The formation of the Teesside Branch of, what was then, the National Cactus & Succulent Society is described in the following documents:-
NCSS Newsletter, volume XIII, December 1958 (version 1)
NCSS Newsletter, volume XIII, December 1958 (version 2)
Teesside Branch Review, No. 2, July 1970
The account in the Branch Review is particularly interesting as it provides a lot of background information, including the reason for the formation of the branch - issue even in the 1950's.
different versions of the same numbered NCSS newsletter is unclear.
The variation in spelling (and capitalisation) of the word Teesside within these three documents is also interesting and is something that tends to persist, even today. The correct spelling is Teesside with two S's and no hyphen!
Sadly Tom Lavender, the branch's first Honorary Secretary and the author of the article about the formation of the branch in the 1970 Teesside Branch Review, died in 2016. He is pictured below at a Teesside Branch event in 1971 and at home in 1990.

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