The Shorrocks comprise a pleasant man-and-wife fan team and are, it would appear, the focal point of Liverpudlian fan activities. Norm, aa mentioned bePore, gives the impression of being a conservative, serioue young man of perhaps thirty years. Ina is a most charming and attractive mother of several children, and is beat In own in America Prom the famous bubble-bath scene fn the Liverpudlian color movie epic, "May We Have The Pleasure?" (This was sent around fan circles prior to the Loncon and, in fact, is still going about.) Norm and Ina, while not considered extremely active in fanzine fandom (even tho they are affiliated with the Liverpool club organ, SPACE DIVERSIONS), are most noted for other types of fanac. They possees an incredible asaortment of tape and movie equipment and have made excellent fan movies. Of course, their tape "last and First Fen", has had excellent distribution. (Let me add that the entire group participated in these activities but, I believe, all of the equipment belonge to the Shorrock household.) Norm and the rest of the Liverpudlians are also quite active in fandom-- sponsoring conventions and might even be termed "convention fans". The Liverpool group arranged the excellent program of the Loncon, sponsored the Kettering conven- tions (with Dave Newman being the ramrod here), and have been given a lot of the credit for the success of the recent firet annual British Science Fiction Association convention. The many-faceted Liverpool group might be termed "The Compleat Fan Club". After having several bottles of ale, it was suggested that we all migrate to the Birkenhead-Central, as there was no reaaon for letting such an appropriate party area go unused. Fortunately, Dave indicated the difficulty that might ensue in obtaining sufPicient g?asses for the party, and this problem was resolved by each of us retain- ing the glass out of which we were drinking. We then ordered a quite suPPicient quantity of various and sundry liquors oP the realm and proceeded to the hotel. Dave, who is an experienced bartender, ut1iized one oP the closets for a bar, With his white apron, he really looked the part of the bartender, too. I'm pretty sure Steve or someone got a picture of Dave and the converted bar - unfortunately, this one showed up as a blank in my collection. A very enjoyable party ensued. An item of interest to othere who may be in the same predicament: about midnight we ran out of mixer, and I calmly picked up the phone to ask for rocm service. Dave and Norm had told me not to expect anything as the kitchen was undoubtedly closed. However, I obtained even fewer results than they predicted, for no one even answered the phone! Apparently, they close up the desk at midnight! Soon thereafter I escorted Norm and Ina downstairs and everything was locked up. As a matter of fact, we had to literally break out of the place Pn order to get the Shorrocks home to their kiddies. This conaisted of our removing a heavy wooden plank that was used to doubly insure the security of the hotel. After Ina and Norman slipped out, I quietly replaced the heavy plank, all the time expecting a bobby or somebody to slap me on the head with his billy-jack. The lounge was completely dark, with the only light emanating from the stairway to the second floor. I finally replaced the bar, and hastily went up the stairs, two or three at a time. Dave, our official host, spent the night with us - sharing Steve's bed. The maid kindly awakened us the morning of Saturday, September 14, 1957, by informing us that we had better hurry if we wanted brealsfast. Deciding to beat one of these English hotels out of breakfast for once, Steve and I hastily dressed, al- tbough Steve was rather reluctant, as he stated he always bathed before breaklast. Dave was dressed before either of us, mainly because he bad slept with his clothes on, So he dashed across the hall and told Will and Shel we'd meet them in the dining room. So, this time, we Americans actually took advantage of the breakfast that automatic- all'y goes with the price of the hotel room. |