KNOWN UK FAN GROUPS 1930 - 1990 (work in progress)
1930 - 31 Ilford Science Literary Circle / British Science Literary Association
1931 - ? Universal Science Circle (Liverpool)
1932 - 35 Hayes Science Fiction Club / British Science Fiction Association *
1933 - present British Interplanetary Society (suspended 1939 - 45)
1935 - 39 Leeds SFL
1935 - 37 Belfast, Nuneaton, and Glasgow SFL chapters
1936 - 37 Barnsley SFL
1937 - 39 Science Fiction Association
1939 - ? Stoke-on-Trent Science Fiction Club
1940 - 43 Paint Research Station Science Fiction Library
1942 - ? Cranwell Group
1942 - 46 British Fantasy Society *
1943 - 46 Cosmos Club (grew out of PRSSFL)
1946 - 59 London Circle
1946 - 50 British Fantasy Library
1947 - 75 Irish Fandom (Belfast)
1948 - 51 Science Fantasy Society
1949 - 54 Birmingham Science Fiction Club (see notes below)
1951 - 54 Nor'west Science Fantasy Club (Manchester)
1951 - 53 The Junior Fanatics
1951 - 60 Liverpool Science Fiction Society (LaSFaS/LSFS)
1951 - 52 British Science Fiction Association *
1951 - 53 Bradford Science Fiction Association
1952 - 55 Birmingham Science Fiction Circle (see notes below)
1952 - 60 Medway Science Fiction Fan Club
1952 - ? Newlands Science Fiction Fan Club
1952 - 54 The Cymrades (Cardiff)
1952 - 55 Fantasy Art Society
1952 - 54 West Country Science Fiction Group
1952 - 54 Lakeland Science Fiction Organisation
1953 - 59 Leeds Science Fiction Association
1953 ? British Amateur Science Fiction Foundation
1953 - 55 The Surrey Circle
1954 -(59) North East Science Fiction Society (Newcastle)
1954 -(55) Kettering Science Fiction Club
1954 - 59 The Manchester Circle
1955 - 63 Cheltenham Science Fiction Circle
1955 ? London Science Fiction Organisation
1957 - 58 Clacton-on-Sea Science Fiction Group
1958 - present British Science Fiction Association
1958 -(63/4) Stourbridge & District Science Fiction Circle (SADO)
1959 - ? Newcastle Science Fiction Circle
1959 - 67 Science Fiction Club of London
1960 - ? Liverpool Group (LiG - formerly LaSFaS)
1960 - 61 Young Science Fiction Reader's Group
1960 - 62 The NotFans (Nottingham)
1961 -(64) Sheffield University Union Science Fiction & Fantasy Assoc.
1961 - 66 Birmingham Science Fiction Group (later reborn)
1962 - present Oxford University Speculative Fiction Group (OUSFiG)
1962 - 64 Forest Fields Science Fiction Society (Nottingham)
1963 - present Cambridge University Science Fiction Society (CUSFS)
1963 -(74) Delta Group (Salford nr. Manchester)
1964 - 65 Caledonian Science Fiction Group (Glasgow)
1964 - ? Rugby School Science Fiction Society
1965 - 73 Bristol and District (BaD) Science Fiction Group
1965 -(68) University College Science Fiction Circle (London)
1965 - 67 Leeds University Science Fiction Group
1966 - ? Lincoln SF Group (... Peter Hammerton)
1967 - ? Aston University Science Fiction Society
1967 -(70) Nottingham University Science Fiction Group
1967 -(70) Faculty of Technology SF Society (TechSFSoc) (Manchester)
1967 - 68 Leeds and District Science Fiction Group
1969 - ? Herts Science Fiction and Fantasy Fan Group
1969 - ? New Irish Fandom
1970 - 85 Gannetfandom (Newcastle)
1970 - ? New Irish Fandom
1970 - present The City Illiterates (London)
1970 - 79 Ratfandom (London)
1971 - present British (Weird) Fantasy Society
1971 - present Birmingham Science Fiction Group
1971 - ? Manchester and District (MaD) Group
1971 - ? Kingston Science Fiction Group (Kittenfandom)
1972, 1974 - ? Cheltenham Science Fiction Group
1972 - ? Stafford Science Fiction group
1973 - present Leeds University Union Science Fiction Group (LUUSFG)
1973 - ? Glasgow Science Fiction Circle
1974 - 82 Norwich Science Fiction Group (Discovery/Breakaway)
1474 - ? Reading Science Fiction Club/ICL Club/Glomerule
1974 - ? The Friends of Kilgore Trout (FOKT) (Glasgow)
1974 - 78 North East Science Fiction Group (NESFiG)
1975 - ? Northern Ireland Science Fiction Association (NISFA)/North Down Science Fiction Group (NDSFG)
1975 - ? Woking Science Fiction Group
1975 - ? Science Fiction Society of Great Britain (SFS)
1975 - ? Stockport and District (SaD) Science Fiction Group
1976 - ? St. Albans Science Fiction Fan Group (STAFFEN)
1976 - ? Peterborough Science Fiction Club
1976 - ? De La Salle Science Fiction Circle
1976 - ? Keele University Science Fiction Society
1976 - ? Stoke-on-Trent Science Fiction Society (SoTSFS)
1977 - ? The Leeds Group (grew out of LUUSFG, sort of)
1977 -(84) South Wales Science Fiction Group/The Newport Group
1977 - 78 Edinburgh Friends of Fandom (EFofF)
1977 - ? Birkenhead Science Fiction Group
1977 - ? Harrogate Science Fiction Group
1977 - ? University of Warwick Science Fiction & Fantasy Society
1977 - ? Cidereal Science Fiction Society (Taunton)
1977 - ? Leicester Science Fiction Group
1977 - ? Matlock Science Fiction Group (Derby)
1978 - ? Ribble Valley Science Fiction Group
1978 - ? Bolton Science Fiction Group
1978 - ? Hatfield Polytechnic Group/ PSIFA (Polytechnic Science Fiction/Fantasy Association)
1978 - ? Sheffield Science Fiction Group
1978 - ? Wandering Worlds SF Group (Brighton - see Matrix #42)
1979 - ? The Surrey Limpwrists
1979 - ? Aberdeen Science Fiction Association
1979 - ? Swansea Science Fiction Society
1979 - ? Friends Of Robert The Hack - (FORTH) (Edinburgh)
1980 - ? Sheffield SF Group
1980 - 82 West Midlands SF Group (...Geoff Bosworth)
1980 - ? South Ealing Friends In Space Society
1980 - ? Brighton SF Group
1980 - ? Stour Valley/Colchester SF Group (...Alex Stewart)
1980 - ? Salisbury SF Club (...Roger Whittington)
1980 - ? High Wycombe SF Group
1980 - ? Cardiff & District SF Group
1980 - ? East Kent (Folkestone) SF Group (...Paul Kincaid)
1980 - ? Leicester SF Group
1980 - ? Croydon Science Fiction & Fantasy Club/Speculative & Imaginative Literature Society
1980 - 83 Harrow SF Club
1980 - ? Dundee SF Society '42'
1980 - ? South Hants SF Group
1981 - ? Worthing SF Group
1981 - ? Solihull SF Group (...Steve Green)
1981 - 82 Harringay & District Sci-Fi Discussion Group
1981 - ? Shrewsbury SF Group
1982 - ? South East London SF Group (...Peter Pinto)
1983 - ? Chester & District (CAD) SF Group
1983 - ? Lancaster SF Group
1984 - ? Mercian SF Triangle (...Martin Tudor)
1984 - ? Norwich SF Group
1984 - ? Preston SF Group
1984 - ? Warrington & Local District Originals (WALDO)
198? - ? Romsey SF Society
(no MATRIX mid 85 to mid 88, so no clubs column)
198? - ? Cretinfandom/Red Army Choir (FOKT splinter group)
198? - ? Saltcoats SF Group (SOS) (...Dave Ellis)
198? - ? Bristol SF Group (TANSTAAFL) (...Christina Lake)
1988 - ? Drake Science Fiction Association (Plymouth)
1988 - ? Dartford & District SF Group/The Phoenicians (...Jonathan Cowie)
Notes:
* no relation to current organisation of the same name
( ) indicates that date is an educated guess
? indicates date unknown, of course. While most groups menage to get an account of their birth into print
few bother with an obituary. Any of these dates that anyone out there can fill in would be welcome.
From the 1970s onwards it seemed as if every university and poly had its own SF group. Since it would be
impactical to list all of them here, only those that some interaction with fandom nationally have been included.
******
TWO 1950s BIRMINGHAM GROUPS?
What's known:
A. Birmingham SF Club
i) formed 1949 by Bert Barton
ii) weekly meetings, in a pub somewhere in the Digbeth area of the city
iii) between six and twenty members would be present.
iv) members occasionally visited White Horse
v) written up in Evening Despatch
vi) ceased circa 1954
B. Birmingham SF Circle
i) formed 1952 (by Denis Egan? - he's chairman in 1954)
ii) Friday meetings, in the Board Vaults, Worcester Street
The assumption has been made that these were the same group under two names - Rog Peyton believes this
to be the case - but what if they weren't? Could they have co-existed for two years without knowing of
each other's existence? I'd have to say yes. First mention of one where the other might have seen it
was in VARGO STATTEN MAGAZINE, but this was in 1954, by which time the BSFClub is believed to have ceased.
Could members of the former then joined the latter? I'd be surprised if they didn't. Could these
individuals in later years have conflated one with the other? Given the fallibility of memory this
seems highly possible. Or Roger could be right. Absent evidence corroborating one or other possibility
coming to light the question will remain.
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