Medcon

The Medcon was a convention held Saturday November 7, 1953 at the T. A. Centre, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent. There was no guest of honour. It was organised by the Medway Science and Fantasy Club.

In early publicity it was referred to as the Medwaycon. A report in the South Eastern Gazette (Medway Towns Edition) on November 10 referred to it as The First South Eastern England Science Fiction Convention although it's unclear whether that was the newspaper's own coinage or perhaps something made up on the spur of the moment for their benefit.

Preparation

The convention was advertised, as 'The Medwaycon', in Space Times #13 (July 1953). There may have been other fanzine notices. There is no mention of a membership fee. If progress reports were issued none have been traced. Pete Taylor said, in a supplement to Andromeda#3 (Autumn 1953), 'It was originally intended that an organised coach-party was to be laid on for Medcon-bound fen travelling from London' but this didn't happen. Taylor mentions finding the venue 'marked on the map provided', implying the existence of some pre-con publication.

Venue

T. A. Centre was on Dock Road, Chatham, Kent. It doesn't appear to be there now although it may be the building that's now the Armed Forces Careers Office at 1–3.

Attendees

There is seemingly no published membership list and none of the reports estimate numbers of attendees. The following are mentioned in contemporary reports or are assumed to have been present as they were among the credited organisers. Names marked * are family members of attendees who weren't fans per se. Names marked (M) were members of the Medway group.

1. Tom Batho (M)
2. Eric Bentcliffe
3. Daphne Buckmaster
4. Ron Buckmaster
5. Ken Bulmer
6. Pam Bulmer
7. Brian Burgess
8. Bert Campbell
9. Vin¢ Clarke
10. Stewart Conley (M)
11. Jack J. Curle
12. Bob Dunlop (M)
13. Walter Gillings
14. Joy Goodwin
15. Jim Guy (M)
16. Peter Hamilton
17. Chuck Harris
18. Tony Klein
19. Brian Lewis (M)
20. Stuart Mackenzie
21. Shirley Marriott
22. Dave Newman
23. Colin Parsons
24. Alistair Paterson
25. Dorothy Ratigan
26. Jim Ratigan
27. Alan Ridgway (M)
28. Pat Simpson (M)
29. Len Smith (M)
30. Pete Taylor
31. Winnie Thorn (M)
32. A. J. Thorne *
33. Jeanne Thorne (M)
34. Tony Thorne (M)
35. Ron Tripp (M)
36. Ted Tubb
37. Brian Varley
38. Norman Wansborough
39. Geoff Wingrove
40. Pete Wright (M)

A. J. Thorne was Tony Thorne's father who helped out with bar and buffet. Of the Medway group fans, only the Thornes, Winnie Thorn and Brian Lewis are known to have attended other conventions such as the Coroncon, even though Gillingham is only about 40 miles from London. It is always possible that other Medway fans did attend Coroncon and simply weren't noted in convention reports. An article in The Medway Journal #4 by Winnie Thorn suggest as much, saying when Maurice Goldsmith visited the club, 'The club as a whole had admired Maurice Goldsmith's paper at the London Convention while I had raved.'

While most attendees were from the Medway club or London the convention still attracted half-a-dozen people from further afield. Notable first time convention attendees include Stuart Mackenzie and Dave Newman.

The convention

Nothing much happened before lunch, at least in part because of the small number of attendees present. After lunch, Len Smith gave a presentation on robotics and many of the fans went out into Chatham to buy water pistols for zap-gun fights.

Bert Campbell gave a presentation about his trip to the United States to attend Philcon II, the 1953 Worldcon. Peter Hamilton spoke about his projected new magazine to be called American SF, although it seemingly never appeared. Alistair Paterson spoke about the Vargo Statten Science Fiction Magazine, giving fans the first glimpse of an incomplete proof of its first issue that would appear in January 1954.

Fans were then treated to 'Tony Thorne's Epishow [which] consisted of a back-projection of various well known objects, and again prizes were given for the quick-witted' and saw 'the MEDCRANK (Medway Electronic Digital Computing Rotary Analytical Numerating Kontraption) fuse in a cloud of smoke after its reflexes were tested with the odd words "Marilyn Monroe", and fans and authors struggling to pronounce fantasy tongue-twisters in spite of hearing their own words being broadcast back with a two-second time lag'. Various taped messages were played, including one from Arthur C. Clarke, and recorded.

A film show including 'the premiere of the 'White Horse' film was given, unfortunately backwards!' followed by some 'semi-scientific shorts and cartoons' and a horror story read by Jim Guy 'with the aid of stereophonic sound'. The evening concluded with an auction. The evening concluded at about 11pm.

An unnamed writer in Bang! noted that the 'Medway group ... were too modest to wear identification badges', suggesting that what was an innovation at Coroncon six months earlier was now expected. Walt Willis, who wasn't there, got the impression it was 'just one running zapgun fight'.

Publications

A six-page souvenir programme was produced containing little more than the programme and a list of acknowledgements.

Future conventions

As noted, the formal name First South Eastern England Science Fiction Convention may have been a creation of the South Eastern Gazette. If it wasn't, and if came from one of the Medway group, then it implies a degree of intent that there would be a second. If so, nothing came of it and while the Medway group continued until around 1960 the Medcon seems to have been their high-water mark.

'Links.

• The Medcon at fiawol.org.uk.
• Medcon Souvenir Programme (transcript) at fiawol.org.uk.
• Medway Science and Fantasy Club at fiawol.org.uk.

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Convention
	1953

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