Rafflesbear, I'm just astonished that you could have spent 40 years on the folk scene without even hearing of Halsway Manor. It's been around for a long time. As Derek said, for a long time its emphasis was towards the social dance/EFDSS side, and there was quite a gulf between that world and other areas of the folk scene, but it was widely advertised (even in the south east) and, I thought, was very well known.

Any organisation which has been providing folk education for nearly 50 years cannot fail to have had a significant impact on the folk scene, even if that may perhaps not have been in the areas you are interested in.