The BTMC was initially formed on October 27th 1974 by Bob & Chris Lapworth, with Dave James and Les Noden, at St Pauls Tavern, Ludgate Hill Hockley and it moved fairly quickly (Nov 10th 1974) to the Prince of Wales Cambridge Street, which became a venue that was used by many different clubs over the years. Dave and Bob's idea was to create a club that had a more relaxed atmosphere, where people could sing from where they were sitting, rather than getting up on stage  - which was  the way many others  were run at the time. They also arranged for people to come along and give talks on various folk related topics, some of which can be seen on the leaflets  in this article. The BTMC, as it became to be known, together with the Grey Cock, also ran a series of very successful ceilidhs at various venues  round Birmingham. The club also tried to attract members and singers, by going and singing at Womens Institutes etc., which managed to bring a number of new people into the club that may not have known anything about folk  music before.