Friends of Worthing and Broadwater Cemetery

A belated New Year's resolution to myself - I must keep this blog up to date as so many exciting things are happening at the moment!
It has been another very busy month for me charging around Worthing, delving into the archives, acting like a tourist and looking for anything unusual to photograph for my book Not a Guide to Worthing. Shame the weather has not be kinder to me. July 7th saw me taking a tour organised by the Friends of Broadwater and Worthing Cemetery. These free monthly tours, during the summer months, are a must for anyone interested in history and the people who helped to shape this great town. Each one is themed - July we were lucky to have two, Seafarers and Worthing Mayors - truly a delight  for me as many of the people featured also had a place in my Shipwrecks of Sussex book, including Worthing's seafaring disaster, which happened on 14th November 1894. The Zadne, a steamer carrying coal from south Wales to London got into trouble during a hurricane storm.  On the horizon was spotted a sole survivor in a lifeboat, but within metres of the shore the boat flipped over, and he was drowned.  During the course of the day all the bodies were washed ashore. One body was repatriated to south Wales and the reminder, including two that was not identified were buried in a mass grave in the cemetery.
 Don't miss 'The Friends' Open Day on Saturday 4th August which starts at 10.00am through to 3pm, and includes three fantastic tours: Religious Figures who greatly influenced what happened in Worthing, a Military Tour concentrating on those who served in all conflicts, and a General Tour based on the guides own selection of interesting people buried in the cemetery, plus stalls, refreshments, booklets and much, much more.  I am looking forward to the day, and hope to see you there too.

CHICHESTER YACHT CLUB

Many thanks to Diana Frances, social secretary of the Chichester Yacht Club for inviting me to speak at their monthly ladies luncheon on Wednesday 29th February.  I received a most warm welcome, and after a delicious lunch presented an illustrated talk based on my latest book, Shipwrecks of Sussex, which is available at most of the Sussex Waterstones or on Amazon. The audience, who were either sailors themselves or the wives of sailors, could fully appreciate just how dangerous it was to travel in these waters in days bygone days.  Most were amazed to learn that over 4,000 ships went down between Hasting in the east and Chichester in the west. The question and answer session was extremely lively and many, many thanks to the ladies who bought copies of the book - either for themselves or as gifts for their sailor men folk.

Worthy Words Workshops

Worthy Words Workshops are well and truly 'up and running.'  The prose writing group which started in October 2011 held its second meeting of 2012 at Worthing library on Wednesday 8 February.  It may have been a icy cold day in Worthing, but there was plenty of warmth around the table as members shared their writing news with enthusiasm, before launching into a session on writing and placing seasonal and anniversary articles.  Homework was set for those who wanted ideas before competition news was shared and manuscripts were read out.  One member has embarked on a new novel and the group are looking forward to learning how this will develop. Several short stories were also read out and constructive criticism offered.  Meetings are held once a month on the second Wednesday of each month between 2-4pm.  New members are most welcome, and anyone interested in learning more should contact Wendy at wendy@stickler.org.uk for a friendly chat. 

Wendy has been asked to give an illustrated talk on Shipwrecks of Sussex on 29th February at Chichester Yacht Club, and is embarking on a new book for The History Press entitled Worthing a Pocket Miscellany.

Great Day at Waterstones

Saturday was a great day! The Birdman competition at Worthing may have had to been cancelled because of the wind, but the atmosphere and staff at Waterstones were perfect. They really made me welcome. Many thanks to you all and I look forward to returning. I met some super people too, and a big thank you all for coming and taking an interest in Shipwrecks of Sussex.

Also many thanks to the magazine Sea Breezes for a great review.

It's Launched!

Thank you to all who came to the launch of Shipwrecks of Sussex at Waterstones in Eastbourne. What a delightful bunch of interesting people! I met coastguards, divers, and several people who, as children, could remember some of the shipwrecks featured in my book. I also had an opportunity of telling people about the excellent museums we have dotted along the south coast, such as The Shipwreck Museum at Hastings, Seaford and Newhaven museums and to talk about some of the interesting artefact's to be found in them. If you missed this event then do pop along to Waterstones in Worthing on Saturday 13th August where I will be doing another book signing. I shall looking forward to saying hello to you.

The past few months have been hectic as usual. Most of June was taken up with final preparations for the 8th Stickler Syndrome Support Group conference, held at Daventry. Over 100 people attended and a memorable time was enjoyed by all. At the end of June I run a musical writing workshop in France, and was delighted that so many good ideas and stories were generated.

On Saturday 17 September I am running a Day for Journalists and Non-fiction writers at Worthing library and anyone interesting in attending, do please email me at wendy@stickler.org.uk

Since moving to Sussex I have missed running Walton Wordsmiths which I founded in 1999 (which is still thriving) and workshops, so I am planning on setting up a new group, Worthing Wordsmiths to be held at Worthing library on Friday afternoons. The aims of the group is to provide help to writers of all grades and capabilities by personal contact within the group, constructive criticism, circulating information on competitions and markets, and to encourage members to share writing experiences with one another. All aspects of writing will be covered, except poetry. Initially three meeting have been booked to see how things go, and it it takes off then I will arrange either fortnightly or monthly meetings, depending on demand. Again if you are interested to learn more, do please email me.