Founded 1956: 'The oldest continuously running Folk Club in the world ... From its very beginnings as a fairly informal opportunity for like-minded youths - many of them teenagers still at school - to get together and talk politics and sing folk songs or play skiffle, up to its current policy of around two-thirds guest acts, The Topic was always and remains now a weekly club (sometimes, in the earliest days, twice-weekly) .... Come along, show support and join in. In a world where commoditised entertainment is pumped to consumers' homes via many different channels so that global media corporations can lever money out of your pocket and drop it into their revenue streams, it is good to do something for real.'