Harrogate Writers Circle

Our meeting of 26th Nov 2025 was a competition on 'Write To An Image'.

First to read was Peter with a piece called 'Fair Game'. This told the story of the narrator as he arrived at the christmas fair and walked past the stalls that hit his nostrils as he resisted the temptation to spend his hard won savings. Then he came to stalls with delicate christmas decorations which he knew from personal experience were made by small children who had small enough hands to produce the fine work.

Eventually he came to the stalls with games of skill. He carefully chose a game where he could manipulate the odds and add to the number of coins in his pocket. When the stall owner arrived back he slipped away, knowing that he would get no more gains. As he returned home he called in on the children who made the intricate decorations and remembered when he was one of them. The small collection of coins would not solve their problems but it would supply them with extra food for a while at least. Then came Denise with a 'Christmas Market'.

Lena loved watching her grandmother knitting. She watched her fingers twist the wool into intricate colours. Lena asked if her grandmother could teach her. Then this winter her grandma let her take their work to market as her own fingers were becoming arthritic. As Lena walks to market she experiences vast expanses of silent snow. As she arrives she is suddenly surrounded by people and she sets up her stall. She has a conversation with a man, Victor, selling cheeses who remembers her grandmother as a child.

He told her that her grandma used to join in the dances at the fair. Soon her basket was empty and she skipped home, but she carried Victor's love all the way back to grandma. Next was Joan with 'A Victorian Christmas Market'. Jeanie and her mother enter the christmas market and we are given a detailed description of the olfactory and visual experience that Jeanie feels as she walks through the stalls with food and decorations galore.

Then she comes to a carousel which she climbed aboard. Finally she comes to a stall and a small kitten which she persuaded her mother to purchase as an early christmas present.

The members then voted, with Denise winning and Joan coming second. A discussion then took place regarding the merits of each of the entries. The use of all the senses in the description was particularly effective in all the pieces.

Our next meeting on 10th Dec is Christmas readings. Details of our programme can be found online at https://harrogatewriterscircle.weebly.com. If you want to improve your writing then why don't you pop into the next meeting.