TerraCon (UK con)

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You may be looking for the 1976 convention in Tallahassee, Florida that featured Mark Lenard called TerraCon.

Star Trek Convention
Name: TerraCon
Dates: 1976-1980
Frequency:
Location: UK
Type: fan-run fancon
Focus: Star Trek: TOS
Organization: Empathy Star Trek Club
Founder: Dot Owens
Founding Date:
URL:
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TerraCon was a Star Trek convention hosted by fans in the UK and was organized by members of the Empathy Star Trek Club. The con chair was Dot Owens.

One interesting note: there was a small ad in the 1984 program book for EmpathicCon that stated the club's interest in being one of the two British Star Trek Conventions in 1986.

The zine Tricorder was published for this con each year.

1976

program cover for the 1976 con
flyer for the first TerraCon

TerraCon was held Ocotober 9-10th, 1976 at the The Dragonara Hotel in Leeds. It was the 3rd British Star Trek Convention. "£308.25 was donated to the Yorkshire. Cancer Research Campaign. This was made up by the profit from the Con plus Nick Tate's fee of '£100 which he very kindly donated." [1]

Originally reserved for 250 attendees, space filled up so quickly they were forced to make additional reservations at the nearby Queens Hotel. In the end, approximately 400 Star Trek fans descended for the weekend that scheduled a cosplay competition packed with Klingons and Romulans, an art show, a group quiz, a disco, signings, auctions, and a cinema.

Star Trek was at the heart of the convention, but filming obligations made inviting Trek stars a challenge. Instead, the convention attracted guests such as Mat Irvine, a visual effects designer for the BBC, whose credits included Blake’s 7 and (later) Doctor Who, and Nick Tate, who was starring in the British sci-fi series Space 1999 as Alan Carter. Tate would later go on to play a number of characters in Star Trek, including Liam Bilby in the Deep Space Nine episode “Honor Among Thieves,” as well as Dirgo in The Next Generation episode “Final Mission.”

Reportedly, creating the event took 16 hour days, spread across many months. The marathon of work concluded with a celebratory buffet table for the committee and stewards, put together by Dot in the closing hours.

Community was always at the heart of these events, whether it was writing and creating an anthology of fan work, or organizing conventions. It was never about personal gain, and whatever profit there was went to charity organizations such as Cancer Research UK. £308.25 was donated from the first convention alone (£2,150 in today’s currency). Special guests who attended the conventions had their travel and accommodation paid for in addition to their attendance fee. Many, if not all, the guests waived their fees, instead wanting it to also be donated to the same charity.[2]

In the Planning

Con Reports: 1976

The weekend of the 9th and 10th October was one of pure enjoyment for everyone - with the possible exception of the overworked Empathy committee. Just on 400 fens converged on the unsuspecting Dragonara Hotel between Friday night end Saturday morning, but even the hotel staff seem to neve enjoyed our presence. The hotel itself was well organised (the only exception being the lift system which proved wholly inadequate to the task of transporting all 400 of us up and down the ten levels. Some of us took to using the stairs - once we found them!) Friday night was spent getting settled in and the various sales tables laid out. zines were the high spot of the club tables, with no fewer than fifteen new zines on sale. There were also assorted tribbles, photos, clips, and various other goodies. Eight clubs or groups had tables, and Dinky, the Andromeda Bookshop and the Edinburgh Sci-fi Bookshop had tables as well. Rob King of the Edinburgh shop had the 1977 Ballentine calendar and a beautiful U.S. magazine called Starlog airfreighted in. They arrived on Saturday morning, and were sold out within ten minutes of the sales room opening.

Guests were Nick Tate (Alan Carter of Space 1999) and Matt Irvine, who makes the models for Dr. Who and for programmes like 'The Sky at Night'. Both brought along something interesting for us to see; Nick brought along an episode from the second series of Space 1999, and Matt a collection of his models. (The new series of Space 1999 shows a marked improvement; the characters have come alive end are now personalities instead of appearing as mere puppets; there seems to be an interrelationship that was missing before, and friendship as opposed to the 'working relationship of the first series)

The fancy dress parade showed a wide range of ingenuity, with [S M] repeating her win of last year as the best alien and [R H] with the most original costume another worthy winner. [L L] won the prize for the prettiest dressed girl, and [V W] won the prize for the best dress (a four-breasted alien...) The fashion show was almost another fancy dress parade, with a wide variety of designs. [A L] won the prize for the best collection of Presses, [C O] was the best model and [M] and [D P] had the best costume Other winners of competitions were [R H] for fiction (with several STAG members getting an honourable mention), [B J] for models, and [C K] for sewing. There were also prizes for poetry end painting - apologies to the winners, but neither [D O] nor I could remember who they were by the end of the evening.

The auction was a great success; Mrs. Blish sent in 50 scripts that her husband had used for his adaptations, and these were auctioned. There wasn't time to auction them all during Sunday afternoon, so most were put in a 'paper' auction where we wrote down our bids. Other items auctioned were records, photos, posters, paintings and zines. [R K] donated a calendar and a copy of Starlog as well as a set of stills from Logan's Run, the entire proceeds to go to charity, and these fetched £14.

Assorted SF films were shown over the weekend, going on well into Sunday evening when only a handful of fans were left. The most popular films were undoubtedly Dracula's Wedding, Dracula's Banquet, and Lost With Frankenstein.

[D O] was unable to tell me just how much of a donation will go to charity (this year, Cancer Research) as not all the expenses have been paid yet. However, she did tell me that Nick Tate gave his fee (£100) back to her to be included in the donation. The STAG table took in £$40. This gives our funds for 1976-77 a tremendous boost and should enable us to provide an even better service for members. We would like to apologise to enyone who wanted to speak to us but didn't get the chance to do so. Believe me, we had a hectic weekend - I don't know about Beth, but Janet and I got about three hours sleep in the entire weekend... We'd have liked to speak to every STAG member attending, but it just wasn't possible. I'd like to say a very big 'thank you' to the Empathy committee for organising the con. We had a marvellous time.[3]

This was the third STAR TREK convention held In this country and the longer I spend in fandom the more people I find - still active - for whom it was the first (myself included)....

Conventions are inevitably subjective; I have attempted to keep this review as factual as possible and cannot hope to cover the whole range of activities available or name all the people I met or saw; I apologize to anyone - and any event -inadvertently overlooked. The most I can hope to do with this... is to stir the memories of long-time fans like myself and attempt to conjure up a picture of what these early conventions were like for later 'convertees' to fandom.

I freely admit I had no idea what to expect; I knew Dot Owens (the con "mother") by name, and had corresponded with Barbara Kitson over a fiction content entry (which arrived too late, thanks to the Post Office) but knew no other Trek fans whateoever. In fact, I was new to any sort of fandom, having only recently discovered the Norwich SF Group... For anyone contemplating attending their first convention, I would strongly advise volunteering to be a gopher/steward. I DIDN'T know that, and as a result was very much an 'on-looker' in 1976 I found later that the more involved you are in the organisation, the more fun you can get out of a convention - unless, that is, you're the over-worked chairperson - and the more people you get to meet. Although I saw a large number of people who afterwards became - and in most cases still are - close friends, I was too shy to open conversations with busy-looking strangers and spent most of the weekend with the people I'd gone with.

My group... travelled from Norwich on the Saturday planning to return on Sunday night; this was definitely a mistake - we expected to get some sleep on Saturday night! We managed to time our arrival in Leeds just as the opening ceremony commenced, MC'd by Barbie Bowerman in a startling, futuristic silver trouser-suit. This was followed by the movie INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS - the original version, long before it was remade with Leonard Nimoy. The main guest speaker for the convention. Nick Tate, then starring in SPACE 1999, followed. He was able to tell us some interesting things about the series, including the fact that getting the part of Alan Carter had saved him from a 7-week booking in CROSSROADS. Then came the event of the day - the showing of MIRI and THE EMPATH.[4] Remember, this was pre-video, and pre-reruns, and these two prints had been purchased by Empathy at some expense. The episodes were punctuated with considerable cheering, and the atmosphere, watching STAR TREK for the first time with other fans, was quite unbelievable). To round off the film show, the original blooper reel was run, the first time most of us had had a chance to see these immortal moments which might have been lost on the cutting-room floor. According to the programme, this was to be followed by a quiz, but this was demoted to the lounge as Mr. Tate had brought along an unseen 1999 episode for us to see.

Our group by this time had been swelled by the purchase of a number of tribbles; these were one of the things that were selling best in the dealers' room (with optional squeaks and pedigrees!). Also for sale were zines, photographs and slides. Two book shops were represented; one MUST have been Andromeda, and I'd guess that the other was At The Sign of the Dragon, but I might be mistaken! The only official Trek merchandise at this time, as far as I can recall, was the Blish novels. It still seemed like a magnificent display.

Saturday afternoon was rounded off by the showing of Nimoy's movie BAFFLED - which I still haven't seen the beginning of! - and then there was a break until the Fancy Dress. There was a HUGE number of entries for this - around 50 - and it was won by Robin Hill a a a Marine Corpsman- Robin at the time was well known to fandom for his superb artwork and brilliant tribble cartoons. Another much-cheered prize was won by a lady who predated the triple-breasted whore of Hitchhiker's fame by a number of years! The secret, my friend established on running into her in the ladies' [room], was double-sided sellotape. As a point of interest. Penny Landsdell, later to be Robin's wife, was young enough then to enter as an Only! Sue Moore, famous for her alien costumes, also won an award as a Drakontian, and someone also named Sue dressed is silver won prettiest girl. The fancy dress was judged by Mr. Tate, and a lady from Pebble Mill at One, who became much better known to us in subsequent years - Anne Page, with shoulder-length blonde hair.

There was considerable media coverage at this convention, including a film team from the BBC. The traditional disco rounded off the evening, with Mr. Tate thoroughly enjoying joining in the dancing. The STAR TREK theme was played at least eight times, and cheered loudly on each and every occasion. As far as I can recall, no other film themes were featured; this was, after all, before STAR WARS!

Sunday started very badly for us, as we'd somehow managed to form our own room party (not realising this was yet another fannish tradition!) ... The day's programme began with the Fashion Show. Although the previous conventions had had a fashion show, this was the first to introduce a dramatic element in the entry by Avril Landsdell (among others) as fisherpeople. Although this entry was the winner, the most startling costume of the entire afternoon was, a very brief black outfit worn by Helen McCarthy....

The film offering following this was NIGHT OF THE LEPUS followed by another convention first - Mat Irvine, already working for the BBC Special Effect a Department and equipped with any number of models, including the first appearance of the infamous Boris. Mat (and Boris!) have since become convention 'regulars' and Mat is as interesting today [5] as he was in 1976. The afternoon was taken up with the auction, at which the high prices quoted made my eyes water In disbelief, although I can't remember what exactly was auctioned.

The closing ceremony/prize giving and elimination quiz rounded off the convention programme; I missed most of the awards ceremony but believe that Robin Hill walked off with 'best author' award as well as his Fancy Dress prize. For anyone who still didn't want to go home, there was a showing of SOYLENT GREEN following this, and then a further showing of SHORE LEAVE, billed as 'Bride of Frankenstein', an in-joke from the previous year's convention when they weren't sure about the legality of showing the print!

I had never stayed in a 'real' hotel prior to this convention. I fell in love with the Dragonara then and there, becoming quickly accustomed to the stomach-wrenching lift (the only way to get from the ground to reception, the car park being in between these two locations) and the simple layout. The Brigante Suite impressed me immensely, as did the vast reception area which housed, that year, the art display as well as groups of 'collapsed' fans passing the time of day with one another.

Conventions were certainly inexpensive in those days; registration wan £4 (rising to £5) and my twin room at the overflow hotel, the Queens (about which the less said the better) cost £11.12 a night. The convention book was A5 and consisted of 40 pages with a glossy black and white cover, containing convention and hotel information, with a separate A5 programme. The convention succeeded In running behind schedule for the entire weekend, but nobody seemed to care as we were all having too much of a good time.[6]

I didn't get to see any of the films; I only managed to sandwich in half the guest speeches; my food intake over the weekend was two ham sandwiches, a whimpy, a Golden Egg fry and two Mars bars, and my sleep quota low even for a devout insomniac. Yet I enjoyed TerraCon more than either of the two previous ST cons, and the fact that I substituted vodka for my missed food and sleep had very little to do with the matter.

TerraCon was fun. Everyone came prepared to enjoy themselves, and we did. There was no cliqueyness [sic], no pretension, and, from about eight on Friday evening, when everyone started to arrive, not a moment's boredom. "Atmosphere" is an indefinable quality, but TerraCon had an atmosphere of enjoyment and enthusiasm apparent to everyone there.

I arrived at the Dragonara in the back of a van driven by Dorothy Owens' son-in-law, with Barbara Kitson, Carol Keogh and a vast pile of luggage, 'zines, auction articles and Fashion Show costumes, just after one on Friday 9th October. Unfortunately the Fashion Show couldn't be prepared that day as another group had hired the Brigantes suite for a function but we found plenty to do. After dumping the piles of EMPATHY 'zines, collated and un-in [missing word here?] Hospitalitv Suite C, the nerve centre of committee operations, and unpacking in our extremely comfortable room, I went to get the Art Show organised.

Here began my week-end long pestering of Mr. Murphy, the Duty Manager, (who is not only good looking but a very helpful man), John, the Banqueting Poster, and Dave, the engineer, and here is perhaps the most appropriate place to pay tribute to the Dragonara's staff, courteous and efficient despite the demands of nearly four hundred hungry," vociferous loonies. Whatever I asked of Mr. Murphy or his staff, from elastic bands and a cashbox to more display space, they immediately and uncomplainingly produced. I hope it won't take them too long to recover from us.

Friday evening saw the completion of half the Art Show - the engineer came in specially at half past eight on Saturday morning to find me a display board for the other half - and Robin Hill's impressive plasticard Eagle immediately drew a crowd, as did his authentically hairy-chested model of Alan Carter. We had a brief opportunity to compare it to the original when Nick Tate, our first guest, checked in just before eleven, and then it was down to the bar where I spent an hour or so with several others, including Ann Page, our Trekker-in-the-ranks of the BBC, trying to get across to the Beeb film crew exactly what Trekking is - and isn't - all about. The fun atmosphere of the con can't have penetrated to them as they kept asking why we all "take the TV programme so seriously"; but they talked quite intelligently and listened to us, so maybe we got; something through.

Saturday started bright and early; I was down in the foyer at eight, telling new arrivals where to register and finding stewards to help out in between putting up the last of the material for the Art Show. The number of entries was quite small but the overall standard was high, and Avril Lansdell and I who were judges, had a hard task deciding on the winners. Robin's models had competition from Sue Moore's lovely "Dr. Who" sculptures, Paul Dakeyne's "Galileo" and Brian January's magnificent working models of a tricorder and communicator. As usual, among the hordes milling in the foyer were so many old friends that it was difficult to get anything done for stopping to chat; but with the help of Avril Lansdell, Donna Lauchlan and stewards Dolores Whitehead and Mike Wild, the job was finished in time for the opening ceremony.

Before that, however, I went to look around the Club tables. The practice of opening them specially for stewards and committee, who are too busy to visit them at other times, is one I hope future cons will copy - it enabled me to raid the BA and STAG slide stocks in peace, as well as to collect my contributor's copies of the 'zines I'd illustrated. (I highly recommend contributing to 'zines - it saves money!) I spent the rest of the morning in a pre-show conference with Barbie Bowerman, our HC, and the other Fashion Show designers and duplicating "Star Child" with Barbara while Avril typed up Barbie's commaentarits for the Show. By dint of sheer hard work we got "Star Child" on the Empathy table that afternoon, despite such minor mishaps as the heel on my boot breaking. (I shall be forever grateful to Malcolm Davies, who spent an hour wandering round Leeds looking for a cobbler and rather longer fixing it for me himself.) I managed to catch fragments of the episodes and bloopers, and the 1999 episode Nick Tate kindly loaned us had been screened in London, so I didn't mind missing it.

Sam Armitage and I made a brief shopping excursion and returned with a Very Important Item - a thankyou card for Dot Ownes, whose hard work (well, I, call 16 hours a day for several months hard work!) made TerraCon happen. Dot obligingly went back to Halifax for an hour so I was able to collect signatures in peace - some of you will remember queueing in the Brigantes Suite foyer to sign, or being accosted by a small person in khaki who demanded that you "sign Dot's card". Some of you didn't even know who Dot was, but we soon fixed that.

Among the first to sign were the Committee who had themselves contributed so much in terms of planning and effort, and were therefore better able than most to appreciate just how much Dot had done - her daughter Cathy, Carol Keogb, Empathy's newest vice-president and long time factotem, Barbara, Jane Sayle, who booked and organised the film programme, Sallyann Griffin, responsible for advertising, and Marion Dougall, publicity representitive. (Typist's note: Helen has forgotten to mention that she was also a member-of the committee, and put in a lot of hard work organising the Art Show, Fashion Show and Fancy Dress.)

I was on duty on the LPG table from 6.15 to 7.00, and was delighted to discover that I had hardly anything left to sell! Jane, despite her hard work for the Con, had found time to put together a superb selection of ST, SF and film goodies for the table - the photos she had ordered from the States and her lovely "Baffled" pics went like hot cakes! While on the table, Irene Ambrose came up and presented me with a beautiful little pic of Ed Straker -and anyone one who knows me can imagine my reaction. After I'd picked myself up and stuck said treasure to my Con badge, we started chatting to Pat Thomas, a Straker fan of long standing and, as the Fashion Show entrants were to discover, a hairdresser extraordinaire. (Pat is one of many new.friends made at the Com whom I hope have been tempted to join the Group.) This delightful diversion over there was time at last to dash out for a meal before getting ready for the Fancy Dress Parade. The Golden Egg has never been the same since Kate Chafen tried to order a tribble-burger for her glommer.

As Fancy Dress entries did not close until 4pm on Saturday, the final list was double the number expected the day before and, again, the standard was high. Several gentlemen participated - two in Starfleet uniform, Brian Longstaff as an Ambassador of Al-Alizar, and Robin Hill in an incredible Robot outfit. In fact, the male/female ratio at the disco was far healthier than previous years - thank goodnesa! LPG members made a strong showing - Jo Banks and Eileen Wingate were the Moon Goddeas and Onunadonian Planet Ruler respectively, Miri and Ahmed Rana came as a Yeoman in decidedly non-regulation dress and Mr. Spock, Barbara Kitson was a Lyran bride - complete with 15 foot veil - and Penny Lansdell an Only. We produced the sauciest entry in the show with Madame Margaret and four - er - "ladies" from her house of entertainment - Jane Sayle (the things our Treasurer will do for the Group), Sallyann Griffin, Irene Ambrose and Kate ("call me Cactus Flower") Chafen. The most imnressive alien there was undoubtedly Sue Moore's Draconian, which took one of the prizes and Barbie Bowerman and I rounded off the LPG entry as Barbarella and the Black Queen. Other prizes went to Robin Hill and Linda Lloyd - who came dressed as a Romulan and was declared Prettiest Dressed Girl, though I'm not sure if a Romulan would consider that a compliment - and Best Costume was that, of Veronica Wallace, who fulfilled Robin's wildest dreams by having a double helping of voluptuous femininity!

The disco was marvellous - nobody wanted the dancing to stop and Rog Peyton , owner of Andromeda Books and veteran of many an SF con, remarked to me that he wished SF fandom still had the energy, inventiveness and enthusiasm the Trekkers displayed. Rog, by the way, wants help from the Trek end to run an ST/SF con, so if anyone out there is interested...

It was at the disco, too, that Nick Tate showed most clearly what a friendly and approachable guest we had. He circulated and danced for some time, making Liz Hart's 20th birthday a memorable one, never refusing a dance and generally enjoying himself as much as we did. We would have liked one of the ST actors, of course, but Nick made an excellent second choice - he even had his picture taken with me on his knee!

I fell into bed at 3.30am and was up again at 7.30 to iron my Fashion Show costumes and supervise the setting up of the catwalk. My work on the show -the collecting of forms and fees and sending information to the entrants - was over, apart from the showing of my own collection. It's interesting to note that of the five collections shown, four were designed and three modelled entirely by LPG members - we must be the most creative Trek Group around! Carol Keogh had only finished her collection by sitting up all Saturday night, having been too busy with Con work before hand to fit in the sowing, but nevertheless her designs looked lovely and were well received. Marilyn Perry's costumes for the Gossamer people of Zetel-Pher were the hit of the Con as far as the Press was concerned, with pictures in several papers afterwards. Avril Lansdell's lovely costumes for the fisher-folk of Keftui were deservedly applauded, and, despite two miscues which were entirely my fault, my own collection was superbly modelled. Krysha Bula coped with slipping trousers like a true professional. The audience were slow to react at first but after getting up early on a Sunday morning, who wouldn't be - but Beth Hallam got them into a more receptive mood. By the end of our finale they were clapping along to "Sgt. Pepper" and, I hope, enjoying themselves - we were! Finally, Sue Moore's Ape wedding costume rounded off the show in traditional and charming fashion.

The Press were there in force, and I'm told we'll be in the Observer colour supplement at Christmas, so watch out for us!

Thanks are due here to Barbie who MC'd and Pat Thomas, whose hairdressing skills and calming influence were so useful.

I was wisked away by Robin Hill for a photosession on my bed (well, that's our story and we're sticking to it - aren't we,Robin? Robin ?.....??) the results of which should be most interesting, though the carnation was never the same after I'd finished nibbling it. No sooner had I escaped down to the bar than my old friend Theo Krik, a very special gentleman, cornered me for another - and how could I refuse? People were being so kind and so flattering about my costume that my ego had doubled its size! I was soon sobered, however, by the front page of the Sunday Times, on which their CENSORED - UNPRINTABLE of a reporter actually quoted Beth Hallam as saying that we were showing 3 episodes illegally and didn't want the BBC to find out.' Can anyone think of anything nasty enough to send him for Christmas? I'm so cross I shall even stop putting his paper in my loo!

Still, it was too good a day to worry about that kind of ST - there were more people to talk to Avril and I examined and judged the Art Show, then came the quiz followed by Matt Irvine's speech. After the auction - I was roped in to help at the last minute and wouldn't have missed Rog Peyton's superb performance as Auctioneer for the world! - came the awards. The LPG didn't quite sweep the board but we did very well. One of my entries for the Fiction section, won by Robin Hill's "The Genetic Trap", 'was highly commended, and I won - the Poetry award and was Highly Commended for another poem, as was Joyce Deeming. In the Art contest, Carol Keogh's "Mirror, Mirror" tapestry won both the embroidery/collage section and the overall Art award. Barbara Kitson won the Photography section. Nobody was surprised when Avril Lansdell won the Fashion Show award for Best Collection, and Cathy Owens took the Best Model prize.

The ceremony over, the con began to wind down as those who had to leave early said their goodbyes. For those who remained there was a full evening - "Soylent Green", "Shore Leave" and "Day of the Dolphin" - and for the Committee and Stewards there was a buffet kindly provided by Dot, with much-needed ham sandwiches and an insignia-shaped cake.

At ten o'clock Barbara and I had just made coffee and said our goodbyes to Barbie, who had to catch the last train back to York and work next day, when Pat arrived for a little chat. That "little chat" finally broke up just before four a.m.! Even Trek nuts can't out-talk UFO addicts when they get together! So, at last, as Monday morning dawned, I fell into bed and slept. The papers with their con pictures were already off the presses ready for us to buy when we awoke; half the con, members were back at home; the rest of us were going back, to pick up the threads of everyday life again. After the long months of preparation, TerraCon was over.

And it was worth it, worth every effort, every problem, every minute of exhaustion and frustration, A good con is many things; the programme, the guests, the contests, all contribute; but it takes something extra to make it a truly memorable experience. TerraCon had that something extra - enthusiasm, optimism and a sense of enjoyment, allied to the genuinely receptive attitude of its members to the friends they made and were about to make over the weekend. If "Star Trek" has made any valid contribution to human happiness it must surely be the tapping of the reservoirs of creative talent and friendship in the average individual.

TerraCon exemplified this, and that is what made it memorable.[7]

June and I surveyed the Dragonara Hotel, Leeds, as we drew nearer and nearer, clutching our suitcases. This was the weekend of the convention (our first), it had really arrived at last, Excitement gripped us. It was almost too much to bear.

[snipped]

When we got back to the Dragonara I set off to explore. All the artwork for the weekend was being arranged in the foyer - drawings, sketches, paintings, models of the Enterprise crew, superman and Daleks and a massive Eagle Transporter from "Space 1999", as well as a tricorder and communicator. They were very impressive. I then took the lift upstairs where they were getting the salesrooms ready - men carrying huge boxes of goodies kept passing me and disappearing inside. Oh boy!

I ventured into the room where they were stapling together the last if the 'zines for sale and there, tethered to a doorknob by means of the leather strap restraining it was, as I was reliably informed, a vicious, black, furry TRIBBLE!! No doubt Klingon spies were expected to put in an appearance and this was their early warning system! After a good look round I repaired to bed and June and I, after deciding that it would be sensible to have an early night, talked and talked until well past midnight!

It was Saturday, 9th October, 1976, and the Convention was about to begin. Everyone streamed into the large Convention room downstairs where the seats had been arranged. Barbie Bowerman, our M.C., welcomed us all to the Convention - she was eye catching in a galactic silver suit which shimmered as she moved - and informed us that the salesrooms were now open and declared the convention officially OPEN. Everyone scattered for the exits, lifts began to hurry upwards to the salesrooms carrying twice the limit of people allowed. The rooms began to fill at a fantastic rate. As far as we could determined through the milling crowds there were books and 'zines and photographs and slides ahd posters and calendars and necklaces with "Terracon" and other emblems engraved on them; models of the Enterprise and Eagle Transporter for sale; tribbles and key rings sporting "Support Star Trek", not to mention stickers and comic albums. June caught sight of a tee shirt stating "CAPTAIN KIRK RULES OK?" making its way round the room and drew my attention to it saying "I want one of those, Lynne. I DO want one of those! (So please, if anyone managed to catch it and find that she doesn't want it, please post it to June Nicholson of Empathy - she's having dreams ebout that tee shirt!)

Money changed hands thick and fast. Photographs of all the favourite stars found their way into people's handbags, and purses began to empty. Things disappeared fast and furiously and five minutes after we had descended on the salesrooms one of the big book shop representatives sold out of books. He was absolutely staggered. There were raffle tickets being sold for pictures of Captain Kirk and a 1976 Star Trek calendar and various other things. June and I purchased some happily, although it turned out we didn't win anything. We pushed our way through the crush into the next room and bought more 'zines. By this time our arms were full and aching under the load of goodies, so we decided we would have to go back to our room to deposit them, otherwise we would have no arm-room left to purchase anything else!

Pausing briefly in our room to consume a hasty snack we counted our money and decided we could risk yet another visit to the salesrooms, so we promptly returned and fell upon yet more 'zines with cries of "I'll have this -and this - and those - and this - and one of those stickers, please - and - IS THAT LOG SIX? I'll take two!" and squeals of excitement, that is, until he told us the price of Log Six - 90p - which was quite a jump from the 60p we had paid for Log Four. But still, we did recollect hazily that there was some trouble with the Pound at the moment and the man assured us that this was the reason for the increase. We sighed and paid up, moving on then to find some more 'zines and photographs, purchasing stickers and tribbles. By this time we had come to the conclusion that if we were going to manage to carry out samples of each 'zine perhaps it would be a good idea to buy one copy and share it, instead of buying two and having one each. June smiled innocently at the salesgirl and pointed out in a clear voice "after all, Lynne, you can always photostat it so that we have one each!" The girl was horrified and I groaned, quickly informing June that this was against the LAW! As the salesgirl stuttered "You can't do that - it's copyright - look, it says so right on the front!" and pushed one 'zine right under our noses. June gazed at the writing and said "is it really?! - my friend, although law abiding, does have an extremely selective memory at times!

When we could carry no more, we left, again to deposit them in our room, after which we descended to the convention hall to listen to Nick Tate and secure two good seats for the two episodes of Star Trek and The Blooper Reel which would follow. As it turned out, Nick Tate gave a fascinating talk - really questions and answers - on Space 1999, and I for one was sorry that he had to stop. I managed to get a few good snaps of him and while the projector was being set up for the films he signed autographs - one of which I managed to secure. I also, thanks to his co-operation - managed to have a photograph taken with him! He was very friendly and willing to talk to anybody who wished, and it was a great success.

Suddenly there were rousing cheers and clapping and whistles - guess what had started? Yes - "MIRI". It was just as good as I remembered it and I still can't understand why it was banned by the BEEB (HATE, HATE, BOO-OO-OOO!) there really isn't a valid reason for the ban. (Have you all written your letters to the BBC?), Then followed "THE EMPATH" and again it was not as bad as some of the things that are shown on childrens' programmes. Then, we all sat back with sighs of anticipation to watch the Blooper Reel, when a gently persuasive voice sounded the length and breadth of the halt without recourse to any microphone - "before you all see the Blooper Reel, we've bought a card for Dot, and it's here for everyone tu sign, so you might au well do it now, while she's out of the hotel - then we'll show the Blooper Reel! ... June thoroughly approved of Kirk's way of protecting feminine virtue. "He can protect my virtue like that any time!" she said ecstatically as he rolled around the floor with some lucky yeo(wo)manM! I rolled about the aisles when Uhura responded to an order from Spock with "Aye, aye, Mr. Spock - SUGAR!" - or something like that. It was the SUGAR that had me helpless! Spock's face was a picture! Lveryone died laughing when, during the filming of "Operation Annihilate" the gelatinous parasite invading the people of Geneva is supposed to attack Mr. Spock and land on his back, but in the blooper, it was aimed too low and slapped him on the bottom, to his obvious surprise! It was hilarious! We were all sorry that the Reel was so short, we could have sat there for hours and watched that sort of thing!

Later that evening was the fancy dress show and as I was entering for it I spent a frentic hour painting my face and hands blue, positioning my silver-sprayed wig and getting my costume on. June, being lazy, hadn't entered so she rested on her bed and laughed at my antics. I finished my preparations with only minutes to spare and we descended to the foyer where all contestants .

[snipped]

What a sight met our eyes as we left the lifts. There was a Vulcan, a Romulan, a robot, quite an assortment of other aliens - myself included - a Draconian, and Carole Abbs appeared in the Space 1999 suit. There was Madame Margaret and her 'ladies' who, we were assured, not only catered for all masculine tastes in the galaxy, from Klinyons to Organians, but also operated a secret undercover agency for the Federation! Marvellous -they got a lot of applause. Helen McCarthy appeared, scantily clad in black with a very becoming horn on her head, to give us our marching orders. Barbie Bowerman did her usual brilliant job of MC-ing, wearing a very revealing costume in jade green - very stunning. We all proceeded to parade and then Nick Tate, Anne Page and Colin Thompson had the unenviable task of selecting the winners. They were - a lady dressed all in silver lurex, and she was a Romulan; the robot, complete with flashing lights; the Draconian - whose mask was a real work of art; and the best of them all - Veronica Lake with a fan of black feathers in her hair and a long flowing black dress and cloak. When she opened the cloak to show the top of her dress, we discovered to our amusement that she was displaying twice as much figure as any other lady present, but she declined to prove whether they were ALL real!

If you've never seen a Star Trek Convention fancy dress parade, you've never seen a fancy dress parade! Then, all the aliens mingled with the humans in a colourful seething mass on the dance floor and the disco continued until 2am. Poor June was entered as a model in the fashion show the following morning and was stunned to learn that a rehearsal had been called for immediately after the disco! Yes, 2am! Utterly exhausted, but willing to comply, sha headed in search of Dorothy. I followed and we tracked her down by the sound of the sewing machine issuing from one of the Committee Rooms. (It might be recorded here that June's costume was still to be madel) She sat down in a chair to await her turn and I left to return half an hour later to find her in exactly the same position! Basely, I withdrew hurriedly, not wishing to disturb the trance into which she had appeared to have fallen, and dragged my aching feet up to our room, there to remove my blue skin. At 3.30am June finally entered our room saying dazedly "I have to be back at 8.45am for another fitting. She (Dorothy) lias another five costumes to make as welll" and collapsed on her bed.

[June drops out of the fancy dress parade due to exhaustion.]

The fashion show was maqnificent. June and I settled down to watch and June's face quickly assumed a look of pure, unadulterated horror as she watched the 'models' cavorting up and down the cat walk with such professionalism that it dawned on her that she would have been expected to do likewise! She muttered darkly "I'll kill Dorothy, trying to get me into something like this! Most of them look as if they've been to RADA - and he told me it was just a two minute walk up and down the cat walk!"

The prize for the best collection went to the group represnting a fishing culture on a planet only newly recruited to the Federation which included two teenagers, dressed in short gaily coloured tunics, a fishing captain and his wife, the head woman of the village, with her staff of office and a weather prophet, in a white and yellow costume carrying a machine for predicting the weather. By the time the history of the people of this village had been recounted by Barbie Bowerman, and the models had acted out some part of a family reunion scene, June and I almost believed that this planet actually existed. It was really well portrayed. The prize for the best costume went deservedly, to the two Gossamer Creatures, mother and daughter., who were both dressed in white from head to toe, with the exception of some blue "plumage" on the shoulders of the young girl. Their dresses were filmy and delicate and swayed as they walked down the cat walk. They wore high pointed headdresses and their faces were dead white, highlighted with silver round the temples and completely alien. Then came their piece de resistance - they both pulled on a cord attached to their wrists and the top portion of their skirts at the back spread out around them and above their heads just like a peacock's tail. (Sorry for the inadequacy of this description, but being somewhat new to galactic cultures, we still have not worked out how they managed it!) Then came the award for best model, which went to our very own Cath Owens for her graceful floating movements as she showed us her costume in a dusky pink with a swirling cloak, which she used to such advantage. Cathy was a member of the "NOVA" collection, Terran based, purely fashion for fashion's sake. It consisted of fashion wear for the wealthy, ranging from nostalgic looks at the 20th Century fun fashions, especially featuring the 20's and 60's, to the latest leisure and evening wear for the Federation's "beautiful people". They were very well thought out and good to look at. We must mention one particular incident which everyone found highly amusing. One girl in the collection was wearing an all in one catsuit in dark blue or purple, and she removed this to reveal a very flimsy red trouser suit, with very low cut trousers! We really must extend our commiserations to the poor girl, who valiantly struggled with her disappearing nether garment. The red trousers seemed intent on slipping lower and lower so she had to do her dancing and twirling with one hand always supporting the waistband at the back. She was very brave - at the first hint of my trousers falling down I would have run out as if a bolt of lightning were after me! All in all, it was a tremendous success and everyone fully appreciated the thought and effort which had been put into the show. If you have never seen an Intergalactic Fashion Show you have never seen a fashion show!

...The press had been swarming all over the hotel since Friday, not to mention the TV people. [Dorothy] managed very well on the whole and was very quick in getting other people to take reporters off her hands - namely, us! She introduced us to Mike Priestley of the 'Telegraph & Argus' (Bradford) as the local Trekkers, as we come from Shipley and Bradford, and would we like to answer a few of his questions? As we still had not done any work, we decided that perhaps we ought to comply and therefore invited Mr. Priestley and his photographer up to our room!!!!

Later that afternoon the quiz was featured. There were four teams: Beyond Antares, STAG, Star Base 13 and Empathy. The question master was Marion ("Geronimo!") Dougall, with two helpers, one to keep score and one to operate the stop watch. It was - interesting, nay, fascinatinq - and when the scores were added up it was found that Beyond Antares had won with Empathy coming second (well, Empathy's team had had to spend time on organising the convention, hadn't they?). Anyway, do you know what destroyed the USS Intrepid? The name of Kirk's sister-in-law and her son? The full name of the Ultimate Computer? If you don't, you'd better do your homework before the next Star Trek Convention and maybe then you'll be picked to be a member of the team!

Then we were ready to listen to Matt Irvine who gave a talk on special effects. It was absolutely spell binding. He showed us slides of his models and scenic effects - how to create a whirling galaxy for TV and various monsters for the Dr. Who aeries. He also brought along some of his models and after his talk, whilst the auction was taking place, these were removed to a side room so that we could examine them and take photos of them. He answered all our questions about the difficulties involved in special effects work then activated the monster spider which was featured in "Dr Who" recently, letting it run around the floor, to the horror of a few people present. (Later that evening, on entering the foyer I came upon a film crew winding up its coverage when suddenly this huge spider re-appeared heading directly for the reported and his supporters. They all yelled and fled for their lives down the corridor towards the nearest door, with the spider in hot pursuit. One poor man didn't make it! In the true British tradition, the cameras kept on rolling and recorded it all for posterity.) Of course, the highlight of the evening was "Shore Leave" and again there were rousing cheers - not to mention howls of laughter at McCoy's expression when he first saw the huge white rabbit and then the little girl following it.

"Did you enjoy that, Captain?" queried Spock after Kirk's fight with Finnegan. "Yes, yes I did," responded Kirk and, as loyal Trekkers who wouldn't dream of disagreeing with their Captain, this was our response entirely to the whole convention. It was fantastic, superb, thrilling, mind shattering, totally absorbing and yes, fascinating! [8]

1977

TerraCon was held September 10–11, 1977 at the Centre Hotel in Liverpool. It was the 4th British Star Trek Convention.

After the first TerraCon, some changes were made. Instead of Leeds, the convention moved west to Liverpool. It took place at the Liverpool Centre Hotel on September 10 and 11th, 1977. Flying over guests proved once again to be tricky, but George Takei signed up as the guest of honor. BBC’s Mat Irvine also returned for the second year, along with Hugo and Nebula Award winner, author Anne McCaffrey, who would become a regular guest.

By the second convention, TerraCon had started to attract the attention of the local and national newspapers, including the Daily Express who headlined an article “Trekkers Beaming For Show” the day ahead of the convention. The piece closed with a quote from Dot explaining her passion for Trek in a rare interview: “It’s basically about peace. If 400 people on a starship can live peacefully then there’s hope for the rest of the world.”

The second year proved to be more challenging than the first. Dot had a number of helpers, dubbed “Dot’s Angels,” who assisted with preparation. Those duties would range from making sure that the guests were met at the airport and escorted to the Liverpool Centre Hotel, to helping to prepare attendee packs ahead of official start. One of the convention stewards, Susan Gamble, remembers the “buzz” of the last-minute organizing rush. She told StarTrek.com, “[At] one of the cons, there was quite a little production area going in Dot's room. I was making Tribbles, others were compiling zines (using the dreaded duplicator and then spreading themselves out on the floor to put the pages together), [and] there was fancy dress making.” [9]

  • 1977 program book

    1977 program book

  • 1977 program book

    1977 program book

  • 1977 award winners, printed in STAG #25

    1977 award winners, printed in STAG #25

  • some award categories, printed in STAG #22

    some award categories, printed in STAG #22

From the Convention Booklet:

The second Empathy Star Trek Convention 1977
  • Liverpool Centre Hotel, Lord Nelson Street, Liverpool 3.
  • September 10th and 11th
  • All proceeds to go to Cancer research.

Guests: George Takei; Anne McCaffrey; Mat Irvine.

Displays:

  • Art and Craft
  • Fiction Competition
  • Articles for Auction.

Star Trek Conventions in Britain: This year will see the fourth British Star Trek convention – it has come a long way since that first gathering of about 70 fans in a Leicester Church Hall!

Early ’74 was the date of that first Mini-Con – it was followed by the first British S.T. Convention in Leicester. Organised by STAG it was held in the Abbey Motor Hotel. The guests were George Takei and Jim Doohan. Attendance was over 200 and for many it was the first time they had been able to meet other S.T. fans – for others, a chance to meet friends they had only known through letters.

1975 STAG once again held a weekend Convention, the venue – The Leicester Centre Hotel. With Jimmy Doohan again guest, attendance was once more about 200. This was the last Convention STAG held as Jenny Elson (the then President) had to step down for health reasons.

Someone had to take over the organising of the S.T. Cons. – so in October 76 TerraCon became the third British Convention.

It was held in Leeds at the Dragonara Hotel, and the guests were Nick Tate and Mat Irvine.

Attendance easily reached the set limit of 400 and we had to turn away many as the Convention Hall simply would not hold more! The thing to do this year was obvious – the hotel would have to hold more…which is why we are now at the Centre Hotel in Liverpool where the main hall will accommodate 700.

S.T. Cons here may have taken a few years to grow, but now people know of them, and I’m happy to say I do not see an end to them for quite some time.

Thank You:

  • To Dot Owens, Cathy Perkins and Carol Keogh – in other words, Empathy for the organisation.
  • To Jane Sayle, who once again ‘volunteered’ to obtain the SF films for the Convention.
  • To Anne Page, for publicity – and of course for her work as MC during the convention.
  • To Lynne Keating, for organising the Fashion Show.
  • To Helen McCarthy for her work on both the Fancy Dress and Art Show.
  • To Keith Jackson for the time spent and letters written to find Advertisers for the con. Book.
  • To Robin Hill for the cartoons and artwork in this book.
  • To Christine Gray for the hours of typing on the zines etc.
  • To Sallyann, Jane and Carol for some of the photos used in this book.
  • To Cadbury’s for the loan of their ‘Marvellus Martian’.
  • To all the Stewards for their help throughout the Convention.
  • To the staff at the Centre Hotel – but especially Malcolm Lockley who’s cheerful and helpful attitude made the work so much easier.
  • To Joy Roberts, for her help and kindness from the start.
  • To Pam Watkinson, on Reception, who has put up with changed bookings, pleas to find extra rooms, etc. and never once grumbled.
  • To these and the rest of the Staff, our sincere thanks.
  • Last – but by no means Least – to every one of YOU for your support. Hope you think it was all worthwhile.

Con Reports: 1977

It will be necessary, in covering this particular convention, to go into some detail about the state of STAR TREK production at that time, as a little history is essential to the ambiance. A lot of fannish traditions/folklore were created...

My clearest and most abiding memory of this convention was arriving. I walked Into the hotel (the Centre, in Liverpool) and across the foyer to the registration desk, and realised I'd just walked past George Takei the Guest of Honour, who was standing in the middle of the foyer talking to a group of fans. I have since become totally blase about meeting Trek cast members, but this was the first time, I was much younger, and it was just one of those moments you know you'll never forget.

The convention was held on 10–11 September; it was a year since Terracon "/6, and my life had changed completely. No longer a neo (new fan), I was a certified (or possibly certifiable) Star Trek club president, with a dealer's table, fancy dress and fashion show entries, and I'd been to a number of small gatherings of Trek fans and therefore knew a large number of people, unlike the previous year when I hadn't known anybody at all. Consequently whilst still reeling from the shock of seeing George in the flesh (so to speak) I was swamped by familiar faces, all demanding the latest issues of the club zine - in those days, the new zines were the only source of new Trek material, and the average fan would buy everything that was new, regardless of quality, price or content. Also, following our mistake of the previous year, we had all opted to arrive Friday and stay over until Monday, In the vague (and as it turned out erroneous) belief that that way we might get some sleep!

These were also the days when nothing was ever ready on time; as a result, I spent the Friday night/Saturday morning In the committee room helping to stuff the registration packs and produce a zine. Dot Owens, the chairperson, had brought the duplicator with her, and press-ganged just about everybody in sight to collate. We sent her to bed about 2 am, then her husband Joe rang to say he'd Just found SHORE LEAVE behind the sofa, and didn't we need it? Jerome Perkins was posted off to Halifax to collect it first thing Saturday morning. After 3.5 hours sleep, my husband and I were faced with a hotel breakfast that consisted of three rolls. Trying to divide three rolls between two people on 3.5 hours sleep was a little more than we could cope with. However, It was just as well I had breakfast, as I suddenly realised at 2 am the next morning, in the middle if the disco, that that was the last time I'd eaten.

The opening ceremony set the tone of the convention; it was Anne Page's first MCing job and she coped admirably. All the guests were supposed to be there, but George had gone for a walk, seen a bus and got on it to see where it went— we got him back eventually, and fandom learnt that if George was a con guest, he had to be kept on a short leash! Of the other two guests, Anne McCaffrey said a few words, but Matt Irvine was still in bed as the committee had forgotten his wake-up call. The next item on the programme was the then-practically-unseen movie SILENT RUNNING.

I remember watching it with Carol Abbs, both or us in floods, sitting on the floor at the front of the hall In my Star Fleet uniform. Those short skirts were inelegant, to say the least, and finding matching underwear something of a game.

At this point the Liverpool Centre Hotel curse struck; a friend's car was stolen. Over the years, I think more cars/possessions have gone missing at/near that one hotel than any other.

[Much about George's talk]

Back to the convention. George's talk was followed by a showing of SHORE LEAVE (Jerome having got back with it) and the blooper reels, and then Anne McCaffrey spoke to a full hall about the inspiration behind her dragonrider books. I missed the next film, LOGAN'S RUN, and rejoined the main convention with the Fancy Dress in the evening, which was greatly enlivened by a somewhat raunchy filk song from Janet Blowers, Kim Knight (now Kim Farey) and Amanda (I'm sorry, I can't remember her surname), 'The Bawdy Ballad of the Starship Expertise', which George enjoyed enormously, so much so in fact that they had to repeat the verse about Sulu. The Gallius Family won the award for best aliens, Susan Moore added to her collection of best costume awards, Stuart Andrews won beat original costume, and Robin Hill won the award for prettiest girl. For those of you who don't know, Robin is definitely a man! The disco ran until 2 am and my clearest memory of it is the moment when Mark Harris realised he'd lost the nuts and bolts that held Martin Landau's John Koenig Space: 1999 space suit helmet to the rest of it. He was wearing the suit at the time. Carol Abbs was sporting Maya's dress from her introductory episode, which Mark, who was working for Gerry Anderson, had brought along. This was the convention, incidentally, where George Takei went to Carole Abbs' room party and spent the rest of the evening apologising for being rude about Richard Basehart (she having quiazed him about his two appearances on VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA).

Sunday opened with Carole's room party spilling onto the adjacent British Rail station in search of breakfast; I wasn't there, but the event did kind of get itself Into Fannish History, as it was the occasion when Dolores Whitbread marched up to the counter (In her nightdress, I believe. Sue Trent was DEFINITELY wearing HER nightdress) and demanded of the girl, "You! Which planet is this?" only to to totally floored when the girl replied, "Mars, where did you think you were?l" The first REAL event was the Galactic Fashion Show, an event enlivened by the presence of Robin Hill In the women's changing room, where he was doing the make-up for Helen McCarthy's impressive entry (which won). Following the success of the 'Fisher-Folk' entry in 1976, nearly all the entries told a story, and the format for future fashion shows was thereby set. The programme thereafter was totally disrupted by a LOOK NORTH camera crew, who really got in the way, as a result of which EMPATH was postponed and Mat Irvine went on late for his guest talk. I'm ashamed to admit I don't recall what Mat talked about on this occasion, but he has always been an entertaining and enlightening guest, and he definitely had Boris the spider with him. He was followed by a panel, the auction, and the closing ceremony. I missed at least part of this, joining in the by-now traditional 'outing', in which anybody and everybody In costume wandered around the streets causing traffic to come to a halt, people to stare in disbelief, and general mayhem. The closing ceremony was followed by WESTWORLD, by which time the attendees were thinning as people left to go home.

As a coda. IDICs Sheila Clark won four awards at this convention - for best fiction, fiction runner-up, best poetry, and poetry runner-up! Other awards were won by Linda Probert (art, and painting/drawing), Marilyn Parry (embroidery) and Lesley Coles (special award, art show).

The price for this convention was very little more that the previous year's, and the Centre Hotel wasn't a bad location, the main hall was more than adequate but the sales room, at the top of the spiral staircase In the foyer, left a lot to be desired and a one-way system had to be organized for a lot of the time to prevent overcrowding. Some dealers complained that their takings were down on the previous year, but this may have been due to the proliferation of new zines - people were beginning to be a LITTLE choosy. The convention programme book was a real collector's item, with page after page of beautifully reproduced STAR TREK stills. Media coverage was considerable; we even made the Dally Express, Monday September 12th, "Trekkers beam In for show" - the item being, for once, short, to the point. And polite. It contained a memorable quote for Dot Owens: "It's basically about peace. If 400 people on a starahip can live peacefully then there's hope for the rest of the world."

It was following this convention that Ann Looker started to campaign for an 'official' Star Trek convention in England. It was feared that with conventions being so popular, different groups would start trying to hold them on the same weekend (perhaps without realising the clash) and that the result would be lots of small conventions which couldn't afford quests. She suggested that the system used by the Science Fiction community in England, of voting for the venue of the next convention a year in advance, be adopted - thas way trie fans could vote for location, cost and programme to suit THEM. All those people then active in Star Trek fandom - running clubs, producing zines etc. - were consulted, myself included, and the guide-lines were laid down for the system which exists to this day.[10]

I had been prepared for about anything when I arrived except a woman in full Starfleet uniform. It was my first convention so I took a deep breath and advanced upon the receptionist. In no time at all I was browsing through a convention package, watching the film Silent Running. Part way through this film I went to get a drink - it was then I met some fellow Trekkers - pardon me, 1999ers. We had an interesting discussion on STAR TREK versus 1999. George Takei went past with committee members (I think) close by. We got autographs and went to see the sales room.

I was surprised at the amount of material available. I added to my collection of STAR TREK books. I had a guide to show me around the art room. He seemed to know what bits came from where on the various models. The other material was really good and the sketches of various characters excellent.

After lunch I attended George's speech. What can be said! George was given a wonderful welcome and I think I speak for everyone when I say it was great to have him at the con. Next we saw a film. Too soon I had to leave (I was a one-day attendee). All in all I thoroughly enjoyed my first convention. It certainly will not be my last.[11]

[Name redacted] and I reached Liverpool on Friday evening to be joined almost immediately by several volunteer assistants who helped us unload my van and begin to get the sales table set up. Then they continued unloading [name redacted]'s car and [name redacted] (she helped both bring things from Bedford) and we were set up reasonably early...

I missed the rehearsal for the fashion show because it was inadequately announced by the hotel - still, I'm used to that, I don't think in four years I've ever made the rehearsal. Saturday morning began with a bang in the sales room. Sales were interrupted for the official opening by Anne Page of BBC Birmingham, when guest Anne McCaffrey also said a few words (George Takei was missing - as far as was known, he'd gone out to have a quick look round Liverpool!) During the weekend, both Annes agreed to become honorary members of STAG...

The afternoon began with a talk by George Takei, who told us something of the progress of the new series and also that Leonard Nimoy was the only one who might not be in it. As always, George was interesting and amusing and his talk was very enjoyable. He was followed by a most enjoyable film, the title of which escapes me, but had something to do with a rabbit and a tiger appearing where they were least expected. It was followed by Anne McCaffrey, who told us about how she goes about writing a book and something of the background of 'The Ship Who Sang' - a very moving story that had many of us near to tears.

... the short STAG meeting held between 8 and 9 when we invited comments and suggestions from the members who attended. We were glad of the opportunity to hear some of you express your views. Tho meeting was opened by George - we caught him on his way to dinner - but unfortunately neither [name redacted] nor I managed to tape him, although we did tape practically everything else...

[Name redacted] and I wanted to see Starsky & Hutch (it was rather good, too) so we missed a lot of the fancy dress, but we did see part of it, including the final general parade. And I'll never forget the look on George's face when he saw Helen McCarthy just walking across the floor...

[Two names redacted] sang a hilarious song about the 'Starstrip Expertise' that had George doubled up (as well as everyone else) and then the disco started. I could enjoy a disco if the noise level was out by at least a half. As it was, the volume even outside the hall was a bit too much for me. And for once, we even managed to get to bed on Saturday night!

Sunday was even more hectic... The day began with the fashion show. More and more people enter this each year, and the judges (George, Anne and Matt Irvine) must have found it very difficult. The BBC turned up, but what they filmed was only shown on Looks North.

Matt spoke next... The film that was due to be shown next was put off until after the closing ceremony because things were running late and Anne McCaffrey had transport to catch, so Matt was followed by a panel when the three guests answered questions. After this came the auction, which had to be interrupted for the closing ceremony and giving of awards. I was delighted - and very embarrassed - to win all four writing awards -and all [name redacted] could say when the poetry results were announced was "But you don't write poetry... "

The day finished with the postponed film, the last of the auction, and then Westworld.

I found it a relaxing con, and found more time this year to talk to members...[12]

Vulcans, Rommulans and Terrans all milling about in the foyer of The Centre Hotel, Liverpool, Starfleet personal and that included Spock Mark Three in the disguise of Ahmed Rana surrounded by admiring females, it must be the uniform and the dark brown eyes. However every now and then he would dash off in search of T'Miri of Vulcan alias his wife Miri Rana, who was gazing into George "Voluptous" Takies eyes, (also dark brown). Doreen Ilines, met George coming out of the lift and he shook her hand heartily, "I'll never wash that hand for a week" she said. Saturday night was the fancy dress parade, there was Carol Abbs as a very beautiful Maya from Space 1999, four Aliens in four sizes, congratulations to Valerie and Martin Galliersfor an original and prize winning idea. They were deservedly judged the best family of Aliens. Sue Moore completed her hat trick winning for the third time both the fancy dress unusual Alien, and the fashion parade Alien. Well done Sue, she always puts such effort into her costumes and, is so modest about winning that we all think she is great. Helen McCarthy also swept the board this year, for her collection won first prize. A beautiful and imaginative collection,well done Helen. Avril Lansdell's collection was also very good and she always writes such a good script with apt music for each costume. Miri Rana was commended for her blue wig and lovely crocheted poncho worn over a black dress. Anne McCaffrey was intruged with it, and Miri said it was all Pat Thomas's efforts. Helen McCarthy also won the prettiest girl in the fashion show when she paraded in Pat Thomas's collection. It was lovely meeting old friends again, and our thanks to George, Anne Page, Anne McCaffrey, Matt Irvine, Dot Owens, Kelly Mitchell and everyone who helped to make it an enjoyable Con. Roll on the next one. Oh and what a raver Doreen Ilines was at the disco, she quite wore poor T'Miri out who was dressed as the Lights of Zetar all a glitter with crystals and pink and flame sequins. Miri said she was grateful for a smoochy dance with Spock Mark Three for a rest. Miri also tripped the light fantastic with Sam Armitage and they performed quite a passable pasa doble together. It was all too soon over and Sunday we all said our goodbyes and came back to earth to catch a terran train back to London. Our commiserations to poor Beth Hallan who was stricken down with a virus bug, (nasty things they are) never mind Beth next year you will be OK! Oh and not forgetting Eileen who stepped into the breech when one of Pat Thomas's models could not make it, she looked very graceful in gold with a beautiful sequined dragon on her back, Well done. Eileen.[13]

Day 1 On Sat Sept 11 with about 600/700 others I arrived at the Liverpool Centre Hotel for my first con; and was knocked sideways by the warmth of greetings from people who, until then, were just names at the end of letters. Whole families were there from grand-peres down to babes in arms, and a jollier lot you couldn't have found. Then, the stewards herded us into the large con room for the opening (."No, the sales room isn't open yet."), and on to the first film "Silent Running". This is brand new and I found it very interesting and unusual with a fine backing song by Joan Baez. I'd like to hear someone else's opinion on it however. The drones were very appealing; they're rather like telesets on legs. Then a quick bite (of lunch) and up to the sale room, my first; and, as I have an insatiable appetite for Trek-lit, woo-ey, no contest! Thank goodness I left the house-keeping money at home.

All the main clubs had tables with zines, S.T.A.G. (very good zines). Empathy, Beyond Antares, lots of others with the main British sci-fi bookshops, Andromeda from Birmingham, Dark They Were and Golden Eyed (honest) from London and the Edinburgh sci-fi shop; all with books, badges and posters. Dragging myself away with three zines, two photos, and a badge that said "Clean up black holes" now pinned to my front, I clashed back to the con room to hear George Takei. He made a smashing speech, light and amusing; and filled us in on the latest news on the series. Everyone was sorry to hear that Leonard Nimoy may not be in it, tho' we can understand why he must fear being type cast again as a result. It must be very frustrating, but he and Bill Shatner react off each other so well it would be a pity if he isn't in it. Paramount has been really wet about the whole thing right from the beginning.

George also told us about Gene Roddenberry's original script for the film, which was turned down by Paramount and is being brought out by Bantam so soon. The God Thing, sounds very interesting. And, of course, he told us a lot of funny stories. Then, on to our first Trek episode, "Shore Leave". As we have been deprived of Trek since before the Olympics by the B.B.C., this was greeted with cheers. "Shore Leave" is a cracking episode and even better when you're surrounded by people enjoying every minute of it. Then, the blooper (my first). Ten minutes later I was helplessly wiping my streaming eyes. It was hysterical. That Shatner!

The second guest was Anne McCaffrey the "dragon lady". I regret I hadn't read or heard of her books before — must rectify that. I love hearing about writers and how they do it etc.; and she gave you plenty to think about very entertainingly. Her latest book, "White Dragon", is coming out soon. If any of you have heard her, you'll know what a great speaker she is.

Then the second film "Logan's Run". Couldn't take this film at all. Just a matter of personal taste, so back to the sales room for more zines, photos and a badge saying, "Danger Interspacial Sink". Have I a kitchen complex? Then, as it was nearly 8 o'clock and I'd forgotten to eat, I got down a packet of sandwiches and a coke. After a dash to our hotels to wash, change on to the fancy and disco about which I cannot report as sleep was overcoming me rapidly.

Sunday 11th, Breakfast and back to the Con and Galactic Fashion Show, which had really beautiful and imaginative costumes shown by the various planet delegations; with, as a bonus, the news that the pirate stronghold of Hydra had just been captured by the Federation and there would be a parade of the captured pirates. And a right collection of villians & villianesses they were (the sci-fi society) with a spot of Vulcan unarmed combat thrown in when one of the miscreants made a dash for it. This was shown too, on the local teleprogramme. Lunch: As there was and is a bread strike in England, the hotel had run out of sandwiches but thoughtfully laid on great platefuls of curry, chicken and chips, which went down a treat. (Hope curry washes out.) Then, a final scurry round the sales room — more zines, photos, etc. You should have seen what I didn't get, but will.

Then a talk by Mat Irvine — he's the visual effects director for the B.B.C. and does the effects for "Doctor Who" among lots of other things. (Do you know "Dr. Who"? It's quite good.) He'd brought one of his monsters along, a Horda (no, not horta) named Boris, and lots of models and clips from the latest sci-fi films and science programmes. At the moment he is working on a new series called, "Spaceships of the Mind", about space habitats for the B.B.C.; and gave us lots of info on how it's DONE. He also mentioned "Star Wars" and how good the effects were. That opens over here late December. Then our second Trek episode which we hadn't seen before, it being banned by the B.B.C., "The Empath". This was a bit disappointing, at least to me. Don't know whether it was the story or the settings. It seemed very negative.

We had, then, a panel with the guests answering further questions, and they certainly gave good value, followed by the auction. This was conducted with great aplomb by Bog Payton of Andromeda with a pint in his hand (he's an Aussie). Bidding was very good (10% of the prices as well as the con proceeds going to Cancer Research). I was just pipped on the post bidding for the "Transformed Man" (I know it's supposed to he grotty. I'd just like to judge for myself). Then the close.

We all said good bye very reluctantly; and, for those who could stay on longer, there was a showing of 'Westworld." I staggered home laden with zines, etc. It's SLOUGH next year, the EUR0C0N. Hooray! Can't wait to do it all again. [14]

1979

TerraCon was held October 13–14, 1979 in Leeds. It was the 8th British Star Trek Convention.

In October 1979, TerraCon returned to a rainy Leeds with special guests Rupert Evens, a former stuntman and also adviser on Star Trek: The Motion Picture, as well as notable names in the science-fiction circles, such as writer Douglas Adams and television model-maker Philip Rae. Again, the program included talks by the guests, group showings of beloved episodes, auctions, competitions and more. The cosplay competition, referred in the program as a “galactic fashion show,” drew much interest and following the event, STAG posted a wanted ad in their December newsletter asking "Wanted: Any photos of the Dancing Tribbles in the fashion show at TerraCon."

Once again, profits from the event went to charity, with the exception of raffle tickets. Keeping in tradition of community, the money for the raffle went to help purchase an electric wheelchair for a fellow fan. The prizes included four tickets to a press showing of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.[15]

Con Reports: 1979

Terracon '79 was as uplifting and friendly as I expected it to be, and I think the alternative programme worked surprisingly well. I personally found some parts of it rather disappointing, but I think this was probably because I've only been to one other convention, and nothing is quite the same as your first con, is it?...

First on the agenda was an episode. Why can't they show ones I haven't seen?... Then came Rupert Evans - stuntman and very nervous guest! Rupert's talk on stuntwork and the many films he had worked on was very interesting, and I voted him the best of the speakers. When Rupert finished it was lunchtime (stampede to the Wimpey) and then Douglas Adams talked about his 'Hitch Hiker'S Guide' and various other things. Someone very kindly moved the auction on the 4.30 so we could all go upstairs to see Empath, so five minutes later about 200 people were trying to squeeze into a small room that just cculd not take them! As a result Empath was shown on Sunday as well as Saturday. Always a glutton for punishment, I watched it both times.

The auction was as entertaining as ever, with Rog Peyton as auctioneer extraordinaire. Who else could sell two silver pyramids of dubious parentage? Pyramids apart, eventually the auction started, with some of the items going for amazing prices. All that money...

The fancy dress parade and disco rounded up Saturday evening, and many of the costumes were really imaginative and colourful. Being a Michael Moorcock fan, my favourites were Elric and Cymoril, but Doreen Ilines was definitely the best for her'portrayal of Helva from 'The Ship Who Sang'.

The effects of the disco made themselves known when I woke up on Sunday but I still managed to creak my way down to see Tribbles and Galileo 7. I even managed to get up to the art display and down again to catch Philip Rae's talk panel slide show. The work that goes into those models...

At 2.30 the fashion show began. On time! Unfortunately I found most of the entries a bit boring - Everyone seemed to be dressed in black with sequins. The two which stood out were the hilarious mushroom-like aliens who danced to music from Fantasia and the five Vulcan 'vices' who headed for Earth after being defeated by a little boy and his sehlat! It was very funny, but what I want to know is where they got the Heinz 'Vulcanized Baked Beans in Coca- Cola!

Well, as soon as the show was over the rest of the con seemed to rush by. Lionel Fanthorpe gave his talk, then came the awards and the welcome news that the last £200 for Doreen had been raised. Another episode was shown after that, and then - just like that - it was over! Later on there was a party, but I still felt very gloomy and sad the con was over so quickly. Never mind - now I can start saving for Terracon '80! [16]

By the time evening came, the reception area was a mass of Star Trek fans, including one of the guests—Rupert Evans, ex-stuntman and advisor on ST:TMP during the first 4/5 weeks of filming. We had a very interesting chat with Mr. Evans about various things, including the movie, during which he said that in order for it to be a financial success it has to make at least $70 million. (That's a lot of pennies!). After a meal, Friday night was rounded off by a trip to the bar (strictly for medicinal purposes—doctor's orders!) where we 'borrowed' a copy of the 1980 ST calendar, containing stills from the movie, and had a good drool. After reluctantly handing back the calendar we decided to let Donna (Wilderspin) have her birthday present, as she was unfortunate/fortunate enough to have a birthday that coincided with a con. A large tribble was produced, filled with tiny tribbtes, which were promptly tipped over Donna's head . . . just hope we picked them all up and none made it to the kitchens!!!

Saturday morning started off slightly confused . .. that is we were slightly confused (then again, we usually are!). We hadn't been able to set up the club table on the Friday night, aiso as there was no Friday night registration we weren't even sure what time the club rooms were due to be open, nor yet where anything was. After getting everything sorted out things began much to time.

Although the club rooms (one for professional dealers, and one for clubs, etc.) opened at approximately 9:30, the convention did not open proper until 10:30 in the Brigante Suite. The convention utilized two main suites for showing films, guest speakers, etc. - the Brigante Suite and the Neville Suite.

The first Star Trek episode of the weekend was 'Catspaw', which I missed as I'd seen it on TV only recently. 'Catspaw' was shown in the Brigante Suite, and at the same time in the Neville Suite was a film of the shuttle (Enterprise) roll-out, followed by a Captain Scarlet episode.

Following 'Catspaw' in the Brigante Suite was the first of the guest speakers—Rupert Evans—who gave an interesting an amusing talk on his experiences as a stunt man and some of the things that go wrong. After a quick trip to the Wimpy for something to eat (now, is it feed a cold and starve a fever or . . . ?) we arrived back in time to listen to another guest speaker - Douglas Adams, author of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy', as well as being script editor for 'Dr. Who'.

Towards the tail end of Doug Adams' talk one of the banned ST episodes, 'The Empath' was showing in the Neville Suite. For those people who like breathing oxygen, the Neville Suite was definitely to be avoided. I have never seen so many people gathered in one room to watch an ST episode. In fact, there were so many people trying to watch the film that shortly after the beginning volunteers were called for to leave and give those who would be leaving early Sunday evening a chance to view the episode, and for those staying over Sunday night, 'Empath' would be repeated Sunday evening. Eventually things got sorted out and those left were able to watch the episode in some degree of comfort.

After 'Empath', still in the Neville Suite, a film called 'Universe' was shown, narrated by none other than William Shatner.

Meanwhile, back in the Brigante Suite, the auction had commenced. I like going to ST auctions, but up till now have never been able to buy anything (My bank account doesn't like having too much in it at one time!). The auction was presided over by Rog Peyton (who else) who did his usual excellent job of causing chaos, including reading passages from 'adult' zines. I thought this year's auction (or should I say, this convention's auction) was one of the best as the items being sold were mainly American, or unattainable elsewhere. Consequently the lots produced some very high prices. I was disappointed that all the American zines went for prices outside the fluffy linings of my pockets so all you people out there who were lucky ... please can I borrow them!

The auction ran late, as is usual practice for auctions, and was stopped mid-stride with a promise that part 2 would commence the following day. As it was getting too late to go out and get something to eat without missing the fancy dress competition which was due to commence approximately 8:30pm, Sue and I counted our pennies and had a meal from room service.

The fancy dress show this convention was really fantastic! The costumes were so good, as well as there being a lot of entries, that 1 really pitied the judges having to chose a winner from the mass of aliens that paraded before us. The imagination that must have been involved in creating such weird and wonderful things puts any ideas I have to shame.

Directly following the fancy dress was the disco, which I regretfully thought was nowhere near as good as previous years. The equipment the Deejay was using was jumping on the records (and you couldn't have a good singsong—who said good!) causing the songs to be jerky. It took an unusually long time for the disco to really get going, and I don't think the deejay himself quite knew what was going on...

Sunday morning dawned . . . greyed . .. and rained. (Come to think of it it seemed to be raining most of the weekend—at least it always was when I found time to look out of a window). As the club tables were due to open at 9:30 I went down and did my stint.

The first item on the programme for Sunday was 'Where No Man Has Gone Before' in the Brigante Suite, but a quick visit from Sue who was babbling incoherently about 'Where No Man' being replaced by 'Tribbles', followed by 'Galileo 7' encouraged me to close the sales table and watch both episodes.

Tribbles' was, as usual, highly hilarious when being watched by a group of ST fans (they know all the right places to laugh!), particularly the bit where Kirk gets covered with all the tribbles that fall out of the storage hatch. Directly after 'Tribbles' was one of Sue's favourite episode—'Galileo 7'. It was really great seeing this episode after such a long time (5 years, I think!) (and a certain Vulcan looked particularly nice). It's an episode that Sue gets really involved in, and it was all I could do to stop her throwing an empty coke can at Boma when he was having a go at Spock. (You're not supposed to tell them that! -Sue).

After 'Galileo 7' it was time for another guest speaker—this time Philip Rae. Mr. Rae is one of Britain's top s.f. model makers and was recently involved in making models for the film 'Alien' (whaddaya mean, you've never heard of it!). His talk was very interesting, particularly as it involved a slide show which included pictures of the Nostromo spaceship from 'Alien' in various stages of its development. When Mr. Rae's talk was over there was scheduled to be a break for lunch. However, for those interested (and who wasn't!) there was due to be a showing of the trailer for the Star Trek movie. Unfortunately as the person concerned didn't turn up the thing had to be scrapped.

The afternoon's proceedings commenced with the auction (part 2) in the Neville Suite whilst the Brigante Suite was prepared for the fashion show. At this time we were told that someone had got hold of four tickets for 'Star Trek—The Motion Picture' press showing and these would be raffled. The reason for the raffle was the amount raised at MediaCon was short of the target by about £200, and by selling tickets for ST:TMP at 50p each it was hoped the difference would be made up. And believe me it was!

The fashion show was, as usual, excellent. I would have thought that ideas would begin to diminish, but imagination was certainly running high again, with serious as well as humourous entries. The only thing I didn't like about the fashion show was the length of music between each model. Judging from the number of times when the model had finished parading and the music continued the amount of music was excessive. At the same time as the fashion show was being held in the Brigante Suite, 'Space Seed' was being shown in the Neville Suite. (You needed to clone yourself at this convention to see everything!).

When the fashion show was over the final guest of the convention gave his talk. This was Lionel Fanthorpe who has recently completed a sword and sourcery book called The Black Lion', which is due for publication in November. Lionel is a very nice person, full of enthusiasm for his work (Apart from that he joined B/A, so we've got to be nice!).

As quite a few people wanted to see the repeat of Empath (Repeats!—this is getting as bad as the BBC1), the closing ceremony, originally due to take place at 6:15, was brought forward. The first item dealt with was who had won press showing tickets for the movie. The sum raised on the raffle was £207 which meant the MediaCon fund had reached its target! The first ticket drawn corresponded with the one Martin Smith held in his hot little hand. For those people who know Martin the result brought about something akin to a miracle—he was actually lost for words! He just stood there with his mouth open in amazement. After taking a few seconds to recover, Martin then made a nice gesture—he gave his ticket to Doreen, who the MediaCon fund was for. Well done, Martin, not many people would have done what you did. And I hope you enjoy every minute of the film, Doreen!

When all the prizes had been awarded 'Empath' was shown, and enjoyed by all.

After a final farewell meal (there were 9 of us who invaded the Chinese restaurant) we returned to the Dragonara and dropped in on the Sunday night party. At the point we came in a game of charades was in full swing, with some very funny mimes. After the game Chris Chivers came and sang some of his space songs. This was followed by a repeat of the Universe film narrated by William Shatner. It was at this point we decided to take our leave - it's not that we dislike Bill's voice, but we were tired.[17]

1980

TerraCon was held September 20–21, 1980 in Leeds. It was the 10th British Star Trek Convention.

The zine Tricorder #8 was published for this con.

After five “official” conventions and several smaller local gatherings, Dot announced that she would retire from organizing after TerraCon 1980. For the last adventure, the con returned to the Dragonara Hotel in Leeds, with special guest D.C. Fontana, who stayed at Dot’s house during her visit to the UK. As well as taking part in community events and talks throughout the weekend, Fontana also made a surprise appearance in cosplay at the fashion show, which she helped to judge.

The event was a success, and ended with a closing ceremony that was described in a follow up report in the Beyond Antares newsletter as “charged with emotion.” It went on to state, “those members who have never been to a convention, or who don’t know Dot, may wonder why she was given such a huge send off… Dot contributed greatly to the British fandom by arranging five excellent conventions – three in Leeds, one in Liverpool, and one in Manchester, plus many small gatherings for fans”.[18]

Con Reports: 1980

It feels like coming home, I sink into a comfortable settee with a sigh of pleasure. There are friends everywhere! I am smitten with euphoria as all the familiar faces appear. I feel instinctively that the Dragonara is fond of us - Receptions smile! The barman laughs!.' There is a kettle in the room!.' I pick up our con books and face my badge with grim foreboding. I am jinxed on those badges, as various con committees well know. They are tolerent and resigned when, three hours after arrival, I turn up confessing its loss. Not so the stewards who, by jove, are Going to Do Their Job, and accost me every five yards....

We eat in the pot Pourri. I genuinely appreciate the thought, but I cannot face asking for either a Trekki (sic) Burger, nor a Spock Special. I note that the latter is a meat dish, which goes some way towards dispelling the notion that the gentleman himself was consulted...

It* s the next day. It's too hot. The dealers' room is spacious and I buy Log Entries. The new buffet is very good, and we get talking to a heavy rock fan who says there will be plenty of it at the disco. Silenty, I hope he's wrong. I admire a gorgeous creature's long booted legs, and fervently hope their owner is male; I am assured that he is.

The fancy dress is good. Everyone falls over on a slippery patch. There is a big Dalek, and a little Dalek. I try to explain the significance of towels to people who haven't read the book.

The music begins. There is a big blue balloon being batted around. Starship Trooper, YMCA and In Starfleet are played to death. We all admire two perfect Village people (I'll have the construction worker, please.) We all row vigorously to 'Oops upside your head'. Twice. It is so hot that Ladbroke's directors will get a good laugh out of the bar profits. The heavy rock fan is proved right and there is quite a large exodus, Anne Page looks gorgeous and I take her photo. People are wilting and melting all over the settees. Every so often a nervous 'straight' guest scuttles through looking neither to right nor left. At 1.5 we give up and go to bed....

The fashion show is the best ever. It is colourful, evocative, amusing (I mean you, Orgasma) imaginative, eye-catching and sensationally sensual, with acres of nude flesh; and now I know for sure the gender of our friend with the high boots. Sorry the Pern sequence didn't get a prize. The afternoon comes, and with it, a tinge of gloom - can it really be nearly over? And somehow I have manged to miss most of the episodes, the auction and D.C. Fontana, alas. She gives an interview in the lounge to someone with a tape recorder...

At the closing ceremony I am glad when Dot gets all her surprises, but half-sympathetic too -- it must be killingly embarrassing.[19]

What makes mild-mannered (?) human beings - and variations thereof - suddenly take part of their meagre holiday entitlement, generously given by the places that employ such people, go struggling laden with bags, boxes of zines, and other such paraphernalia, by various means of transport to a place referred to on maps as "Leeds"? Well, my friends, it's a Star Trek convention. Not only do cons encourage people to make this trek, but they also probably turn us into less than mild-mannered beings which aforementioned employers would no longer employ (and if you understood that, welcome to the club!).

Sue and I finally staggered into the reception area of the Dragonara Hotel -home of the Star Trek con. (Well, that's how it was described by the television commentator of a darts competition taking place at the Dragonara not long ago), and had a minor bet as to whether we'd be on the 8th or 9th floor - it seems a rule with hotels to always give us a room on the top floor. I went for the 8th, gently reminding Sue there was no 9th floor at the Dragonara. Her reply was swift: "That's never stopped them before!" With visions of a Small tent on the roof being our room I checked in, finding to my relief, 1 had been given a key with a number beginning with '4'. We then made our way up to the fourth floor to find the room alloted to us, where I promptly collapsed, absolutely shattered, on the bed. (That is, the bed wasn't actually on the fourth floor, it was in a room on the fourth floor and....oh, never mind!

One of the many good points about the Dragonara is that there are tea and coffee making facilities in each room, so after being revived by a cup of tea (No, Sue didn't throw it over me!), we decided it was time to go shopping for provisions for the weekend. Sue quickly scrawled (and if you've seen her writing you know this is no lie!) a note for the other two members of our party - Donna Wilderspin and Phyllis Gregory, who were arriving on a later train - to let them know we had arrived unscathed.

Anyone who went to Terracon last year will remember that work was being carried out on the lifts to make them faster and more efficient - well, never mind, Dragonara; back to the drawing board! As a lift stopped at our floor and the doors opened, Sue performed a very Spock-like gesture and flung me out of the way as Martin Smith came charging out of the lift brandishing some sort of rifle (fake, of course). 1 panicked instantly - surely they couldn't have put him on the same floor as me!!! There were several other people in the lift, and as we were heading to reception, one of them eyed me up and down and asked that immortal question -"Arc you Star Trek, or are you normal?" Well, what could I say - me, normal?! (I can vouch for that - Sue.)

The lift finally came to a halt at the reception level with a strange crunching sound....I resolved to use the stairs for the rest of the weekend. The doors opened to reveal a very crowded reception area, complete with Donna and Phyllis. Sue gave them the note, and after a few minutes chat we left them to find their room and get settled in. (Okay, sweetheart, the Federation's taking over).

Registration commenced Friday evening, where we met up with the fifth member of our group - Jayne Turner. After a quick survey of the weekend's programme and arguing discussing who was going on the club table when, we decided to visit a Chinese restaurant to celebrate Phyllis passing her driving test the day before. We were very tired on arrival hack at the Dragonara (in fact, most people looked tired) and decided to opt for a relatively early night.... except Sue found out 'Outer Limits' was on TV - How does 1:30 am grab you as an early night???!

Saturday started the way most Saturdays start at conventions...not enough time for sleeping between Friday night and Saturday morning. After a quick breakfast we wandered round the hotel to refresh our memories as to where various events were taking place.

The Brigante Suite on the reception level was used for all main events, i.e. opening and closing ceremonies, episodes, guest, fashion and fancy dress, and disco. The next floor up housed the Neville Suite, which was being used as the dealers room; the Saville Room in which the art, model, etc- displays were being exhibited; and the Danby Room, which was utilised as a snack bar. In previous years the Dragonara has provided a buffet in reception for convention attendees, but I think the idea of having a room specifically for this purpose was a good one, particularly as it also provided a place to have a chat with friends.

The convention opened proper with the Opening Ceremony at approx. 10am. Terracon's guest of honour was D.C. Fontana (the D is for Dorothy) who was story consultant on Star Trek during the first two series, and also played a large part in building up the character of Spock, and Vulcans. Dorothy has also written several ST episodes and worked on such shows as 'Fantastic Journey', 'Logan's Run', and 'Buck Rogers'. She gave a short introductory speech which was well received.

The Opening Ceremony was followed by the episode 'Squire of Gothos', but as this coincided with the opening of the sales room, I decided to serve some of my time on the club table. Everything had been set up during Friday evening, so it was a simple case of getting up there before everyone else, uncovering the table, and waiting with a 'what kept you all?' look on my face. The Fire Exit stairs are most useful for beating everybody else to the sales room - remember the lifts weren't that fast, particularly when there's a hundred or so people waiting for them. Business in the dealers room was very brisk, but despite the rush I still had time to chat to quite a few members who had come up to say hello.

'Squire of Gothos' was followed by 'Tomorrow is Yesterday' and tirst series bloopers. Although I didn't get to see these episodes, Sue told me the Brigante Suite was really full. Usually there are a fair number of people watching episodes at cons, but there seemed to be an increase in numbers at Terracon. Following the episodes and blooper, was a short lunch break. Sue went to get something to eat, then relieved me on the table. Already, by this time, we could tell the con was going to be a financially profitable one for B/A - the rate the zines were selling was amazing.

The afternoon session began with a showing of 'The Empath', which is one of the episodes the BBC has seen fit to ban. After seeing it a good six or so times, 1 still can't see why. I really like the episode, and it seems a pity that the only way to see it is by attending a convention.

After 'Empath' was D.C. Fontana's session. Originally Dorothy was due to have just one session (Saturday), but because of rescheduling she was also to be on again Sunday afternoon. Saturday's session was all about a new science-fiction film Dorothy's boyfriend has been working on, called 'Battle Beyond the Stars' . It was described as 'The Seven Samurai' in Space, and stars Richard Thomas and George Peppard, among others. Dorothy had brought along a large number of colour slides of models and special effects from the film's production, and gave an interesting talk on how various effects were done on a low budget film.

At approx. 5:30pm there was scheduled to be an 'It's A Knockout' game comprised of teams from the various ST clubs, but as response in getting players had been virtually non-existent, the item was cancelled. Because of this cancellation, the auction was moved from Sunday afternoon to follow D.C. Fontana, but as there were so many items to be sold, it crept back into Sunday for part 2 anyway. (You can't keep a good auction down!).

The auction (part I) was again presided over by Rog Peyton and comprised an assortment of items, including U.S. zines, out-of-print British zines, photographs, etc. As an extra to the auction, people had been asked to bring along their old books, which Rog auctioned off; all the money from this going to the con charity - the Child Development Centre at the Alder Key Children's Hospital in Liverpool. When the auction (part 1) was called to a halt, the projector was again threaded up, this time for the showing of 'Amok Time1. Sue raced around the hotel looking for me, as this is one of my favourites (at least that's what she told me!), but I was already glued to a seat. I still haven't heard the last of how Sue missed Spock throwing the bowl of plomeek soup at Chapel, because she was looking for me. (Sue that is. Christine Chapel was not looking for me! Mind you, why would Spock be angry with Christine Chapel just because she was looking for me?....But then again oh, yes, the con report....).

There was a break in the programme after 'Amok Time' for dinner; the programme resuming at 8:30pm with the fancy dress competition. Dorothy Fontana, who was helping with the judging, came along in her own fancy dress - a trouser and waist coat set trimmed with silver braid, and a grey/silver blouse, which she had made herself. She then explained that, unknown to George Lucas, Han Solo has 6 sisters (3 sets of twins) who are traders in their own ship the 'Titanium Vulture', and she was wearing the type of clothes that the sisters would wear when dealing with customers. The fancy dress costumes themselves were marvellous, and get better and better each year. The judging was divided into two sections - Star Trek, and non-Star Trek, and I really didn't envy the panel of judges, having to pick a winner from the costumes paraded before them. Finally the winners were announced; the winner of the Star Trek section being two girls dressed in black Vulcan costumes as the pilots of the Vulcan shuttle 'Surak' from ST: TMP. (No wonder Spock took a long time getting hack aboard the Enterprise!).

The disco commenced directly after the fancy dress, and was great fun, particular^ as the DJ was good and played some good records....anyone who starts the disco with the Star Trek theme can't be bad! Once again, 'I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper' went down as one of the most popular songs, and 'In the Navy' was quickly changed to 'In the Starfleet'- Our group left the disco about 1:30am (gosh, another early night!) and after some chat, retired for the few hours left of the night.

Sunday dawned and we were raring to go again. The programme was due to start at 10am.with a showing of 'Miri', jfollowed closely by the second series blooper reel. 'Miri' is another of the episodes banned by the BBC, although it was shown once, way back in 1971 (or was it 1972?). Sue and the others went in to see the episode, and I headed for the sales room where things were due to open at 10:30am.

Between the end of 'Miri' and the bloopers, and the next item on the agenda, which was the fashion show, there was a short period of time during which people seemed to spend dashing to the sales room and buying the stuff they thought they couldn't afford Saturday. Sue came up to take her turn on the table to allow me to watch the fashion show, but as it turned out, everyone else wanted to see the fashion show as well so Sue shut down the;club table and joined the rest of us.

The fashion show was up to its usual high standard with very vivid imaginations creating all the costumes and dialogue in each entry. It was also nice to see new people entering collections and bring new talent to the competition. It's very difficult to describe a fashion show as obviously it's a very visual thing, so I shall say no more than it was very colourful, well thought out, and in some cases very amusing. The fashion show was followed by a short break for lunch, after which 'The Trouble with Tribbles' was shown. I managed to miss this as I attended a meeting for club officials, con organisers, and long-standing members of Trekdom. The meeting was basically to discuss the future organisation of cons with a view to avoiding duplication of convention dates. It was decided to have a ballot system for ST cons, similar to the one in operation for science-fiction conventions. How it would work is that there would be, say, two main conventions per year - one in the Spring and one in the Autumn - and if more than one group wanted to organise a con at that time, convention attendees would be given a chance to vote on which one they wanted to take place. It seems as though this format could begin at the STAG con next April, where voting will take place for the Spring con 1983 (I think!). If we receive any firm details on what is happening we'll let you know.

Meanwhile, back in the Brigante, 'Tribbles' enjoyed its usual enthusiastic reception. Sue loves watching this episode at cons as everyone gets so involved with events, like booing the Klingons, cheering and clapping the fight scene, and of course, all the laughing.

Following 'Tribbles' was D.C. Fontana's second appearance. This took the form of a questions and answers session, as Dorothy explained she didn't like to give speeches. The questions ranged from the ST series, the ST movie (even though Dorothy kept pointing out she couldn't really answer questions about it as she hadn't worked on it at all), and general SF programmes and systems in America. Afterwards T had a chance to talk to Dorothy, as she made it clear she would make herself available to anyone who wanted a chat over the course of the weekend, and asked her, among other things, to become an honorary member of B/A. Part 2 of the auction was next. The items for sale were much the same as in part 1, but several things did go for high prices in this session, notably copy of the ST:TMP script which went for £30, and an American K/S zine which finally went for over £40.

Sunday was slowly drawing to a close now - just one more episode, and then the closing ceremony. (There were a few more episodes in the late evening, but the closing ceremony, to me anyway, signifies the beginning of the end.) 'Dagger of the Mind" was shown, and although not one of my favourite episodes, I thoroughly enjoyed it as I hadn't seen it for so long.

The episode over, the Awards and Closing ceremony commenced. I was particularly eager to hear who had won the fiction competition as both myself and my relatively new friend, Kate Lach, had entered stories and we were both biting our nails with nervousness (and with our teeth!)- The awards were finally announced - Kate's name was announced as runner-up and I heard a distinct clunk as she collided with Cloud 9... many congratulations, Kate! Then came my moment, as the story I had submitted, 'Feel Not My Tears', was announced as the winner. I went up to collect the lovely crystal goblet which Dot Owens had picked for prizes - a beautiful thing, engraved with the category of the award, a picture of the Enterprise, and the name of the con. - and, which is now one of my most treasured possessions. I would like to point out that the story was not solely my own effort - it was a joint effort between Sue and myself, but being the modest, unassuming, person she is (can you believe this?) (Look, I told you it was true! - Sue.), she refused point blank to have her name on the entry form.

The final part of the closing ceremony was really charged with emotion. Dot Owens of Empathy had organised 5 ST cons, and this was to be her last. On the Saturday it had been unanimously decided to take a collection to give Dot a thank-you present for all the work she had put into British conventions. Over £150 was raised and gifts were bought, to be presented at this time. Dot suspected nothing as some Correllians (what would we do without our Correllians?) dashed in and took her from the hall. Quickly an honour guard was formed along either side of the catwalk by people in uniform as Dot was brought back in. Then, with the help of D.C. Fontana and Ann Page (the con M.C. ), Dot was given the gifts, which included a Teasmade, a beautiful carved chess set and board, and some lovely coffee mugs. Those members who have never been to a convention, or who don't know Dot, may wonder why she was given such a huge send off. As I have already said, Dot contributed greatly to British fandom by arranging 5 excellent conventions - 3 in Leeds, 1 in Liverpool, and 1 in Manchester, plus many smaller gatherings for fans.

A short break followed the closing ceremony during which Sue announced we had completely sold all the zines, etc. we had brought with us - it was going to be a light journey home!

After a 16mm projector had been found, 'Shore Leave' was shown - another funny episode, particularly at conventions. We had intended to go out to get something to eat after 'Shore Leave', but as it was announced 'City on the Edge of Forever' would be shown directly after 'Shore Leave', Sue refused to take one foot outside the hotel until she had seen 'City' - as did the rest of our group. It looked like Room Service would get our custom.

After a little party and massive joke/silliness session in Donna and Phyllis' room, with ten rounds of sandwiches between five of us (I know, the room service lady couldn't believe it either!), three bottles of homemade wine (various flavours), and a game of Fizzbin - which the player on the left of the dealer hanging out of the window wearing bright yellow socks because it was dark in September, won - we went to find out if the last night gathering was still going on. (It was 2 in the morning by the way). We did find quite a few people still around having a sing-song (and it's purely coincidental they stopped the sing-song soon after we arrived!). About an hour later, the cleaners arrived and we were moved on (Fancy getting up for work at 3 in the morning), so we resumed in the reception area, despite looks from the hotel staff of "Where did they come from?". Four o'clock arrived and we decided to get some coffee and call it a day/night/morning. It was 5:30am before Sue and I shut up talking and drifted into the land of dreams.

Three hours later it was time to get up...the dreaded Monday morning...It was all over! People seemed to stay longer in the hotel that morning, perhaps trying to stretch out the con as long as possible. We caught the 11:45am train home, but Lite ST weekend didn't really end there...Star Trek was on in the evening with 'A Piece of the Action'.

Thanks to all who made Terracon '80 possible - we thoroughly enjoyed it!!! [20]

External Resources

References

  1. ^ STAG #22
  2. ^ How Dorothy Owens Brought Star Trek to the UK by Rachel Perkins (September 8, 2021)
  3. ^ STAG #20
  4. ^ two of The Four Banned Star Trek Episodes
  5. ^ remember, she is writing this in 1989
  6. ^ a fan's memories, written in 1989, published in IDIC #3
  7. ^ by Helen McCarthy in "City" #3 (1977)
  8. ^ by Lynne Keating and June Nicholson, printed in Empathy Newsletter spring 1985, was probably a reprint from another unknown zine
  9. ^ How Dorothy Owens Brought Star Trek to the UK Memories of the Empathy Star Trek Club and TerraCon give us insight into this amazing superfan's life. By Rachel Perkins (September 8, 2021)
  10. ^ by Judy Mortimore, in IDIC #4
  11. ^ STAG #25
  12. ^ STAG #25
  13. ^ Galactic Times #2
  14. ^ from May in Starbase M.T.L. #3
  15. ^ How Dorothy Owens Brought Star Trek to the UK Memories of the Empathy Star Trek Club and TerraCon give us insight into this amazing superfan's life. By Rachel Perkins (September 8, 2021)
  16. ^ STAG #38
  17. ^ Beyond Antares #31
  18. ^ How Dorothy Owens Brought Star Trek to the UK Memories of the Empathy Star Trek Club and TerraCon give us insight into this amazing superfan's life. By Rachel Perkins (September 8, 2021)
  19. ^ STAG #43
  20. ^ Beyond Antares #37
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