Bradford Science Fiction Association

The Bradford Science Fiction Association was a club in Bradford, UK which was founded in November 1951 in the immediate aftermath of NECON. There were four people present at the first meeting but the group had grown to 16 by the time of the post-NECON souvenir booklet.

Derek Pickles reported on the club's activities at the London SF Con in 1952. As reported by Eric Jones in Space Times #2 (July 1952):

Bradford has 23 members with an active membership of 15. They have no committee, but have their own club room, library, and successfully held an Exhibition in October last. Subscription to the club is 1/6 per week.

At the convention Pickles also made a bid for Bradford to host the 1953 event although both this and a Manchester bid were easily defeated by London.

The club room was located at 3 Rawson Market Chambers and was acquired for a low rent because Pickles knew the chairman of the Markets Committee and the bomb-damaged market was slated for demolition.

The group faded away in late-1953 after they had to relinquish the Rawson Market Chambers address. They did get a rent-free room at the local Labour Club but it wasn't really suitable and the club had several young members making it impractical to meet in a pub.

Pickles continued to host informal 'fanning nights' on Thursdays at his home in Bradford.

Members

• Mal Ashworth
• Marjorie Broadbent
• Freda Busfield
• Geoffrey Clay
• Mrs. Clay *
• Douglas Firth
• Dick Jones
• Derek Pickles
• Marjorie Pickles
• Mavis Pickles
• Donald Towers
• Mr. Towers *
• Betty White
• Tom White

Names marked * appear in the group photo of the Association taken at Mancon in 1952 but it's unclear if they were fans per se.

The following may have been members. They were from Bradford and attended the NECON:

• Leslie Cureton
• Alec Dicpetrist
• Marjorie E. Harper
• J. Mawson
• Mr Mosley
• W. Richards
• Mr Scarr
• Jack Sturgeon
• K. Wharton
• J. Wilkinson

Max Leviten was from Leeds but worked at or possibly owned Dell's bookshop in Bradford and so may also have been a member.

Links

• Group photo at Mancon, 1952 at fanac.org.
• 'The Rise and Fall of Bradford Fandom' by Peter Weston in Relapse #14, page 4 (May 2009) at efanzines.com.

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Club

1951—1953

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!