Author Ros Rendle holds writing workshop at Bourne's Old Town Hall
An exciting new chapter in the story of a building was written at the weekend.
Having served as a town hall, a magistrates' court, a fire station and a covered market, the Old Town Hall in the heart of Bourne is on its way to becoming a community arts centre.
Following the renovation of The Shambles area on the ground floor of the North Street building, events such as Ros Rendle’s creative writing workshop are developing the reputation of the Old Town Hall as a venue.
The long-term aim for town hall trustees is to bring about a full restoration of the building, turning it into an arts centre.
Ros, an author of romantic novels and historical sagas, invited participants in her Saturday afternoon course to take a first step towards writing a short story or novel, or to sharpen their writing skills.
A retired headteacher who lives at Elsea Park in Bourne, Ros delivered tips on choosing the right language to engage readers, making dialogue flow, and developing a plot.
“The venue is a fascinating building and holds such a lot of history,” said Ros. “It would have been a shame for all that to go to rack and ruin.
“What we did on Saturday afternoon came about as something similar to what we have held at the Deepings Literary Festival, which takes place every other year. Because we had one last year, this year we thought we would take ‘Deepings on Tour’.
“The people who came along to the workshop were lovely and really good about joining in.
"The venue was just the right size to make it a great arena for the course, and not at all intimidating.
“Several people came up to me afterwards and said they had been inspired.”
Ros has been heavily involved in organising the biennial Deepings Literary Festival, which last year involved ‘read dating’ - a chance for people to spend a few minutes meeting up to 10 authors, finding out about their books and their inspirations.
That was repeated at the Old Town Hall after the writing workshop, with authors that included Dominic Brownlow from Market Deeping, whose first novel The Naseby Horses is out now, and Ross Greenwood, from Peterborough, who has written six crime thrillers and often references the local area in his writing.
Ros will be running a more in-depth version of her course on Thursday evenings over six weeks from May 21. To find out more call 07940 714914 or e-mail rosrendle@gmx.co.uk