Chris West spends a pleasant weekend in Harrogate for the CWA 2000 National Conference.

Sleaze, corruption, the glint of knives behind turned backs - but that was all up the road, at the Conservative Conference. The CWA Annual Conference, held at the Old Swan Hotel, was a friendly, relaxed affair. Nearly 150 delegates attended and appeared to enjoy themselves thoroughly.
Proceedings began with a Mayoral Reception in the Royal Pump Room. I missed this, so didn't get to see the royal pump or taste Harrogate's famous spa water (according to a former CWA Chair, it smelt of egg sandwiches and left a funny aftertaste!). Dinner followed, then the hotel bar opened up...
It wouldn't be a CWA weekend without gory slides: Saturday started with Dr Roger Summers, Head of Scientific Support at Derbyshire Constabulary. Dr Summers laced his lecture with humour - of that dark kind that appals people not familiar with life in the emergency service, police or medical worlds. In part two of the talk, we were invited to participate in a murder inquiry via a video. Starting from very unpromising material - no witnesses, no large clues - the case was slowly built up. It is a reminder for us crime writers that much actual police work is grindingly routine: patience and thoroughness are infinitely more important than wayward genius.
In the afternoon, there was a book signing in Walkers Bookshop. The shop put on a good show for us, though there was the usual quota of writers who's publishers had failed to provide books - rather an important part of their job, I'd have thought. (My own, Allison and Busby, came up trumps, despite my being a late signer-on.)
Saturday evening was formal dinner time. Roger Forsdyke was toastmaster. Ian Rankin and Peter Horrocks gave speeches. Ian welcomed our guests, the Mayor and Mayoress of Harrogate, and thanked the Northern Chapter in general and Meg Elizabeth Atkins and Percy Moss in particular for all the work they had put in to make the conference happen. Peter, our guest speaker, took us down a winding road from cricket and Sherlockiana to the dark world of Munchhausen's Disease by Proxy.
On Sunday morning, Robert Webb, Fire Safety Services Manager, gave a talk on arson and the latest techniques in assessing the causes of fires. Accident or design? Another journey into the dark side of human affairs, in the welcome company of a professional who kept context and sanity uppermost. Expect a rush of arson-related crime novels in 2001. After coffee, Bob Barnard provided gentler fare, on the subject of young Agatha and her famous 11-day disappearance at our hotel. Apparently she was spotted on the first day, but despite the media hue and cry nobody informed the authorities. 'Harrogate,' Bob informed us, 'has always has a reputation for discretion.'
Proceedings concluded with the AGM (a good idea to hold it at the conference). Ian Rankin announced good progress in publicising crime writing, with Waterstones having a 'Crime Month' to coincide with Dead on Deansgate, and The Times planning another supplement. He handed the Creasey Bell, a strange-looking object that is passed from Chair to Chair (and doesn't emit any kind of ringing noise), to Natasha Cooper.
If this report has a vaguely Pollyanna-ish tone to it, it is because Harrogate 2000 was a genuinely convivial affair. This has not always been the case: of late the Association has seen its share of turmoil, with hard-boiled, younger novelists and older, cosier 'writers of detective stories' glaring at each other from different corners. Things have moved on: the CWA now has the feel of an open, dynamic organization big enough to accommodate, respect and foster crime writing of all kinds. We can all, I feel, be proud of that.
Christopher West