A harrowing tale about a ski trip that went wrong has won Old Windsor based writer John Downing an award.

John is a member of the Slough Writers group which has met weekly for over 50 years.

He has won the 2020 Slough Writers annual article award for Short Cuts - a piece about his own experience while on a ski trip in Verbier, Switzerland.

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Instead of returning to the village using ski-lifts, John decided to take what he thought was a short cut. The serious mistake left the writer with a terrifying choice – spend the night in an uninhabited area closed off to skiers or risk a perilous walk down the mountain in pitch blackness.

He survived to tell the tale and win the award.

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The Slough Writers used to meet weekly at the Palmer Arms in Dorney. Now they have to meet online because of Covid-19.

Second place in the article competition was awarded to Neil Dickinson for his witty article ‘Never Rly On Spellcheck’.

Robert Kibble took third place with his amusing piece ‘To Write Lists’ and Michael Pearcy received a highly commended with his thought-provoking ‘If You Want My Advice’.