A Short History of the Group

On Wednesday the 2nd of June 1982 five people met at the insistent request of one Lawrence Dean in the LAMB & PACKET public house on Friargate in Preston. Lawrence had phoned up everyone in the Preston area who was a member of the British SF Association, and now persuaded them to meet every two weeks.

This was the beginning of three decades of activity for the Preston Speculative Fiction Group. That initial membership of five grew to become a floating membership of over two hundred.

When the Lamb & Packet became too busy and noisy the Group started to feel squashed. The next venue was THE GUILD TAVERN in October '82. Through Lawrence's efforts and word of mouth advertising the Group continued to grow to about 10 people. It was around this time that Bryan Talbot joined.

Youi're viewing a collection of archived material, most of it from the first two decades of the PSFG's activities. The original website was designed by David 'Deeb' Young with most of the content supplied by Graeme Hurry. This updated presentation of the material features background art by PSFG regular Chris Moore.

The Preston SF Group continues to this day, though its affairs are now conducted in a far more laid-back fashion with monthly meetings and the occasional special event. See the right-hand column for an extended account of its movements, membership, and activities in those earlier times, and for profiles of the many guest speakers from the worlds of books, comics, and - just occasionally, this being old-school fandom - from the media.