Group Leader : Maggie Garrard and Olive Collins.

Since the establishment of the Hadleigh Castle u3a, what haven't we written about? Through the medium of short stories and poems, we have tackled murder mysteries, childhood experiences, things that go bump in the night, holidays, naughty goings on, science fiction, comedies, talking animals, emergencies - the list is endless. All life is here, as we read our work to the group, on the second Monday of every month and it's made even better by the tea and homemade cakes!

Over the years, we have published two books, and regularly entered, and won classes at the Southend Festival of Music and Drama, where we have performed our stories and poems. Our latest innovation is collaborative writing. One group member starts a story, another continues and a third finishes it. Great fun. We have learnt so much from Festival adjudicators, but the greatest influence on our writing development has been each other, due to the always friendly and positive discussions after our readings.