 
His e mail is lessmith485@yahoo.co.uk  

See you at the next meeting.

Barry.