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LANCASHIRE AUTHORS' ASSOCIATION We are an association devoted to the study of Lancashire literature, history, traditions and dialect. Podcasts | Children's Page | Other Competitions | Contact Us | Links LAA REPORTS PAGE Meeting of the LAA September 16th 2023 by Zoom
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422nd L.A.A. MEETING
AWARDS DAY
Saturday 17th June
2023
113th Annual General Meeting March 18th 2023
A Brief Report on the Lancashire Day Meeting Saturday November 19th 2022
For pictures of the above meeting, please click here * * * * * A Brief Report on the A.G.M./Awards Day MeetingSaturday 25 th June 2022
For pictures of the event, please click here * * * * * Report on the AGM/Awards Day Meeting
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Despite the extension of Coronavirus restrictions preventing us meeting face to face at Lytham, it was important that the AGM was not further delayed. To undertake this meeting on Zoom was a new experience for all in attendance. It is necessary, however, to inform members now of decisions made, which will take effect this year. Your New Committee Two proposals were put forward: ‘Future annual competition entries placed first, second, third, highly commended or commended be published in one annual booklet, along with the winner of the open flash fiction competition.’ Proposed Olive Riley. Seconded Peter Jones. Following positive discussions the members voted in favour of this proposal. 2) Regarding the future of the Record. ‘In the event that the position of Editor is not filled, the details normally sent out in the Record go out to members, as a digital newsletter via e-mail. Any member without e-mail could still receive a copy by post.’ Proposed Olive Riley. Seconded Peter Jones. Following discussions in which members spoke favourably of such a newsletter the proposal was amended to: ‘The details normally sent out in the Record go out to members as a digital newsletter via e-mail. Any member without e-mail could still receive a copy by post.’ All members voted in favour of this proposal. The business part of the meeting was then brought to a close. Presentation of Awards Before the presentation of the awards took place the Writer of the Year 2021 was announced. The recipient is David Lythgoe for his poem, ‘A World Above.’ Congratulations David! The poem will appear elsewhere in this Record. Barbara and Peter Snape preferred not to entertain by Zoom, but Peter did join the meeting. The entertainment was therefore given by those winners present, reading their winning poem or story. We wish to thank them for taking part in this way. They are: The meeting ended in the usual way with a well- known recitation of ‘Sam, Sam, Pick oop tha Musket’ by Stanley Holloway, given by our President Sid Calderbank. Olive J Riley Footnote: It is hoped that the publication containing the competition winning items 2021 etc. will be ready for November 2021. |
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A Brief Report of the Zoom Meeting held on Saturday 13th March 2021
Normally this would have been the Annual General Meeting, but the committee decided to defer it until we could meet face to face. The meeting which replaced it was excellent. Twenty-seven people joined in on zoom, including one new member. Connie spoke openly about her life, career; the good and bad times, her family and getting through lock-down. A question and answer session followed. The Annual Competitions’ results 2021 were then announced by the Competitions’ Secretary. Following this we were delighted to hear beautiful music played by violinist Julie Proctor. (Julie had mentioned on facebook that she was missing playing to an audience, so was invited to play for us – a zoom audience is better than no audience!) Thank you Julie. Members and friends then entertained with readings of their own works, to bring the meeting to a close. Footnote: Connie Hyde asked that her fee of £50 be donated to a charity. As she lives in Lancashire the committee decided to make the donation to ‘Maundy Relief’ a grassroots charity serving the people of Hyndburn. Olive J Riley |
On a mostly sunny day, around twenty
members and guests sat down to hotpot at a rather subdued meeting,
which was hardly surprising given the present circumstances. After all had had their fill, we had the
AGM. The committee resigned en bloc and the President accepted the
resignation of secretary and minute secretary, Maeve Fagan and
librarian, Brian Foster. There was already one nomination for
librarian and that was filled by Professor Paul Salveson. Olive
Riley agreed to fill the post of secretary on top of her own
duties as Competition secretary and Gill James, our Membership
secretary, agreed to take on the extra role as Minute secretary;
both on an interim basis. Then we were given an interesting insight
into the life and career of Allen Clarke delivered by Professor
Paul Salveson who has recently published a book about the poet and
social activist who was born in Bolton and wrote under several
pseudonyms, the most notable of which was Teddy Ashton. In his talk titled “Teddy Ashton
Resurrected,” Paul spoke of how he would like to see people
reading Clarke’s work once more and in Bolton I believe that the
council have made all his works available now. His Granddaughter
is also due to write a book about him. He went on to say that Teddy Ashton should
never be pigeon-holed as his work was never one dimensional. The talk was greeted with appreciation by
the members present and after fond, contactless farewells, the
whole event resembled the end of school when everyone wondered how
long it would be before we could all meet again. Indeed, at the
time of writing, some six weeks after the meeting, we are still no
wiser on that count. In a way we are lucky that we could all
attend, as this was just a week before the lockdown. We can only
hope that all our members and committee stay well and safe in
these turbulent times and normal life can be resumed sooner rather
than later. |
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It was appropriate that the celebration was held in Rochdale as that was the place where, in 1909, a group of dialect writers met to celebrate the bi-centenary of the birth of John Collier. Two years later the Lancashire Authors Association came into being. The event started with the arrival of the Mayor and Mayoress of Rochdale Billy and Lynn Sheerin who were presented with roses by our Chairman Judith Addison. Apologies for absence were received from Brian Riley and Brian Foster who were unable to attend due to illness. The Mayor read the Lancashire Day Proclamation and everyone toasted the Queen, Duke of Lancaster. As the hotpot had not yet arrived Sid, our President, sang for his supper, ‘Potato Pie’ by Randal Mundy of Stalybridge, encouraging everyone to join in the chorus of prayta pie, prayta pie. Olive then spoke about the history of the LAA and how it had developed over the years. Once there was a committee to run the organisation new members from all over Lancashire joined. Early meetings were held in towns throughout the county and although most people did not have cars attendance at meetings was high. Next came the presentation of two special awards. The Mayor presented Peter Jones with the Bill O' Bows Trophy, this goes to a stalwart of the LAA, someone who works hard, supports or is a very keen member. Unfortunately Brian Foster was not able to attend to receive the Angus Butterworth trophy. Brian has been a long standing member and committee member and truly has aims and ideals very much in tune with LAA. The lunch arrived as the presentations were finishing and soon everybody was enjoying hotpot followed by apple pie and cream. After this we were entertained by The Tin Pot Poets – Sally and Ron Williams who read several humorous poems they had written. This was the third time they have entertained at LAA meetings. Their readings were interspersed with songs by Alyson Brailsford accompanied by John Pye on guitar. For her first song, a poem by Edwin Waugh “Come Whoam to thi' childer and me” she was joined by President Sid Calderbank. The audience sang along with her next item, another Edwin Waugh piece “A Lift on the Way.” To conclude Alison continued the Edwin Waugh theme, this time ‘When the Sun Goes Down’ written in Standard English. The Mayor and Mayoress should have left at 2 pm but stayed until 3 pm because they were enjoying the entertainment so much. After this there was a table quiz for members, all the answers being about people and places in Lancashire. The winning team received notebooks and pens as prizes and their winning score of 16 out of 20 showed their extensive knowledge about the county. President Sid finished with a performance of “Where are the Blackburn Poets gone” by William Billington of Blackburn. Chairman Judith thanked all involved and closed the meeting at four pm. A very enjoyable afternoon. |
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LAA Meeting held on Saturday 21st September 2019
The afternoon commenced with the singing of ‘Happy Birthday ‘to L.A.A., led by President Sid Calderbank, who was then invited to blow out the candles on the birthday cake, kindly made for the occasion by Olive.
Despite the poor attendance by L.A.A.
members, (only 2 other than committee members), a select group of
guests and friends enjoyed an afternoon of celebration and
bonhomie. Whilst the sun shone outside, those inside gave shining
performances, in both Lancashire Dialect and Standard English.
The purpose of the meeting was to celebrate the 110th birthday of the association. The birthday cake was served with tea and coffee early in the meeting. This was then followed appropriately by an excellent talk by Sid Calderbank on John Collier (Tim Bobbin), with reference to a biography written by Richard Townley, owner of the school where John Collier taught for several years.
Sid was ably assisted by members of Euxton
Library Dialect Reading Group who performed, ‘The Dialogue of
Tummus and Meary’, by John Collier.
After a comfort break, a golden
opportunity to socialise, readings of items of past members were
given by Peter Jones, Judith Addison and Olive Riley, as follows:
‘Other Folk’s Childer’ by Joan Pomfret –
Olive.
‘Another Spring’ by Benita Moore and ‘Girl
in a Yellow Dress’ by Joan Pomfret – Peter.
‘Lancashire’s Beauty’ and ‘The Pennines’
by Ronald Y Digby – Judith.
Olive then read ‘Missing’ by Joe Wildman.
This was part of a tribute to Joe who, sadly, died recently. Joe
was a long-standing, hard-working and active member for many
years. He was an excellent poet in both dialect and Standard
English and won or was placed in, many competitions. A minute
silence was then observed in Joe’s memory.
The final item came from Sid, our
president who read, ‘A Sope o’ good, strong Tay’ by Thomas Baron
of Blackburn.
Judith thanked all present for their
attendance and contributions, wished everyone a safe journey home
and closed the meeting at 3.55pm.
Footnote: Apologies were received from 8
members.
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On a rather grey and rainy afternoon about 25 members and visitors attended the Awards meeting at our usual venue of Lytham Assembly Rooms. The Mayor of St. Anne’s on the Sea, Cllr. Viv Willder arrived with her granddaughter and was greeted by our President Sid Calderbank and presented with a rose by our new Chairman Judith Addison. Apologies were received from Elle-Marie Hinchcliffe, Sally and Ron Williams, Pauline Hutchinson, Ken and Liz Scally, and Nick Oldham. Nick Oldham should have been the speaker but unfortunately he was ill and had lost his voice so our President stepped into the breach. Sid gave a very interesting talk about dialect writers who had written about the Lytham area. He started with a reading from John Trafford Clegg's book about the 1886 disaster when a ship named Mexico was grounded in a storm in the Ribble Esturary. Lifefboats were sent from Southport and Lytham St. Anne’s. Sadly 27 lifeboatmen from the Lytham boat were drowned. It was the worst loss of crew in RNLI history. Sid followed this with information about Sir Charles Macara who was involved in the Manchester textile trade but who lived in Lytham. He started what were called 'Lifeboat Saturdays' that were street collections in towns all over the country raising funds for the RNLI. Sid then recited a poem about the bravery of lifeboat-men by Samuel Laycock a dialect writer who lived in Blackpool. He finished on a lighter note reciting what he called “the daftest poem he had ever read” and insisted the audience joined in with the chorus.
This was followed by the presentation of the trophies and certificates by the Mayor. The Writer of the Year 2019 is Tom Ungless. Congratulations Tom. The Open Competition winner Susan Massey attended to accept her cheque. Although there were entries from throughout the UK and some from abroad Susan only had to walk down the road as she lives in Lytham. The Mayor then talked about her job both as Mayor of Lytham St Anne’s and as a member of Fylde Council. After a break for refreshments there was entertainment from the following members: Terence Park an excerpt from his science-fiction writing. To close the meeting our president spoke about the Rossendale Heritage Festival to be held in July this year. Members are invited to take part in Library Readings taken from ‘A Rossendale Anthology’ compiled by Ronald Digby, edited by Jon Elliot, published by Rawtenstall Libraries, Art and Parks Committee. Ronald Digby was once editor of LAA ‘Record’, a copy of this book is listed on the LAA Library database. ( Copies are also available in Lancashire Libraries.) Dates for Library Readings are : Wednesday 3rd July Bacup 1.30 – 3.00 Anyone interested, choose your reading and turn up! PLUS: |
Left: Open comp winner Susan Massey Right: Our own Tom Ungless
For more pictures from Awards day go to this link
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On a blustery,
rainy, day 21 people attended the meeting. Before official proceedings
began, everyone enjoyed a hotpot lunch and a chat.
Once the business
side of the meeting commenced, the committee emerged with two new members.
Chairman of the
past six years, Pauline Hutchinson, resigned but will still retain her
position on the committee as the editor of The Record – a job she has
done for over twenty years.
At the handover,
Pauline presented the new chairman, Judith Addison, with a cup and
saucer that came into her possession when she took on the role in
2013. She said that she had no idea of its origin but thought it
should be passed on to the new incumbent.
Dan Forrester, who
has been treasurer for the past two years, also resigned and will be
replaced by David Kevill.
Olive Riley thanked
Pauline for her time as chairman and her continued long service as
editor of The Record and Dan for his service as treasurer as he
stepped in at a crucial time for the association and did a wonderful
job. She then welcomed Judith and David to the committee.
President, Sid
Calderbank then paid his own tribute and asked for a round of applause
for Olive Riley, for all the work she does and has done for the past
few years to keep the LAA on track.
Next it was entertainment time. Sally and Ron Williams who perform under the name of The Tin Pot Poets regaled the gathering with a mixture of dialect and anecdotal poems, helped out by Sally’s daughter Julie Proctor, who also read to give Sally a bit of a rest, as she has recently been unwell. They had the audience enthralled and sometimes erupting with laughter.
Then it was the
traditional entertainment by the members. Participants included: Elle
Marie Hinchcliffe, James Lancaster, Olive Riley, Ken Scally, Dan
Forrester and Terence Park, who all entertained with a variety of
poems, stories and extracts from their recent books.
The last to
entertain was our President Sid Calderbank, who was originally going
to sign off with a dialect poem, but asked Julie Proctor to join him
on her fiddle. Apparently she has accompanied him many times before at
his gigs around the country. They started with an Edwin Waugh poem:
“Tum Rindle,” which Sid sang
and Julie played. They then performed “She’s a Lassie from Lancashire”
as their encore. This song was first performed by Florrie Forde in the
Music Halls around 1907. The result was a singalong and tumultuous
applause at the end of the performance.
I have attended many AGMs in the past but something about the atmosphere of the whole day made this one stand out. Sid and Julie’s performance was the perfect way to bring it all to a close. Judith, our new chairman, thanked all involved in organising the meeting and made a special mention to Tom and Heather Ungless for serving the hotpot lunch. She then thanked all for attending and bade everyone a safe journey home.
To listen to "Lassie from Lancashire" please click here
© Peter
Jones 2019. Pictures
Peter Jones . |
For more pictures from the AGM, please click here
The meeting did not get off to a very good start as the door of Lytham Assembly Rooms was locked when we arrived to set up the room. However, once we were inside we worked quickly and managed to get the room ready for the meeting. Apologies for absence were received from James Lancaster, Anne Bryan, Tom Ungless, Sid Calderbank, Brian Hollingworth and David Kevill. The Deputy Mayor Tony Ford arrived at noon and was presented with a red rose by Chair Pauline Hutchinson. As the hotpot had not yet arrived, Olive spoke about the villages where no soldiers were killed in WW1. These villages, two of which were in Lancashire, namely Arkholme and Nether Kellet, had never had War Memorials because there were feelings of guilt that they had escaped. However, there were soldiers who had suffered terrible injuries and eventually it was decided that plaques would be put up in these villages naming all those who fought. This was arranged by the British Legion with support from some motor-cyclists and sponsorship. There were also a few villages where nobody was killed in either war. These were known as
Doubly
Thankful Villages; Nether Kellet was one. Olive then read one of her poems titled
Villages that Wept (Thankful Villages) Next came the presentation of two special awards. Olive said that James Lancaster had won the Bill O' Bows Trophy presented each year to a stalwart of the Association; a supportive member; someone who works hard for LAA. James fulfilled all of these qualities, but unfortunately was unable to attend the meeting to accept the award. Dan took over to announce the presentation of the Angus Butterworth trophy to Olive and spoke about all the work she has done over the years to keep the Association going. The trophy was then presented by Cllr. Tony Ford, Deputy Mayor. Olive then read an article about the history of Uncle Tom's Cabin in Blackpool. Pauline had prepared a Lancashire Quiz and many of us found out that we did not know as much about Lancashire as we thought we did. The winning team of four received notepads and LAA pens as prizes. After this, entertainment was provided by Peter and Wendy Snape, a folk duo who had performed at the AGM in March. They gave us plenty of old Lancashire songs with choruses and encouraged everyone to join in. The meeting closed at 3.45 p.m. and next year’s Lancashire Meeting will be in Rochdale to celebrate the 110th Anniversary of the Association.
Report by Maeve Fagan Secretary: Pictures by Peter Jones Footnote: Olive’s poem can be read on the Members’ Page of the LAA website. |
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LAA Meeting September
2018
On Saturday 22nd September 2018
twenty-two people, members and visitors, gathered at Euxton Parish
Church Community Centre for the LAA meeting. It was particularly
pleasing to have members of the Lancashire Society and the Edwin
Waugh Society join us on this occasion. Friends from the Euxton
library Dialect Reading Group were also very welcome.
Apologies were received from six LAA
members. Sid Calderbank, our president, opened the
meeting and expressed his delight at being able to greet such a
mix of Lancashire groups.
Sid also extended a very warm welcome to our guest speaker,
Rita Vaughan who was presented with the traditional red rose by
Pauline Hutchinson, chairman. Rita, researcher and author, gave a most
interesting, in depth, illustrated talk on Samuel Laycock,
Lancashire dialect poet.
She was ably assisted by Mark Dowding, Lancashire folk
singer, who performed ‘Bowton’s Yard’ and ‘A farewell to Sam
Laycock’. Later, as
part of the presentation, Sid Calderbank sang Laycock’s tribute to
the twenty-seven lifeboat members from the Southport and St.
Anne’s Lifeboats. These brave men, died on 9/10 December 1886,
attempting, in very rough seas, to rescue the crew of ‘The
Mexico’, a German barque which ran aground on the main bank off
Southport. Sadly all
were lost.
Rita was thanked for her excellent talk by
Olive Riley,Vice Chairman.
Following a brief break for light
refreshments organised by Tom and Heather Ungless, entertainment
was provided by three LAA members, reading from their own work. Olive Riley read ‘A Gradely Bunch o’ Lads’
telling of the huge loss of Lancashire men from the Accrington
Pals in World War 1. This poem is published in her latest book, ‘A
Lancashire Rose’. Olive then read an earlier poem, ‘Southport –
6.00 a.m.’ Elle Marie Hinchcliffe read three items,
‘A Tear for Pocahontas’, a rather saucy item about a priest and a
young girl. ‘Moonsong’ about foxes, and finally, ‘The Day the Road
Came’. David Lythgoe partnered by Tony Blagrove, a visitor,
presented a very amusing piece, written by David, titled ‘Over the
Garden Wall’ (Eat your heart out Mrs. Maloprop). If you weren’t
there you can read this on our website. As usual Sid brought the meeting to a
close with a dialect item ‘Owd Comrades’ by William Baron, taken
from ‘Bits of broad Lancashire’ 1888. Pauline then thanked everyone for
attending and wished them a safe journey home.
NEXT MEETING –
SATURDAY 24TH NOVEMBER at The Assembly Rooms, Lytham. 12 noon start. Hot pot etc. to be ordered in advance. |
408th
LAA MEETING
On a warm and
sunny afternoon about 25 people attended the Awards Day at the
newly refurbished Lytham Assembly Rooms.
The meeting started with the
arrival of the Town Mayor of St Annes
Councillor Karen Apologies were
received from Charmian Coates and James Lancaster
Acceptance of the
LAA 2017 Financial Statement followed, proposed The guest
speaker was Neil White, best-selling crime
writer.
He started his talk by admitting
that he was from Yorkshire but had lived in Lancashire since his
early twenties.
After doing a law degree he
became a criminal lawyer but was also writing stories in his spare
time.
After this the Awards Ceremony took
place and the trophies were presented by Councillor Henshaw.
Our Competitions Secretary Olive
Riley informed members that the committee had decided that if a
competition is not run then the entries will be added to the
winners of the other competitions to be considered for the award
of Writer of the Year. This
was the case with the Douglas Townsend competition 2018.
The first presentation was to Richard
Bramwell who won the Open Competition with his story Trial and
Error.
He was presented with a cheque
for £100 by Tracy Simmonds owner of Acorn Community News who had
sponsored the competition. The Batty Cup
was won by Elle-Marie Hinchcliffe for her poem A Knowledge of
Geography. The William
Baron Cup was won by Dan Forester for his short story Their Wait
in Rust. The Mercer Cup
was won by Elle-Marie Hinchcliffe for her story A Tremor of
Violets. The Writer of
the Year was Elle-Marie Hinchcliffe. After a break
for refreshments entertainment was provided by
the following
members: Tom Ungless, Christine McCherry, David
Lythgoe, and Olive Riley. Richard Bramwell, although not a member,
was invited to read his winning 100 word story.
The entertainment was brought to a
close in true dialect fashion by our President Sid Calderbank. |
Elle-Marie Hinchcliffe - LAA Writer of the Year 2018. Well done Elle!!
For more pictures from this event, please click here
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Lancashire Authors’ Association
108th
AGM March 10th 2018
A brief Report The meeting began at 12.30pm with a free
lunch of Hotpot. Vegetarians were catered for with a mild
vegetable curry.
A very warm welcome was extended to
members and friends by the President, Sid Calderbank who was
impressed by the turn-out.
Several new-members were attending for the first time.
Six apologies were received by the Chairman. Before the business commenced members
stood to pay tribute to those
(A most fitting tribute, kindly written
by Michael Finney, was published in the Record already issued to
members. Thank you Michael.)
The business part of the meeting went
smoothly, the only change to the committee being the membership
secretary. Gill had resigned and in the absence of any other
nominees/ volunteers, Pauline Hutchinson offered to take on the
role. Dan Forrester, who has done an excellent
job as treasurer for the past twelve months, has given notice that
he intends stepping down at the next AGM or sooner if a
replacement can be found.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED.
The LAA Accounts Due to the auditor being overloaded with
other work, the LAA accounts were not returned to Dan in time to
be produced at the AGM.
These will be published in the June Record, members will be
invited to ask any questions they wish, and will receive answers. At the Awards Day, June 9th
2018 at Lytham, members will be asked to accept the accounts. This
will require someone to propose and second that they be accepted. Should this occur in the future the
unaudited accounts will be published prior to/at the AGM.
Writer of the Year The proposal concerning selection of The
Writer of the Year which was put to the AGM was accepted.
Competitions The Annual Competitions’ Results were then
announced and will soon be placed on the website. They will of
course also appear in the next Record. Excellent entertainment then followed with
a sing-a-long led by Peter and Barbara Snape, a wonderful,
Lancashire, folk singing duo, who performed for at least an hour.
After this enjoyable session, entertainment by the
following members brought the meeting to a close: Dan Forrester,
Carol Talbot, Olive Riley, Elle Marie Hinchcliffe, Ken Scully,
Dana Nadeau and our President Sid Calderbank with a real dialect
item. Everyone present agreed that the new
seating arrangement created a more convivial
atmosphere.
OJR |
Fun, Laughter, Toe Tapping and Good Food On Saturday 18th November, members and friends were treated to hotpot etc.,apple pie and cream and a wonderful afternoon of true Lancashire entertainment, when attending Lancashire Authors’ Association’s Lancashire Celebrations. Entertainment was provided by the very talented, Lancashire Folk-singer Mark Dowding, who kept things moving with songs from his extensive repertoire. The Rossendale Cloggers themselves kept moving as they performed clog dance after clog dance, until they had flushed faces and were out of breath. Toes were tapping along as the audience was taken back to a time when clogs were standard footwear for many people in the County. LAA President Sid Calderbank was due to perform some of his well-known dialect recitations, but although present, he had virtually no voice so had to bow out. He did, however, accompany Mark for one item, playing the ‘bones’. A talent he possesses, of which many were unaware. Sid’s spot was taken by ‘The Tinpot Poets’ Ron and Sally Williams, members of the Edwin Waugh Society. Their Lancashire poetry was very funny and in true dialect style, quite saucy, “Naughty Poetry” Sally called it. A good laugh all round. Olive Riley then read a poem, ‘A Bit O’ Fun’ from her new book ‘A Lancashire Rose’. The Book is dedicated to the Late Rita Jones and is being sold to raise funds for the East Lancashire Hospice where Rita died last December. The final word of the event was left to LAA Librarian, Brian Foster who read the poem ‘Owd Pinder’ by Edwin Waugh to close the proceedings. |
For pictures from this event, please follow this link
A small but very appreciative group of members gathered at St. Mary’s Parish Centre for the 406th meeting of LAA. Apologies were received from 10 members. In the absence of the Chairman, Olive Riley, Vice Chairman, conducted the meeting. After the welcome, presentation of the roses and various announcements, it was Olive’s pleasure to introduce Sid Calderbank, our new president and to perform his induction by placing the Presidents’ Jewel around his neck. Sid explained he was pleased to be the new President, but surprised at being invited to take up the position as he was not an author. He spoke of his love of all things Lancashire, in particular the dialect and history. Sid is involved with other Lancashire societies and hopes that together we can find the magic which will encourage new members. The Speaker Angela Danby, then gave a most interesting and informative talk about her time with the Southport Visiter, briefly as a young reporter and more fully as a crime reporter. The latter she found was often exciting, with opportunities to go up in the police helicopter. It was necessary to work closely with the police which gave rise to several bulletins and requests for witnesses to various crimes being placed in the paper. A vote of thanks was ably given by Peter Jones, before we broke for refreshments, a thirty minute opportunity to enjoy socialising with others present. Entertainment by members followed with readings by Charmian Coates, Christine McCherry and Elle Marie Hinchcliffe. Sid Calderbank then read the first ‘Crack’ from a book called ‘Cracks from a Cobbler’s Seat’ by Robert Rowe. Dialect such as that has not been heard very often at LAA meetings. Brian Foster our Librarian then read the dialect poem, ‘A Lancashire Mon’ to close the meeting. The Vice Chairman then thanked those members who had served the refreshment and everyone for coming, wishing them all a safe journey home. NOTICES: LAA Library, within Accrington Library will be open and manned from Lancashire Meeting: - Please note – The start time of this meeting is 12 noon, NOT 1pm as stated on the poster in the September Record. Olive J. Riley Vice Chairman.
|
To see pictures from this meeting, please click here
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On a cool and showery afternoon about 30 people attended the Awards Day at Lytham Assembly Rooms. The meeting started with the arrival of Deputy Mayor Elect of St Anne’s Councillor Carol Lanyon who was welcomed by Chairman Pauline Hutchinson and presented with the traditional red rose. Apologies were received from Lily Driver, Dana Nadau, Tom Halsall, Mary Cardwell, Lilian Boucher, Carol Talbot, Steve and Chrissie Keelan, Jeanette Greaves and Jill McDonald Constable. The committee are delighted that Sid has accepted their invitation to become the next LAA President, and had planned to inaugurate him at this meeting. The first item was a film made by Haywards Heath Movie Makers from a story by one of our members Peter Jones. The story was titled Cause for Concern but this was changed for the film version to Shock Treatment. The theme for the story was Drama Queen. It was one of just two entries from LAA for the ‘Write a story for a Film Challenge’ set us each year by the Movie Makers. This was followed by David Evans, our guest speaker, who gave a very interesting talk on Blackpool's Hidden Heritage. He told us that Blackpool got its name not from a black pool but a black pull which is an old word for a stream. It was the first holiday resort set up entirely for the working people of Lancashire in the 19th century as most other resorts were developed from places visited by the middle classes. He gave many facts about the town that were not known by most of the audience. For example, Beatrice Potter was cremated in Blackpool, Amy Johnson flew to Blackpool to visit her aunt and her final flight was from the local aerodrome and Jaguar Cars started in Blackpool. After this the Awards Ceremony took place. First to be presented with his award and certificate was, Neil Wilson, winner of the 2016 Open Flash Fiction competition. We were delighted that Neil was able to be with us, having travelled over the border from Yorkshire. (He enjoyed the afternoon so much he is thinking of joining LAA.) Dan Forrester, LAA treasurer, spoke briefly about the National Association of Writers’ Groups (NAWG) and the opportunities available to members. LAA has recently joined this association. After a break for refreshments entertainment was provided by the following members: Neil Wilson also read his winning story – Life after Death. It was good to have our patron, Melinda Hammond and her husband Terry join us on this occasion, and we must thank Melinda for bringing free copies of her next book, due out in September. |
For pictures of the above please click here
Brief Report on A.G.M of the Lancashire Authors’ Association on the 11th of March 2017.
Tom Ungless
gave an interview on Radio Lancashire on the morning of the
meeting publicising the Lancashire Authors’ Association meeting.
In addition he visited various Library’s/ Writing groups and left
details of the meeting. Peter Jones also posted it on several
Facebook pages /forums. Despite this there was a disappointing
turnout.
The meeting began with a welcome to those
present.
This was followed by a Silent Tribute to
members who had died since the last AGM; in particular Rita Jones
our Publicity Officer.
The A.G.M. reports had been posted to
members in advance and proved to be helpful in shortening the time
taken up in the formal part of the meeting.
The Officers standing for the committee
were elected, but there is still a vacancy for Assistant
Competitions’ Secretary following the resignation of Chrissie
Keelan.
The proposal to increase subscriptions was
defeated. Membership fees will remain as at present.
With the business over, refreshments were
served including cake and biscuits.
Christine McCherry read a poem she had
written called ’Welcome Lancashire Authors’
The entertainment programme began with
Callum Thomas, a young musician from Oswaldtwistle playing
Keyboard and singing ‘Hallelujah’.
He followed this with some of his own compositions.
Alison Chisholm, patron of the L.A.A. gave
an entertaining performance of some of her poetry.
We were then treated to an interesting and
informative talk by Nick Oldham, best-selling author of crime
fiction.
To conclude, Callum played more of his own
work as well as classics like David Bowie’s “Life on Mars”
The meeting ended with the announcements
of the winners of the 2017 competitions. These results will be put on the website
shortly.
Christine McCherry
LAA Member
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Astley
Hall came alive and Lancashire Authors were there.
Although it was 27th November, Christmas was in the
air. In
this sixteenth century building, a tree stood proud and tall,
Santa’s sleigh of red and gold was right there in the
beautiful hall. My
mind drifted back in time, to the days when this place was a
home, A
huge, log fire would burn in the grate and the table with food
would groan! Ladies
and Gents in their finery would dance the night away.
“Hello” said a voice close beside me, bringing me back to
today. A
small group of L.A.A. members had joined the activities there, They
took it in turns to do readings, from their works, as they sat
by the stair.
Visitors engaged with members, beside the interesting display,
Bracketed by two banners advertising the L.A.A.
Outside were other attractions, clog dancing, Morris Men and
bands The
Town Crier making announcements, all day lending a hand. L.A.A.
had its star attraction, from Southport, a published poet
came, Well
known across the country – Alison Chisholm of ‘Writing’ fame. Alison
read some beautiful poems selected from her latest book.
Passers-by, hearing her words, stopped, to listen and to look. Around
3 p.m. it went quiet, so we packed up our things on display And
feeling the day had been a success, set off, each going our
separate way. * * * * * Thanks
for giving of their time go to: Tom and Heather Ungless, Dea
Parkin, Jeanette Greaves, Pam and John my two friends from
Bristol and last, but not least, our patron Alison Chisholm. During
the afternoon I was delighted to present Alison with the
L.A.A. Angus Butterworth Trophy. This
trophy is awarded each year to someone whose aims and ideals
are in line with those of Lancashire Authors’ Association.
© 2016 Olive J Riley
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* * * * *
Report on the Lancashire
Meeting
Saturday 19th
November 2016
Lancashire is just as much a home to snow
as it is to cotton mills, so a touch of wintry weather isn’t going
to keep lovers of the county’s literature, music and history from
the 2016 Lancashire Day. The event was again held in Rochdale, the
birthplace of the LAA, and was opened by Olive Riley passing on
the apologies of those who couldn’t attend before presenting
Lancashire roses to the Mayor and Mayoress of Rochdale, Cllr Ray
Dutton and Cllr Elaine Dutton. The Mayor read the Lancashire Day
Proclamation and led a toast to The Queen, Duke of Lancaster. The entertainment commenced with Tony
Stone and Tony Henry from the amateur dramatic society Poulton
Drama, who recounted their participation in the project “Dream
2016”. As director and actor respectively, they were part of an
ambitious collaboration between the RSC and local amateur groups,
along with a total 650 children, to stage a production of A
Midsummer Night’s Dream in fourteen locations throughout the UK to
celebrate 400 years since the Bard’s death.
Their journey was one of auditions,
rehearsals, intensive training days and even, for Tony Henry, a
trip to hospital after coming off second best in a movement
workshop. Nobody ever said Shakespeare was easy, but that was
nothing compared to the two-minute dance video they had to make to
show off their skills. Their hard work eventually led them to
seven shows at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre, but it didn’t stop
there; they were such a success that the RSC invited them to top
off Dream 2016 with two performances in Stratford. Tony Henry
rounded off their entertaining talk with a monologue from Bottom,
his role in the play,
which
was extremely well received.
We were then treated to some traditional
Lancashire folk music from Mark Dowding with his accordion, banjo
and guitar. Mark gave us a quick history of each song, and has
such a natural and entertaining style that the room was soon
singing along to “We come a cob-a-coalin’ on Bonfire Neet!” Next up was Burnley poet Mervyn Hadfield
who went down a storm with his collection of witty poems,
including one about Spinnach the Cat! It was time to break for tea and we were
treated with sandwiches, vol au vents and Chorley Cakes. Quiz
sheets were also circulated, written by Maeve Fagan and Brian
Foster to test our knowledge of Lancashire history and the meaning
of words in the traditional dialect. Answers would be revealed
later on … Unfortunately the Mayor and Mayoress had
to leave after tea; we were after all their third engagement of
the day but not their last, so our thanks go to them for taking
the time to join us. The entertainment continued with Mervyn and Mark completing their sets, and finally the answers to the quizzes were given by Maeve and Brian and the two winners, each presented with a red rose. A very well-attended and thoroughly
enjoyable Lancashire Day concluded for another year. A big pat on the back to Olive for
managing and hosting the event, and also thanks to those that
helped by serving drinks and food and making sure the day went as
smoothly as it did.
Written by Dan Forrester
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