AN Aberystwyth club where members come together and talk about their passions is celebrating its centenary this year.
The Aberystwyth 30 Club is an informal group that has long attracted like-minded members from both ‘town’ and ‘gown’, its members present and discuss topics that are entirely down to individual choice.
These range from the local and cultural to the worldwide and scientific, from pub signs in Ceredigion to Argentina’s railways, and from a history of toilets to firearms through the ages.
The only shared characteristic among most members is a willingness to present talks from time to time, and the ground-rules of the club can still be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Membership is open to all by invitation, and guests are also welcome.
The club meets eight times a year during the autumn and spring, and holds a dinner with guests to round off each season.
In the early days of the club, members also enjoyed excursions into the countryside, sometimes combined with visits to local hostelries.
The 2024 centenary lecture on the topical issue ofGlobalisation: Friend or Foe? was given on 26 January by Nick Perdikis, an international business economist and Emeritus Professor at Aberystwyth University.
This was 100 years after the inaugural 30 Club talk in 1924, also by an economist, when Mr J Morgan Rees, lecturer at the (then) University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, spoke aboutThe Capital Levy.
An illustrated talk on the history of the Club was given by the Secretary at a centenary dinner in March 2024, based on the club’s archive of minutes of meetings, membership lists and photos over the years.
Another milestone will be reached on 25 October when the Club holds its 900th meeting and long-time members Max Dobson and Gareth Kelly will present talks.
Finally, one of its traditions is the issue in advance of cryptic titles, so that their subject matter is frequently only to be guessed at until the night of the talk.
The Club has already done Nothing and, still to come in 2024, What are the chances …?
Further details can be obtained from the Secretary (Hubert Rees, 01970 623668) or Treasurer (Fred Long, 01970 617072).