SHARPE'S POTTERY CENTRE

   South Derbyshire Writers' Group


   A project partner of
   Sharpe's Pottery Heritage and Arts Trust Ltd

   The Group was formed in 1993 to assist and encourage
   its member writers to collaborate on heritage and other
   agreed projects of interest to the people of South Derbyshire.

Out of the Dark - a people's history of Swadlincote, revealing the character of a place through the stories of its inhabitants. The South Derbyshire Writers' Group spent two years collecting and writing down a multitude of stories from its people with the aim of producing a book 'worthy of those people who had shaped our past'. What was the Monkey Parade? What did Daredevil Peggy do? There's more to learn about Ernie Hall, the Harrison sisters, Jack Bodell, The Rink, Salt's, pits, pots and pipes.

Into the Light 2000 - a continuation of Swadlincote people's history, showing the changes from the 1930s to the millennium.

Sounds Like 'Swad' - the voices of the people of Swadlincote, as featured on Radio Derby over the Christmas and New Year holiday of 1998/9.

A Garland of Verse by Eileen Harvey

Down The Oversetts by Tony Leech features twenty five years of personal memories, stories, pictures of people and places from one street in Newhall, Swadlincote.

The details of the four books, one audio cassette (now CD) and Millennium Procession Scripts are:

Notes:

• 'Sounds Like Swad' was originally produced on a cassette at £3.00, but is now only available on CD at £4.00.
  
• The Millennium Procession scripts were produced by Group members after a Workshop run by a Playwright member, who assembled the sketches with a central theme.

Current projects:

• Eighty seven years of memories, including the shops, properties and residents of 1920s and 1950s High Street, Swadlincote.
• Working with local schools to encourage children in their writing.
• Collection of members' work for publication and continuation of Archive material collection.

Copies of all archive material go to The Magic Attic and the Design and Heritage section of the South Derbyshire District Council planning department. The material is available in Local Studies for schools in the area.

The Formation of the Group

The South Derbyshire Writers' Group was formed in 1993. At that time, the members numbered from five to fifteen. The constitution adopted in 1997 declared that the group are committed to assist and encourage all writers who join to collaborate on heritage and other agreed projects of interest to the people of the South Derbyshire area. Any surplus funds from projects are to be used to further literary development.

Over five hundred participants

Well over five hundred people have contributed to the projects in some way. Pieces of dialect or an anecdote have come from as far afield as America or Australia; others have 'given' their voice and as much as thirty pages of transcript, which have been transcribed from the interview cassette tapes verbatim. If anyone were to tell the contributors to the books, tape and archive that they were indeed 'writers' or 'authors', they would laugh.

Are you interested?

Contact Monica by telephoning 01283 225729 or by email. New to writing, or experienced, everyone is welcome. Between twenty and thirty people attend workshops, talks, seminars or surgeries. Twenty seven people are on the mailing list, some of whom ask for assistance by post.

Another website that may be of interest: Wordwizard