Formed over forty years ago, our Writers Circle is based in Felixstowe, Suffolk. Meetings are held in The Room at the Top in Felixstowe Library, normally on the first and third Tuesday of each month commencing at 7.30pm and finishing by 10.00pm. Check this weblog for details of meetings.

There is an annual November to November fee of £30, April to November is £20 and June to November £15. For members preferring to pay at each meeting the charge is £5 per meeting. To contact Felixstowe Scribblers simply email scribblers.1@btinternet.com or the Secretary, catherine.stafford1@ntlworld.com

Tuesday, 22 July 2014

MEETING REPORT FOR TUESDAY 15TH JULY 2014

FELIXSTOWE SCRIBBERS MEETING REPORT ON TUESDAY 15TH JULY 2014
In attendance: Barry. Caz, Dick, Tony, Jane, Les, Beryl, Richard,  Susie G, Liliane, Richard, Carolyn, Mairead and Tom.

Apologies were received from Derek, Dave and Susie H, Ali, Bruce, Gerry and Cathy.
We hope that Dave will soon be 'on the move again' without the aid of a walking frame.

Mairead very kindly bought us a huge stack of teas, coffee, sugar and biscuits to replace those mislaid at the last meeting . We would like to take this opportunity of saying a huge thank you for her kind generosity.

Then we moved on to the subject of this week’s Geographical homework.

Barry:  Having no homework Barry read from a book of letters entitled 'The Time Waster'. They were letters written by a man, to a well- known store about the ludicrous subject of his lost lace. Also letters written by the store manager back to him.

Dick:  Wind and Waves Inspired by the sea on a rough day with Thomas Cavendish Ships in the Harbour and gorgeous dolphins riding on the bow waves. The sounds being created were like an orchestra creaking through the timbers of the boat. When hope suddenly gave way to fear as the ocean whipped up a horrendous storm.

Tony:  We’re All Going On an .... excursion to New York? Antwerp?, Arizona? Kingston Upon Thames? Felixstowe? Monte Carlo? Holiday planning. 200 words to get nowhere. Flying sickness and whether to wipe fellow passengers clean or not! Helicopter sickness, is there was such a thing? Woolwich Ferry Sickness? A trip that would take by car (eight days to get there and eight to get back (meaning he would have to return three days earlier than he got there!) 

Les – Stop Over In Haven Before I start I am aware that some sceptics will believe I have a head full of trained nuts! I was booked to go to Australia. The flight was progressing nicely and I was holding a nice glass of cognac. My fellow passengers had all changed into strange green coloured clothing. I was unable to utter a single word as I pondered over the change in everyone. I wasn’t at all scared I had a strange sense of euphoria.  I sat back, sipped my drink and hoped that all would become clear.  The hostess’s attire had also changed and they confirmed we were stopping at Haven for seven hours, instead of Singapore. What on earth was going on? The airport was beautiful and everywhere I looked there were smiling faces. Animals like soft toys were everywhere at horrendous prices but also free to a deserving cause, if you will just care for it!  On our eventual landing in Australia Steve and his wife were waiting to greet me, with a look of euphoria all over my face.

Suzie’s poem  – Living By the Sea Climb up to the cloud place turn around, looking up to get lost in the sky. The wide Atlantic around you as the town nestles down. Hear the waves breaking on granite shore, beer-foam crashing and blowing being caught by the wind.

Richard – Passing Through In the 1940s  If you are coming from the station and you walk along the Marienstrasse, you will notice the architecture. It is in the post-war reconstruction, slab concrete style. Each morning at half past seven, when I walk to work, it reminds me of my situation and in the brightest of summer suns I remain pessimistic. At street level there is much going on, the butcher the baker, the agent for some technical equipment on the one side, the ladies’ hairdresser, an insurance office and a dress agency on the other. This is the street where I live and this for the moment is my lot. I count the weeks before giving my notice, quit the job and leave the Marienstrasse. and will the other residents notice my departure? I doubt it, for in this cold, transient environment, coming and going is unnoticed’ for the time being I hardly exist. 
Carolyn – Dislocation Down Under Serious Ferry. Fresh salty air, the sea like a shimmering glass curtain. Sail boats racing, a party boat and a 18 footer scurrying by in Sydney Harbour. 16,000 kilometres away from Detroit. I know there is going to be a tomorrow because it is already there in Australia. Sunlight and colour everywhere. In the Southern Hemisphere it is the longest day on 21st September. 

Tom – Grey – In 1940s Glasgow was so grey. John’s mood was lightened by the click, click, click, click of high heeled shoes on the pavement.. John was what the scruffs called a red sandstone boy. There was a surreal quality to the tenements of the Gorbals. There had been family holidays in Ayr, cinema, beach, Whittles Road and Mrs Mason’s Holiday House. Cream teas and being allowed to stay up late with the adults. Then clicking into real time the raised voices and in came Brian staggering as usual with too much alcohol inside him.

Liliane – The Gympie Pyramid On the internet. Showing the Queensland Town of Gympie. Stinging trees like nettles. 1867 Gold Rush – there was mining but there was no rush. Tourist Centre with pyramid. 13 Pillars – never been excavated. Who built it and why? Would be interesting to delve more into this mystery. The pyramid was said to be a tourist attraction but the pyramid and the land on it was bought by a company, who now deny anyone access to the site.

Jane – Feeling the Cold – Staring on the quay side Carol watched the ferry approaching in the distance, the bow of the boat cresting the gentle waves of the Aegean waters. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the day was at its warmest, forcing even the most devoted sun worshippers to seek some shade. Carol could feel the sweat dripping down her back, her pink t-shirt sticking to her. She didn’t mind though. Today of all days she wanted to feel the sun on her. A wonderful tale of love, deceit and revenge showing a poetic twist at the end of the story.

Beryl – The World-Wide Tour 2004 Well that’s what the travel agent called it when I booked it. It came about when my two little dogs died within three weeks of each other. Once I’d got over the trauma I suddenly realised I was a free agent. I had a brother in Idaho and a friend in New Zealand, both wanting me to visit. “Combine the two,” suggested the friend. “After all, Idaho’s halfway to New Zealand,” So I did. I spent 3 months with my brother Geoffrey in Boise, Idaho’ 2 months with Eunice and Angus in New Zealand, then back to America for Christmas and New Year. 6 months in all, a sort-of-semi-sabbatical. One last thing to mention’ on our way home from one of our days out we stopped at a Perkins, a chain of cheap and cheerful restaurants, where we discovered that our waiter had been to school in Snape.

Mairead – The Vicar’s Dilemma May 1856 (A piece of fiction loosely based on fact) The vicar whistled merrily as he gently guided his horse to a trot. A little fox terrier, sat beside his master,watching the lift and fall of his hands, as they held the reins. However, Teddy sensed the unease behind the vicar’s bravado and the front he put on for his parishioners. Whimpering, he pushed his nose into his master’s pocket. Was he a cold-hearted murderer that you will discover as the story unfolds!

Read by Caz: Dave – Space: The Final Frontier The growing discontent on Earth, increasing lawlessness and a planet lacking space for further criminals to be imprisoned. Through the centuries a new Penal Colony was created on the distant planet of Uranus and the Starship Depositor was on a mission to deliver 1,500 convicts there. Trouble brewed in one of the holding bays on the vessel and a crewman ejected them into the depths of deadly space. 

Our next Meeting with be in THREE weeks time on Tuesday 5th August 2014 at the Room at the Top commencing at 19.30 hours. There is no set homework, this time you may write on any subject up to a 1,000 words or share an excerpt of an ongoing novel or story. 

Hope to see you all there.

Caz
Secretary
Felixstowe Scribblers.