Kettering Astronautics Society
The Kettering Astronautics Society was founded by Denny Cowen and Bill Panter in 1952 in Kettering, UK. Project Fan Club provided some unspecified 'assistance' in its foundation.
Several different names are used for the group and the assumption is that they're all referring to the same thing. The Operation Fantast Handbook for 1953 lists the Kettering and District STF Club with Cowen's contact details. The Vargo Statten Science Fiction Magazine v1#3 (April 1954) mentions the Kettering (Northants) SF Society, again with Cowen as a contact and saying that group met on alternate Monday evenings at The Vine, Rockingham Road, Kettering. Members had a library and were thinking of issuing a magazine. In a November 1954 letter to CriFanAc Cowen refers to The Kettering and District Astronautical Society and the British Space Fiction Magazine v2#2 (July 1955) published a profile piece on Cowen in which he said of 'the present Kettering Astronautics Society' that it was founded in 1952 and:
... flopped in the first year; but 1953 saw it become a solid fixture in Kettering for all science-fiction readers. In fact it was at about this time that a reporter from a local newspaper called and gave us a write-up of our aims.
While members of the group were listed as members of the Supermancon in 1954 it's unknown if any of them were actually present. The Society is by implication the organiser of Cytricon I in 1955 but none of the Kettering fans are known to have attended any of the Cytricons after the first so again there's an assumption that the group ceased to exist around 1955-6.
Members[edit]
Cowen identified himself and Panter as members. Ayres, Fieldhouse and Lee were named in a report of Cytricon in the Northamptonshire Advertiser newspaper (April 15, 1955).
Pete Fox was a Kettering fans of the mid-1950s but isn't known to be a member.
| Club | 1952—1956 |
| 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! |
