The Poetry Society of Cheltenham is said to have been founded originally in 1855 by Alfred Lord Tennyson , who used to stay in St James's Square when he came to Cheltenham, at a house which is now the presbytery of St.Gregorys Church. Among early visitors to the society was Robert Browning.
The society flourished in the nineteenth century, but foundered at the outbreak of the Great War. It was restarted in 1925, but ceased again in 1939.
The present Society was established in January 1967 by Wilfrid Appleby who had once met Tennyson - when Appleby was a very young. Wilfred Appleby was its Chairman until 1976. Among those who attended the present Society in its early years were Cecil Day Lewis, Laurie Lee and Leonard Clark.
Records are rather sparse, but we do know that that Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis was President in 1971, followed by Poet Laureate John Betjeman until 1984. After that, Stephen Pettit was President, until his death in 2002.
Desmond Badham-Thornhill was chairman for many years - from 1976 to 1990. He was followed by Michael Henry, for two years, followed by Michael Newman for nine. For many years the society met in a Regency house overlooking in Pittville Lawn, which was the home of Enid Barraclough. The decaying grandeur of her front room created an unforgettable atmosphere.
By the late 1990's numbers had begun to dwindle and the society nearly came to an end, as many members were elderly and did not attend regularly. However, in December 2001, the situation was saved when the society merged with a group called the New Poetry Workshop.
The New Poetry Workshop had been started informally in 1986 when a new member of the Poetry Society suggested that a writing group could be formed. The group then met for about a year in his house in Brockworth and gradually picked up new writers, some from the PSoC and also from outside. It then branched out as an independent group, advertising itself as the "New Poetry Workshop". Sheena Henderson was the first
Chairperson, followed later by Brian Holley. It met first of all at Parmoor House in Lypiatt Terrace, later moved to the Japanese School in Pittville, and then back to Parmoor House in the early 1990's.
In spite of its name, the NPW was never a true workshop, but a forum or circle which provided in-depth and knowledgeable criticism of members' poems. The approach used was the so-called Philip Hobsbawm Method, and this has been so successful, it has never been changed. At various times the group has given readings to local societies including Women's Institutes, and has taken part in festivals and concerts. Some members are published poets with 'slim volumes' to their credit, some have been published in well-known poetry magazines, some have won competitions, some are newer to poetry, but all appreciate the honest and good-humoured criticism and comment given to their work at the meetings.
The merged societies took on the name of the Poetry Society of Cheltenham, and for a while existed solely as a writer's group. Pamela Cox became Chairman in 2001, after the merger with the New Poetry Workshop, and the current chairman is Roger Turner. Recently a wider range of activities has been revived, with a second meeting every month which is proving very successful. A third meeting each month will commence in March 2009.
