Bexhill's adult education

The Workers' Educational Association is running a number of courses in Bexhill which are mostly art-based.

Classes include 'Getting Crafty With Paper' on Monday afternoons in the Wesley Rooms in Little Common, and History of French Art and Architecture, which will take place on Wednesday afternoons at St Peter's Community Centre in the Old Town.

Creative Writing will be on Tuesday mornings in the Northern Hotel when students will have the chance to explore prose, poetry and creative writing, and develop personal style.

Equally fascinating could be learning about the music of Vienna, craftwork with paper, or painting with watercolour, which is as popular as ever.

The classes are organised by the WEA which is the major voluntary adult education organisation in Britain providing more than 10,000 courses for 150,000 students.

Allan Bula, chairman of the Bexhill Branch, started doing the classes himself when he lived in Guildford.

He said: "The courses are very art-based at the moment in Bexhill. When I first came here in 1980 there was also English Literature, which we haven't got at the moment, and Comparative Religion as there had been in Guildford where I had been living. I started doing the class in the late 70's, it was a way of pursuing an interest...and it was interesting obviously to hear what the lecturer said and ask questions, and hear the answers, and talk to the other students, and to read and write things which didn't crop up in everyday life. It was an escape, if you like."

He has noticed that women are more likely to sign up for adult education courses than men.

The Friday morning intermediate watercolour class is already booked, but it is now possible to get places on all the other courses. Information on WEA Courses For Adults 2007-8 is available from the library, and also a booklet of Bexhill WEA courses which also covers Hastings and St Leonards, and day schools.

For further details call Allan Bula on 01424 210410