14 months ago I would never even have conceived the notion of going caving, I stumbled across Dark-places and after a few underground trips in mines such as Box and Ridge I was encouraged to go to Mendip, introduced to Swildons via the Wessex cave club hut and as a result the rest just feel in place. I'd like to think I am quite young too, I mean I don't have any grey hairs and I am under 30
After lurking around the club a few times I met up with nefarious sorts such as Les and Cookie, and the rest is history.
I originally considered clubs to be rather political and unapproachable.... and perhaps that is sometimes still the case, but they are also full of good and inspirational folk too, however I would never have made the effort or had the confidence to find out without the help and advice from people I met on the forums.
So at least in my experience the more casual non committal "just turn up and see if you like it" that can be found on certain forums are a great way to make that bold step into a club which always has something going on to keep me interested.
A nice partnership that I have since seen work in exactly the same way for many others too!