Ratfandom

A generation of British SF fans who came together in London in the early Seventies. Characterized in their early days by their iconoclastic attitude and uninhibited language. They are more respectable now… The members were also known simply as rats beside 'ratfans'. Core members of Ratfandom (alphabetically) included John Brosnan, Graham Charnock, Pat Charnock (whose fanzine was Wrinkled Shrew, 1974–9), Malcolm Edwards, Rob Holdstock, Leroy Kettle (whose fanzine was True Rat, 1973–8) and Greg Pickersgill. Ratfandom went on to run the SEACON 75 (and, like many similar groups, largely exhausted itself by this effort).

The name first appeared in Kettle's jocular advert, or maybe in fact a manifesto, in Pickergill's and his fanzine Fouler #3, October 1970, p. 21:

AARDVAK FANDOM LIES GROVELLING IN THE GUTTER.
WOMBAT FANDOM NEVER ROSE FROM IT.
ARE YOU EMBARASSED BY THE SELFCONSCIOUS TRIVIA OF AARDVARKS?
ARE YOU SICKENED BY THE BANALITY & JUVENILITY OF WOMBATS?
DO YOU SEEK TO UPHOLD THE TRUE FANNISH TRADITIONS OF
          B O O Z I N G and L E C H E R Y ????????
DOES DRINKING, PERVERSION, SEX, AND SELF-INDULGENCE ATTRACT YOU
MORE THAN COMMUNITY SINGING OR WEAK MINDED INTELLECTUALISM????????
          IF IT DOES THEN YOU ARE A POTENTIAL
          * R A T F A N *
AND YOU CAN JOIN THE NEW BREED OF THING RARING TO PUT THE SHIT
BACK INTO THE FAN. […]
           JOIN NOW! SEEK SAFETY IN NUMBERS! SOON WE
SHALL SCUTTLE OUT OF THE URINALS AND BACK ALLEYS TO SLAUGHTER
SPINELESS AARDVARKS AND WOMBATS WHERE THEY LIE, NO MATTER HOW
THEY HIDE. NO PLASTIC FACADE OF DRUNKENNESS OR PERVERSION WILL
SHIELD THEM. WE SHALL MAKE THE WORLD SAFE FOR ALL R A T F A N S!
         KING RAT. […]
DETAILS TO KING RAT KETTLE, [street address] LONDON S.W.

The obscure period references are fortunately explained in Then Chapter 4.1, which contains much further detail on the Ratfandom history: "originally intended as a joke, a response to the increasing use of animals as fannish totems, 'Silly Animal Fandom' as it was known (Viridiana was supposedly at the head of Wombat Fandom, while Peter Roberts' Egg styled itself 'the Journal of Aardvark Fandom')".

The following chapter also gives more details, quoting Pickersgill from Ritblat 2 (April 1974):

   "Sitting around… I had the unpleasant spectre of Silly Animal Fandom cross my mind like a deformed and retarded black cat. And it occurred to me for the first time in several days that it's not a generally known fact that I, directly or not, have been responsible for the whole depressing thing. This is not a happy thing to identify with..."
   Pickersgill explained that one day in 1969 […] he'd travelled to Bristol to visit Peter Roberts and the Mercers and had mentioned to them an item he'd seen in a MENSA newssheet about an aardvark hunt in Swansea Docks, organised by that town's Young MENSA Group. This inspired a flood of jokes, puns, and the like from Roberts and the Mercers, to his immense irritation:
   "Next damn thing I knew EGG had come out as the Official Organ of Aardvark Fandom, and my opinion of Peter James Roberts had slid down several stages. That, of course, started several related inanities such as Wombat fandom, which I had only the distant connection with. The reality of the situation finally came down during the publication of FOULER, when I called for something to put up as a parody of all these cuddly cretinacies. Something vaguely repellant, not at all warm, friendly, or sweetness and light."
   Leroy Kettle came back with 'Rat' in response to his co-editor's suggestion of 'Axolotl', and Ratfandom was born. Pickersgill's final contribution to Silly Animal Fandom was to rename the North East Fan Group as 'Gannetfandom'. The Kittens [from Kingston] came by their name without his help.

---

Club

1970—1970s

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!