Is the Dull Men's Club actually... quite interesting?

In New York City, sometime successful the precocious 1980s, a radical of friends sat successful a barroom adjacent Central Park and flicked done a magazine.

One man, aft looking astatine the stories of boxing, wrestling, and judo, turned to his friends and said, with immoderate regret: "We don't bash immoderate of those things."

Almost 40 years later, connected a manager connected the M40 successful England, a antithetic antheral opened a Mars bar.

When helium noticed the barroom was smooth, alternatively than rippled, helium posted a representation connected Facebook. The station was picked up by the media – including the BBC – and the communicative of the unusually-smooth cocoa was work by millions of radical astir the world.

The friends successful Manhattan, and the antheral with the Mars bar, bash not cognize each different - but they are linked by a trans-Atlantic thread. Their stories people the founding, and possibly the precocious point, of a increasing fellowship: the Dull Men's Club.

Grover Click, present 85, was 1 of those friends successful the New York barroom successful the 1980s.

"When my person said 'we don't bash immoderate of those things', idiosyncratic other said: 'We're benignant of dull, aren't we?' So I said: 'OK - let's commencement a nine for america dull men.'"

The nine began arsenic a joke. They raced lifts (or elevators) to spot which was fastest, and erstwhile organised a autobus circuit that started and finished successful Manhattan, without going anyplace successful between.

"We walked circular the extracurricular and the operator explained tyre pressures," Grover remembers. "Silliness similar that."

In 1996, aft Grover moved to England, his nephew offered to physique a website for "that silly Dull Men's Club". And from there, says Grover, "it benignant of morphed, and has truly caught connected now".

Grover's Dull Men's Club Facebook radical – it's the 1 with the copyright awesome successful the title, determination are copycats – present has 1.5 cardinal members. On it, men and women of each ages observe their observations and obsessions, without fearfulness of ridicule (ridicule is against the rules, arsenic is politics, religion, and swearing).

Posts this week see praise for the £2 coin design; earlier and aft pictures of brass instrumentality repair; and however agelong it takes to capable a h2o bottle. One idiosyncratic comments: "Every greeting astatine enactment I refill my h2o vessel and it takes 47 seconds… sometimes I adjacent my eyes and number to 47."

But the Dull Men's Club is much than conscionable a Facebook page: it besides has a newsletter, a calendar, real-life meet-ups, and awards – including the coveted Anorak of the Year, for the genuinely dedicated dullster (Grover prefers dullster – "The other of hipster," helium says – to dullard).

This year's victor was Tim Webb, 68, from Orpington successful south-east London. He takes pictures of potholes with integrative ducks in.

Tim started taking his pictures successful January past year, aft a pothole successful his country wasn't repaired properly.

"I had a connection with a assembly official, and helium recommended that I look astatine the manifesto of the Monster Raving Loony Party from 2017. In there, it says residents should item potholes with integrative ducks – seriously, this is true. And I thought, OK, I'll enactment integrative ducks successful potholes."

After taking the pictures (for information reasons, helium works astatine quiescent times and takes a person to help) helium sent them to the council, and posted them connected a section Facebook group. Encouraged by the feedback, helium progressed from integrative ducks to different ocular jokes.

"I enactment a toad successful a pothole – not a existent toad – and wrote: 'This is my favourite Sunday dish.' And radical either get it oregon they don't."

Tim does not cognize however galore potholes helium has photographed – helium guesses 100 to 150 – but present the pothole creation is the "interesting bit" of his campaign. The dull bit, helium admits, is his spreadsheet of each roadworthy defect successful the borough, which allows him to pursuit up repairs.

"There are astir 2,500 entries connected there," helium says.

Grover encouraged Tim to articulation the Dull Men's Club aft seeing the pothole pictures online. Tim did so, and was blessed to judge the Anorak of the Year grant successful the good-natured tone successful which it was offered.

But for Tim, determination is simply a superior broadside to his hobby, adjacent if it could seem… well, little glamorous than others.

"I don't bash it for wealth oregon fame," helium says. "I bash it due to the fact that I privation to marque a quality to my community."

It's an outlook shared by the Dull Men's Club Anorak of the Year from 2021 – who, it turns out, is neither dull, nor a man.

In 2020, during the archetypal Covid lockdown, Rachel Williamson was looking astatine a socially-distanced queue extracurricular a chemist successful her hometown of Rhyl successful Denbighshire.

"My duplicate sister joined the queue. They're each looking miserable, and I'm successful the car waiting for her. And I conscionable wondered – could I enactment a sparkly chapeau connected the station container to marque this queue smile?"

Although Rachel – a 61-year-old retired constabulary detective – had knitted since she was a girl, she couldn't crochet. With small other to bash successful lockdown, she tried, and wrong 2 days had a sparkly chapeau for the station container extracurricular the chemist. Another one, for the container extracurricular the Post Office, soon followed.

"My sister went successful the Post Office and she said: 'Nobody's talking astir Covid immoderate more, they're talking astir the station container topper extracurricular the door.'"

She has since topped much than 300 station boxes, and made countless different decorations for the community. She does requests from elsewhere successful the UK – "I've sent 1 to Scotland, 1 to Nantwich [in Cheshire]" – and section radical spot successful with supplies.

"My surviving country is afloat of wool," she says. "I don't cognize wherever the Christmas histrion is going to go."

During lockdown, Rachel's toppers featured successful a foundation publication and calendar, which brought her to the attraction of the Dull Men's Club. So however does it consciousness for a pistillate to beryllium invited to specified a club?

"I'd ne'er heard of it, but I felt precise privileged," she says.

Yet contempt being an Anorak of the Year, is Rachel's hobby adjacent dull? Is it not colourful, life-enhancing, adjacent - situation we accidental - quite interesting?

"I've got 3 grown-up sons, and erstwhile they travel round, each I speech astir is my knitting," she says. "I americium the dullest idiosyncratic connected the satellite to them. I've gone from a fast-moving detective to fluff and stuff."

Like Tim, Rachel has recovered intent successful her (arguably) dull hobby.

"After 18 years successful the police, it has restored my religion successful people. The radical of Rhyl person been perfectly great. And we've made tons of radical smile."

She picked up her Anorak of the Year grant successful a ceremonial successful a pub adjacent Llangollen.

"The radical who haven't got hobbies are the dull people." says Rachel.

It's a realisation that besides came to Grover Click – the archetypal Dull Man – portion compiling the club's calendar, decades aft that archetypal speech successful the New York bar.

"We started penning astir these radical and thought it was benignant of funny," helium says. "But past you spot these guys are onto something. They've got their enactment together."

To sum it up, Grover points to his foreword to the 2024 Dull Men's Club calendar.

"What they [the dull men] are doing is referred to successful Japan arsenic ikigai," helium writes. "It gives a consciousness of purpose, a motivating force. A crushed to leap retired of furniture successful the morning."