EMAILS
Enquiries: info@thamesvalleywriterscircle.org
© Thames Valley Writers’ Circle
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1 Apr 2025: Richard is an Aussie - It’s Official
- and he’s got the certificate to prove it.A Foot in Both Camps
Although I came to Australia in the early 1960’s as a twenty-year- old bringing stud cattle on the deck of a cargo ship, stayed eight years before Heather and I married and moved to the UK – then took frequent trips back to Oz before moving permanently ten years ago, it never dawned on me to get Australian citizenship. Until! Midnight a couple of years ago at Heathrow and about to fly back to Melbourne and the pretty girl behind the desk told me, “I’m afraid I can’t let you board the plane as your Spouse Visa has expired!” Panic! Heather flying off and me stranded in Heathrow was not what I had envisaged. Without Heather, my spouse, I was cut off from my easy-going Aussie life and a Pom for ever! But clever Heather HAD renewed my Visa electronically and proved the point with one of those clever phones. “So sorry,” said the pretty girl. “This way to your plane…” To stop all that happening again - get myself Aussie citizenship. Forms filled in, UK police checks that I did not have a criminal record (didn’t think that was necessary to get into Australia anymore). More forms – then wait. Eventually, I was told to present myself at the town hall, dressed smartly, best bib and tucker, clutching my paperwork, ushed into the large and impressive oak-paneled hall, stage at one end, Lady Mayoress, local choir, speeches by a representative of the Government and an Aboriginal leader (the best speech by far) and we all – all 30 of us – required to dedicate our allegiance to Australia, the Constitution, the laws of the land, the Mother Country, and the Mother Country’s Representative, the Governor General. Then a smile and shake of the hand with the Mayor and,
hey presto, I’m in! “Welcome Richard…”
Aussies tend to deride the ceremony but I found it rather moving.
They take it seriously and put in the effort (wish we did in the UK).
The choir sings Australia Fair (the National Anthem, not Tie me
Kangaroo Down Sport, as I had thought), a sun blessed land…so
do we, shows allegiance, that is… There are flags and bunting, a
little bag with Aussie goodies for us lucky few including a tiny
Aussie potted plant to put in my back garden and my own Aussie
flag to wave. I thank the lady Mayoress, she’s a good sheila!
Now I hold dual Citizenship! I can’t be turned away at Heathrow by
some guy with power of authority whose country of origin I can’t
pronounce. And I’m welcomed when I get back to Oz. “Good on
yer mate…”
There is just one question – which side to I barrack for when the
Test Matches start?
8 Apr 2025: Easter Break Short Story Competition - True or a Lie.
Following a vote in favour (7-2) of a single True or Lie story the competition details are as follows: • The story must be true or a lie. • Maximum of 1500 words. • Members will vote for their first three places. (No voting for own entry). Authors will reveal when the results are announced, whether their story was true or a lie. Entries to be sent to Walter for uploading to the website by midday May 5th. They will be anonymous. Your votes to be sent to Nick by midday May 12th. Results will be announced at the zoom meeting on May 13th.
13 May 2025: Easter Break Comp Results
Our challenge for this event, to write a story that may be true or it maybe a lie, proved interesting in that there was a distinct difference in the style of the stories submitted compared with those of our other competitions. The effort of producing a story which may or may not be true seemed to produce works that were less dramatic and less likely to have endings with surpise twists. Instead, there was more emphasis on the story telling, highlighting character building, settings, etc. You can read all the entries in the Library.
The winner is Rob with a
jolly explosive jape
Equal second were Mark’s psychological
saga, and Les with his tale of misguided
values
Fourth was Dick’s story of an
extraordinary coinidence.
11 Jun 2025: Arthur Redway Memorial Competition
This year's competition is now open and the rules are set out below.Requirements
A short story on any theme. Word limit 1500. Stories must include the following words: association, refresh, concoct, scrambled, support. Deadlines Send your entry to Walter by midnight 10 Jul 2025 who will place entries on the web site (anonymised) in the Library section, page 2025. After reading the entries, send your votes for 1st 2nd and 3rd places to Nick by midday 21 Jul 2025. Results will be announced on 22nd July, together with readings of the winning stories, plus the other entries. Unread stories will be read after the AGM in the hall on 29th July, together with the presentation of the trophy. Les hopes you will find the time and inspiration to submit an entry - being judged by our peers is always an interesting process. Good luck!
9 Jul 2025: Richard’s Latest Pics
Richard was very disappointed that we didn’t get the full benefit of his reading on Zoom yesterday because of the missing pictures... So here they are!!
Left: the 1933 Morris Oxford that was
restored from a bundle of parts by Keith
Montell.
Below: one of the Prescott team doing
his stuff on the hill climb.
22Jul 2025: Arthur Redway Memorial
Competition
A pleasing feature of this year’s competition is that it attracted interest even among those who hadn’t entered a story - there were more voters than entrants! The winner is our newest member Alison Trott with Yoshi Wins the Day, a beautifully told story of brothers coping with a traumatic event in their lives.
In second place was Les Williams
with his cautionary tale, Dubai or
Bust - a warning not to mess with
HMRC however smart you may
think you are.
In third place was David Burnell with
his account of a mining ‘accident’,
Aberfan.
29 Jul 2025: Summer Homework Challenge
To make it a little less demanding we have reduced the word count to 750 for this year. This may also make it more difficult to achieve a well rounded story. As is usual with this event, there are no prizes - but have a go anyway. The theme for your story is ‘betrayal’. Readings of your holiday jottings will take place in the first two meetings of next term, along with any other material you may want to bring to those sessions. Remember, watch the word count - only 750!
Following on from a series of successful puzzle books, Neil was
honoured to be asked, and delighted to accept, a commission to produce
what must be any puzzle composer’s dream:
The Official Strictly Come Dancing Puzzle Book
Neil’s offering is packed with Strictly-related puzzles. Whether it’s Mystery Sudokus, deliberating over fun facts, teasing conundrums, cryptograms or word searches, the book contains something for everyone whether an occasional Strictly viewer or an ardent fan. Good luck Neil. We think you’ve got a winner there.
25 Sep 2025: Neil’s Latest Puzzle Book
- and it’s a cracker!
26 Nov 2025: It’s a Winner!
We said it would be. Neil’s puzzle book based on the BBC’s hit show Strictly Come Dancing is a big success, making into the UK top 100 best selling list - actually it reached a high of 40! The reaction to the Strictly puzzles has been so good that Neil has been asked if he can repeat that success with another, perhaps for a different show. Of course, he has accepted the challenge. Watch this Space
Following on from a series of successful puzzle
books, Neil was honoured to be asked, and
delighted to accept, a commission to produce
what must be any puzzle composer’s dream:
The Official Strictly Come Dancing
Puzzle Book
Neil’s offering is packed with Strictly- related puzzles. Whether it’s Mystery Sudokus, deliberating over fun facts, teasing conundrums, cryptograms or word searches, the book contains something for everyone whether an occasional Strictly viewer or an ardent fan. Good luck Neil. We think you’ve got a winner there.11 Jun 2025: Arthur Redway Memorial
Competition
This year's competition is now open and the rules are set out below.Requirements
A short story on any theme. Word limit 1500. Stories must include the following words: association, refresh, concoct, scrambled, support. Deadlines Send your entry to Walter by midnight 10 Jul 2025 who will place entries on the web site (anonymised) in the Library section, page 2025. After reading the entries, send your votes for 1st 2nd and 3rd places to Nick by midday 21 Jul 2025. Results will be announced on 22nd July, together with readings of the winning stories, plus the other entries. Unread stories will be read after the AGM in the hall on 29th July, together with the presentation of the trophy. Les hopes you will find the time and inspiration to submit an entry - being judged by our peers is always an interesting process. Good luck!
EMAILS
Enquiries: info@thamesvalleywriterscircle.org
© Thames Valley Writers’ Circle
Created with Xara Designer Pro+
1 Apr 2025: Richard is an Aussie -
It’s Official
- and he’s got the certificate to prove it.A Foot in Both Camps
Although I came to Australia in the early 1960’s as a twenty- year-old bringing stud cattle on the deck of a cargo ship, stayed eight years before Heather and I married and moved to the UK – then took frequent trips back to Oz before moving permanently ten years ago, it never dawned on me to get Australian citizenship. Until! Midnight a couple of years ago at Heathrow and about to fly back to Melbourne and the pretty girl behind the desk told me, “I’m afraid I can’t let you board the plane as your Spouse Visa has expired!” Panic! Heather flying off and me stranded in Heathrow was not what I had envisaged. Without Heather, my spouse, I was cut off from my easy-going Aussie life and a Pom for ever! But clever Heather HAD renewed my Visa electronically and proved the point with one of those clever phones. “So sorry,” said the pretty girl. “This way to your plane…” To stop all that happening again - get myself Aussie citizenship. Forms filled in, UK police checks that I did not have a criminal record (didn’t think that was necessary to get into Australia anymore). More forms – then wait. Eventually, I was told to present myself at the town hall, dressed smartly, best bib and tucker, clutching my paperwork, ushed into the large and impressive oak-paneled hall, stage at one end, Lady Mayoress, local choir, speeches by a representative of the Government and an Aboriginal leader (the best speech by far) and we all – all 30 of us – required to dedicate our allegiance to Australia, the Constitution, the laws of the land, the Mother Country, and the Mother Country’s Representative, the Governor General. Then a smile and shake of the hand with the Mayor and, hey presto, I’m in! “Welcome Richard…” Aussies tend to deride the ceremony but I found it rather moving. They take it seriously and put in the effort (wish we did in the UK). The choir sings Australia Fair (the National Anthem, not Tie me Kangaroo Down Sport, as I had thought), a sun blessed land…so do we, shows allegiance, that is… There are flags and bunting, a little bag with Aussie goodies for us lucky few including a tiny Aussie potted plant to put in my back garden and my own Aussie flag to wave. I thank the lady Mayoress, she’s a good sheila! Now I hold dual Citizenship! I can’t be turned away at Heathrow by some guy with power of authority whose country of origin I can’t pronounce. And I’m welcomed when I get back to Oz. “Good on yer mate…” There is just one question – which side to I barrack for when the Test Matches start?
8 Apr 2025: Easter Break Short Story
Competition - True or a Lie.
Following a vote in favour (7-2) of a single True or Lie story the competition details are as follows: • The story must be true or a lie. • Maximum of 1500 words. • Members will vote for their first three places. (No voting for own entry). Authors will reveal when the results are announced, whether their story was true or a lie. Entries to be sent to Walter for uploading to the website by midday May 5th. They will be anonymous. Your votes to be sent to Nick by midday May 12th. Results will be announced at the zoom meeting on May 13th.
The winner is Rob with a jolly
explosive jape
Equal second were Mark’s
psychological saga, and Les with his
tale of misguided values.
Fourth was Dick’s story of an
extraordinary coinidence.
13 May 2025: Easter Break Comp
Results
Our challenge for this event, to write a story that may be true or it maybe a lie, proved interesting in that there was a distinct difference in the style of the stories submitted compared with those of our other competitions. The effort of producing a story which may or may not be true seemed to produce works that were less dramatic and less likely to have endings with surpise twists. Instead, there was more emphasis on the story telling, highlighting character building, settings, etc. You can read all the entries in the Library.
22Jul 2025: Arthur Redway
Memorial Competition
A pleasing feature of this year’s competition is that it attracted interest even among those who hadn’t entered a story - there were more voters than entrants!
In second place was Les
Williams with his cautionary
tale, Dubai or Bust - a
warning not to mess with
HMRC however smart you may
think you are.
In third place was David
Burnell with his
account of a mining
‘accident’, Aberfan.
The winner is our newest member Alison
Trott with Yoshi Wins the Day, a beautifully
told story of brothers coping with a traumatic
event in their lives.
29 Jul 2025: Summer
Homework Challenge
To make it a little less demanding we have reduced the word count to 750 for this year. This may also make it more difficult to achieve a well rounded story. As is usual with this event, there are no prizes - but have a go anyway. The theme for your story is ‘betrayal’. Readings of your holiday jottings will take place in the first two meetings of next term, along with any other material you may want to bring to those sessions. Remember, watch the word count - only 750!
25 Sep 2025: Neil’s Latest Puzzle Book
- and it’s a cracker!
26 Nov 2025: It’s a
Winner!
We said it would be. Neil’s puzzle book based on the BBC’s hit show Strictly Come Dancing is a big success, making into the UK top 100 best selling list - actually it reached a high of 40! The reaction to the Strictly puzzles has been so good that Neil has been asked if he can repeat that success with another, perhaps for a different show. Of course, he has accepted the challenge. Watch this Space
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