FROM poetry and plays to short stories and ‘homicidal chick lit’, Worcester Writers’ Circle has been uniting people with a mutual love for the written word since 1941.

The group celebrated its 70th anniversary on Sunday with a party at the Art House Café in the city’s Huntingdon Hall. The event also marked the launch of its new anthology The Unbroken Circle and the conclusion to a successful run of events at the Worcestershire Literary Festival.

The inspiration behind the title of the anthology lies in the circle’s claim to be the longest continuously active group of its kind in the country.

This is largely thanks to its stoic founders, Gladys and Harold Bradley, who refused to let Hitler disrupt its gatherings during the height of the Second World War.

Mr Bradley was a local headteacher. His wife wrote under the pen name Gladys Keighley.

Both were keen to encourage creative writing and the publication of writing among their fellow citizens.

The first meeting of Worcester Writers’ Circle was attended by about a dozen budding authors.

Among its first members was Edgar Billingham, a fellow teacher who wrote a radio series which occupied a slot later filled by Mrs Dale’s Diary, the classic BBC radio serial.

He won awards for his poetry and it is said he would set his class a task and rattle off an episode while they worked.

Another notable member was Roy Plumb. He wrote several novels and more than 40 tales for the BBC Radio 4 morning story slot.

A keen writer from a young age, Mr Plumb joined the circle at 17, but they wanted to review Lady Chatterley’s Lover (the racy DH Lawrence novel banned until the Sixties) so he was asked to leave and not return until he was 18.

“They had different morals back then,” said the circle’s honorary vice-president, Lynne Hackles.

“The book was banned at that time.”

The membership of the circle changed often during the war, with the frequent comings and goings of American servicemen who were stationed nearby.

When now professional writer Ms Hackles joined in 1980 it was a time when frailty and age meant many of the founder members could no longer continue. Membership had dwindled to just five.

She said: “They liked to try their work out on other writers. They also liked to encourage new writers. Without Roy I might not have become a writer.

“I hope the group continues.

There are always people who want to write but it’s a solitary occupation. If you find a group you can fit into and enjoy it will always continue.”

Seven decades since that first meeting, the group now has a healthy membership of 29.

Its twice-monthly meetings at Dancox House in St John’s are regularly attended by about 20 people, who share their work with fellow writers and receive helpful advice and guidance.

Professor Rod Griffiths, aged 66, who lives close to Peopleton, near Pershore, said he found this aspect of the group particularly valuable.

He was used to writing straightlaced and serious reports in his role as a professor of public health, but it was also his career to which he turned for the inspiration behind his creative writing.

Since joining at the end of last year he has published medical thriller A Rag Doll Falling, which is available to download on Amazon.

“Reading something you’ve written to other people is a scary business,” he said. “But it’s a very welcoming group and supportive. If you hear other people’s writing you pick things up.”

Whether professional writers or writing purely for fun, Worcester Writers’ Circle members come from all walks of life. Andy Kirk, a professional magician from Kidderminster, was inspired to join the circle by a poor book he bought on holiday.

“I thought it was rubbish,” he said.

“I said to my wife, ‘I could do better than that’. I just started writing something and when I came back I found out about the circle on the internet.”

Artist Sara Hayward, of Battenhall, Worcester, is also a member of Malvern Writers’ Circle. She likes to combine her passion for the visual with the written word.

“I’m currently working on picture books for children,”

she said. “I also like to write haiku (a Japanese verse form) and short stories. And we’ve just had an exhibition of 24 portraits of literary people such as Enid Blyton, Carol Ann Duffy and Germaine Greer.”

And it seems after 70 years of existence, the future looks bright for Worcester Writers’ Circle.

Chairman Sylvia Herbert, 62, of St John’s, Worcester, said the recent Worcestershire Literary Festival had helped to raise the profile of the group and the written word throughout the county.

“The festival has given us a boost and enthusiasm for more performance.

“I know the venues were right on board – it helped to get them known as well as raising the profile of literature. I’m looking forward to next year’s festival and I’m sure we will be taking part.”

For more information about Worcester Writers’ Circle, visit worcesterwriters. org.uk.