The History of Harrow Writers' Circle

 Christmas comes but once a year, but preparing a calendar can take six months or more. We had the bright idea of creating a calendar featuring our poems. Somebody had the idea of adding our photo of Harrow.  A member had a friend who could provide professional quality pictures for free. We decided we wanted our venue, Harrow Arts Centre, on the cover, and that would help sell the calendar.  But we needed permission to take photos of the arts centre. Then we had to select sosmebody who was tough enough but warm enough to convince the Arts Centre to agree. Te Professional photographer could not just give us free pictures of daffodils and so on, but had to spend time going around Harrow, for four seasons, to get suitable seasonal pictures for each month of the year, of Harrow venues. The photographer now wanted to be paid for the time and trouble.  The locations of the photos had to be all over Harrow, voted by all, or with each member choosing a venue, because the pho...

 Buron Churchill Gilbert & Sullivan

Pinner  Watford

 Optima magazine was and still is a free magazine which drops through the letterbox of households in Hatch End and Pinner. they ran a contest. Members of our club were featured.

 Most meetings took place in the early days at the grand Harrow Arts Centre. This fine building was once a school.  When the club started, in 1948, just after the war, (WW2) it was run with making money for members in mind, making money for members as writers. The President found magazines which paid contributors. Others found competitions with cash prizes. Members read out their submissions for competition entries and everybody helped polish the writing to perfection. The members got payment, a living, or pocket money to supplement their paid job. As the years went on, members moved away.  One guiding light went to St Albans and started another club. Other retired. Members added were the retired who wanted to write their family history. If I remember rightly, and my husbands claims I rarely do, this is how the history of Harrow Writers' Circle evolved One impecunious person had no desire to find the cost of a postage stamp, to concentrate on composing a covering letter. ...