We've been on the trail of The Deerstalkers of Welshpool and tracked down club founder Roy Upton-Holder.
"I started the society in March 2001 in Welshpool. I'm very keen on Sherlock Holmes and there just wasn't a society around here. There isn't one in Scotland so I thought right, Wales is going to have one. There were four members at the beginning and now we've got about eighteen.
I think the society has developed quite well. We've got some very keen members who come from a fair distance. Not all our members are from Welshpool - we've got some from Shropshire across the border, some from Dolgellau and we even have one member from Lewes in East Sussex.
We hold about 5 meetings a year. One of the things that we do is have a quiz on one of the Sherlock Holmes cases. Each member provides three questions and then the one who gets the highest marks receives a 'Sherlockian' prize. It could be a Sherlock Holmes pen or a Sherlock Holmes ashtray but it has to be a Sherlockian prize.
About once a year we also hold a special event. We like to hold them in different places because we want to spread the word about the society and hopefully people will notice.
Running the society does occupy a lot of time. You have to be dedicated and be willing to spend hours and hours at a computer preparing a newsletter. The newsletter is very important as it keeps everyone in touch with what's going on in the world of Sherlock Holmes.
The newsletter includes details about the previous meeting before the newsletter came out. It also draws attention to new books that have come out, recordings, anything to do with Sherlock Holmes - for example, miniature books - and I mean miniature - just about a centimetre and a half across - really, really, small. Otherwise people would never know that these things exist. That's what we aim to do - get all the news, anything about Sherlock Holmes!
As a society, we have also given many Sherlock Holmes books to three local high schools. I got the idea from another Sherlock Holmes Society - The 6th Napoleons of Baltimore in America. They had some books which they gave to people and I thought that would be a good idea to give them to schools because youngsters I feel should know about Sherlock Holmes.
I have a lot of Sherlock memorabilia. It's hard to say what is my favourite piece, but I do like the books. Everyone's a favourite - all 60 of the stories, they're all my favourites.
So many books have been written about Sherlock Holmes - not just the stories but about Sherlock Holmes himself. I've got a mere 80 or 90 but there are hundreds of books on Sherlock Holmes. Somebody once said that never has so much been written by so many for so few (with apologies to Winston Churchill and Battle of Britain)." Roy Upton-Holder
The Deerstalkers of Welshpool website
your comments
Jan from Newtown
A lively read Roy, like the Holmes books. What the readers of this article might not know is that Roy and his wife Joan are both brilliant musicians and teachers of music. Roy started the first Clarinet choir in London and now inspires young clarinettists to greater things. One of his former pupils, Sara Williamson, is now at the Conservatoire in Paris. Their energy is boundless, they are an inspiration.
Thu Aug 21 16:23:25 2008
Pam King from London
I have just finished reading the Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes by Paul D Gilbert and what a read it is! He has kept to the Doyle way of writing and each story is well written and keeps you engrossed. Well done, I look forward to the next book.
Tue Apr 24 10:22:32 2007
Paul Gilbert, Harrow London
As a follow up to my last message about my book which is coming out on 30th March. It is called The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes by Paul D Gilbert and is published by Hales. I hope anyone buying it enjoys it. I am half way through the next one, which I have used stories mentioned by 'Watson' in the original stories, but never written about, eg The remarkable disappearance of James Philimore....watch this space.
Tue Mar 27 08:45:20 2007
Paul Gilbert from Harrow, London
I am a lifelong Holme's fan and have been lucky enough to have a book being published of SH short stories which will be coming out on 30th March 2007. I do hope this will be of interest to you and your members. I have tried to keep the essence of Doyle and these stories are definately a labour of love. The book is called 'The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes'
Fri Mar 9 09:53:30 2007
nat p collins from london
I have a collection of over 150 of Sir Arthur's books, and have read most of them over 10 times each. I hope to join the society.
Tue May 23 09:15:14 2006
brian heathcote u.s.a.
nice group you have. enjoyed the read.
Mon Dec 13 12:01:58 2004
Dennis J Duggan from Welshpool
I joined The Deerstalkers of Welshpool in November 2003. Our meetings are always fun, as well as being interesting and informative. Full marks to Roy for having the get-up-and-go to create the Society and keep it going.
Tue May 4 10:09:11 2004
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There are more than 800 Sherlock Holmes societies around the world but only one in Wales - and it's based right here in Powys. 
