According to Cyril Tawney's website (see the C. Tawney, Good News thread) he's been earning his living as a folksinger longer than anyone in Britain (since 1957). Quite a claim - and quite an achievement.

His first work was mostly for radio, and his first club booking was at Southampton in 1961. I'm assuming this must have been one of the first provincial clubs, or did the British folk revival go back even earlier? Does anyone know if it's still running, and are there any clubs that go back even earlier? Presumably folk clubs were well established around N America by then, where the revival seems to have kicked off so much sooner.

The first club I was involved with was at Newark (on Trent) around 1967, though it had probably been running a few years by then, under the organisational prowess of one Roy Barker.