Minutes of the meeting at La Rosa Hotel on the above date.
Present: Adele, Harry, Jenny, Lesley, Michele, Pip, Ian (chair).
Apologies: Gill, John, Jonathan, Kaz.
Topic: Members’ work-in-progress.
Matters Arising
(None)
Members’ Readings
Michele — read a further instalment of her novel in-progress: The Undesirables, set in Southern Africa during the Boer War, 1898-1902.
At Camp Irene, the gravedigger is exhausted. He rests and reflects on his work. Superintendent Peter Bowen agonises over the fate of the orphans who have been dumped by the army at the camp. They have been abused by the khakis, and have become habituated to selling their bodies to the soldiers.
Mogau, working at the Officers’ Hotel, is subjected to sexual harassment by two soldiers, which brings back memories of her rape.
Jenny — continued reading from her period novel in-progress based on the historical figure of Mary Eleanor Bowes, the heiress of a vast fortune from the Durham coalfields.
The courtship of Andrew and his heiress Hannah continues into betrothal, but her family make legal difficulties. To resolve these, Andrew has to become the owner of his family’s property in Ireland, and he cajoles and bullies his aged father into making over the farm to him. Meanwhile he is profligate with his spending, reasoning that when his army detachment leaves Newcastle it will allow him to evade his creditors.
At a high-class soiree Andrew spots Mary Bowes, who is the centre of attention as usual. Hannah is a childhood friend of Mary and offers to introduce him to her. They flirt outrageously.
Harry — distributed a printout of a further instalment of his seagoing memoir, which he read aloud.
The Trinity House pilot declares the Malakand’s radar useless, and says he’ll manage without it.
The author digresses to describe his invitation to a posh event on HQS Wellington, the HQ of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners moored on the Thames’s Victoria Embankment. With great ceremony he is introduced to the celebrity of the moment: the captain of the newly-commissioned QE2. The latter recognises him as a one-time drinking companion.
Ian – read a poem entitled Ahmed the Compassionate. A would-be suicide bomber hits upon a better way of getting his message across.
Adele — read a further instalment from her Covid Diary, from January 2022.
Pictorial evidence gives the lie to Boris Johnson’s denial of a party at No.10 breaking lockdown rules. Keith Starmer comes in for some stick over sandwiches at a working meeting: he claims there is no comparison. BJ complains nobody warned him that a full-scale party at No.10 broke rules.
Prince Andrew is also in a tight corner over his imprudent friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, which has led to an accusation of molesting an under-age girl procured for him.
The author pays a visit to Cambridge. In contrast to her recent experience in Yorkshire, everyone in the hotel is strictly masked. The beautiful architecture of the colleges is described, as is a museum visit.
At the Australia Open Tennis the Djokovic saga continues. The Covid map of Britain is beginning to clear. Only the North East is still mostly black.
Lesley — read a new instalment from her timeshift novel. Present-day Gwen, visiting Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, slips back centuries to become Guinevere in the time of King Arthur.
In this chapter she meets Arthur for the first time and they take a liking to each other. Gwen asks Arthur how the sword Excalibur came into his possession, and what will eventually become of it.
This piece provoked a lively discussion on the disposal of swords in lakes and bogs in antiquity, and the reasons for doing so.
The meeting closed at 1:05 PM.
Whitby Writers Group 