Romiley Fan Veterans & Scottish Dancing Society

The Romiley Fan Veterans & Scottish Dancing Society (RFV&SDS) is explained in the first issue of Now & Then (August 1954):

When the Turner family moved into the village of Romiley, in the County of Chester, it found that two major activities of the outside world were sadly neglected. There are no fans here; there are no Scottish dancers. Immediate action was taken to remedy this defect and the ROMILEY FAN VETERANS & SCOTTISH DANCING SOCIETY was founded in April of this year [1954]. Founder members are Harry Turner and Eric Needham; associate membership is automatically bestowed upon all fans who visit 10 Carlton Avenue. Our junior section – Phil, Bill, and Bob Turner – is carrying out an extensive propaganda drive to wean the youth of Romiley from 'cowboys and Indians' and popularise spacemen and BEMs. News for Scottish dancers will appear in future issues...

Now & Then #3 (1955) brought an update on recruitment:

Local propaganda having produced no results, we are reduced to enrolling all fans who stray into the Cheshire countryside and visit the Sacred Place of Romiley. This pilgrimage to HQ may be waived at the Founders' discretion so that membership can be conferred upon deserving fans in remote corners of the Queen's Realm and Other Lands.

Now & Then #4 brought news of the first AGM, seemingly attended by out-of-town fans on their way to Cytricon, the 1955 Eastercon in Kettering. New members were:

Members of the RFV&SDS and the issue of Now & Then in which their memberships were announced. Names marked * are where the 'pilgrimage' to Romiley was waived:

1. Mal Ashworth (6)
2. Eric Bentcliffe (1)
3. John Berry (5)
4. Sid Birchby (1)
5. Robert Bloch (4)*
6. Ken Bulmer (2)*
7. Pamela Bulmer (2)*
8. Pat Darrell (2)
9. Paul Enever (5)
10. Rory Faulkner (6)*
11. Frances Evans (1)
12. Wally Gillings (1)
13. Dean Grennell (7)*
14. Stan Hawkins (7)
15. Jan Jansen (4)*
16. Terry Jeeves (2)
17. Ethel Lindsay (4)
18. Howard Lyons (4)*
19. Eric Needham (F)
20. Sheila O'Donnell (6)
21. Pat Patterson (3)*
22. Derek Pickles (1)
23. Sandy Sanderson (1)
24. Bob Shaw (1)
25. Ina Shorrock (1)
26. Norman Shorrock (1)
27. Arthur Thomson (7)
28. Harry Turner (F)
29. James White (1)
30. Madeleine Willis (1)
31. Walt Willis (1)
32. Marion Turner (1)
33. Brian Varley (1)

Nigel Lindsay was nominated for membership (#4) but 'has not cleared himself of the charge of being under-cover man for the dreaded Romiley Fan Dancers'.

____

---

Club

1954—????

This is a club page. Please extend it by adding information about when and where the club met, when and by whom it was founded, how long it was active, notable accomplishments, well-known members, clubzines, any conventions it ran, external links to the club's website, other club pages, etc. When there's a floreat (Fl.), this indicates the time or times for which we have found evidence that the club existed. This is probably not going to represent the club's full lifetime, so please update it if you can!