View source for London in '56

'''London in '56''' was a [[bid]] to host the 1956 [[Worldcon]] in [[London]]. In the ''[[Hyphen]]'' News Supplement (November 1955), [[Walt Willis]] reported that [[Ken Bulmer]], the [[TAFF]] delegate to [[Clevention]], 'registered a bid for a London Worldcon in 1956 but withdrew it in the face of overwhelming odds in favour of New York'. See [[1956 Worldcon Site Selection]].

At the 1953 convention [[H. J. Campbell]] had made a likely impulsive and perhaps not entirely serious [[bid]] for the 1954 Worldcon to be held in [[London in '54|London]]. This nevertheless attracted 61 votes. Some commentators, for instance 'Old Woodchuck' in ''[[Canadian Fandom]]'' #16 (December 1953), felt 'London could possibly swing the deal by 1956 or 57.'

In ''Hyphen'' #13 (March 1955), Walt Willis wrote that, 'Plans are being made to have the 1956 World Convention in London' with the winner of the 1955 [[TAFF]] Race making the bid at [[Clevention]]. [[Ted Carnell]] addressed a meeting at [[Cytricon I|Cytricon]], the 1955 [[UK]] [[Eastercon]], about a London Worldcon bid and [[Don Allen]] reported in ''[[Satellite]]'' #6 (Summer 1955) that 'When it came to a show of hands everyone present wanted London to be the site for the '56 World Convention so now it only remains to be seen how the Statesiders take to it!'

However, in ''[[Science Fantasy News]]'' #13 (August 1955) [[Vince Clarke]] reported that 'a possible London bid is held up by lack of volunteers for a [[Committee]] so far in the future'. He also suggested that if the London bid were to fail 1956 might see another 'International Convention' in the style of 1951's [[Festivention]] instead although nothing came of this idea. 

[[Ken Bulmer]] won the [[1955 TAFF Race]] and duly entered the bid but then withdrew it as the [[New York in 1956]] bid seemed unstoppable. However, as Willis continued in the ''Hyphen'' News Supplement, 'There is now however a very good chance for [[London in 1957]].' He added that, less momentously, Bulmer had grown a beard.

{{bid | series=Worldcon | year=1956 | locale=London, UK}}
[[Category:UK]]
[[Category:worldcon]]