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The Olde Tyme Dance Section was formed at the suggestion of the Ladies' OMA in May 1947 and was jointly run by the two OMAs. Initially the Secretaries of each OMA - Mrs Doreen Small and Mr Fred Lunn - were responsible for practice nights held once a month and the organisation of dances. The dances were run by Mr and Mrs Phillips. Practices increased to twice a month in January 1949. There was a charge of 6d per practice to cover costs. In March 1949 Miss Taylor took over as Social Secretary of the Ladies OMA and took over responsibility from Mrs Small. A Sub-Committee was formed in March 1951, comprising three members from each OMA, to arrange the practices and dances. The funds were held by the Men's OMA Treasurer but were held separately to the main OMA account.

In Feb 1952 a dance was cancelled owing to the death of King George VI. It was discovered at this point that the Men's Sub-Committee had full power over the finances whilst the Women were limited as regards "large" finance (expenditure over £5). The Ladies' OMA would not agree to a Sub-Committee having full power and there is an exchange of correspondence regarding this matter in the Archive.

There is some suggestion that the Men's OMA wish to run separate dances and practices, with only one annual joint dance, but with sharing expenses. This appears to be connected to a proposed rise in ticket prices from 2/d to 2/6d. It is also commented that the Men are unhappy about a ruling by the Ladies' OMA that all meetings pertaining to Polytechnic functions should take place on Polytechnic premises. Seven Sub-Committee meetings were previously held in Ealing for the convenience of Mr and Mrs Phillips who had a young baby. It is also noted that during the past 2-3 years, only 7 members of the OMA, out of a membership of 330, are active dancing members compared to 26 Women out of a membership of 136.

It is unclear exactly what the results were from the apparent falling-out in 1954/1955 as the dances continue to be jointly organised until 1961. Minutes of the Old Time Dance Joint Sub-Committee meeting on 1 May 1961 state that they are disbanding the Section due to lack of support. The Fyvie Hall practice nights and dances are to be discontinued but there will continue to be an annual dance in Portland Hall. In 1970 the Old Time Dance Account is closed. However, accounts from 1984 show that the Men's OMA was holding Olde Tyme Dances, but no further details have yet been established as to when they restarted.

The Polytechnic Boxing Club was formed in 1888, in the same year as the Harriers. Many of the first members came from the gymnasts, and the Club gave an annual Gymnastic Display and Assault-at-Arms in Regent Street.

The Club had its first national champion when G.F. Belsey won the Featherweight Championship in 1890; C. Morris won a silver medal at the 1908 Olympic Games in London. The Club was especially successful in the 1920s and 1930s, when membership was over 500. 1n 1924 and 1925, four of the eight Amateur Boxing Association Championships were held by Polytechnic boxers.

The collection also includes papers from the North West Division of the London A.B.A. (Amateur Boxing Association).

Quintin Hogg, founder of the Polytechnic, and his friend and colleague Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird (1847-1923, 11th Baron Kinnaird), were both skilled footballers at Eton at a time when the game, until then limited to public schools playing to their own rules, was first being organised. The FA rules were established in 1863. On leaving school, both continued to play for the Wanderers, a team of public school old boys which won five of the first seven FA cup finals. FA cup was first played in 1871-72 season. They also played in the first unofficial England Scotland internationals (for Scotland). Lord Kinnaird was later President of the Football Association.

Kinnaird was involved with Hogg's charitable foundations and retained his connection with their football teams. Hogg's Institute encompassed members who were not students, but were involved in its other activities.

The first Institute football club was formed in 1875 as the Hanover Football Club, for which Hogg and Kinnaird both played. The series of matches organised against boys clubs, public school city settlements and other teams during the 1870’s marked part of the movement which helped to spread football to the working classes, ensuring the game’s widespread popularity and also the rise of the professional player- soon to displace the public school amateurs.

In 1882 the Young Men’s Christian Institute moved to 309 Regent Street, former home of the Royal Polytechnic Institute. It soon adopted the name Polytechnic, and the football club became the Polytechnic Football Club. The Club, which had previously had grounds in Barnes and in Wimbledon, moved to the Quintin Hogg Memorial Ground at Chiswick in 1906. The Club continues to play there, as members of the Southern Amateur League, with up to seven teams fielded every week.

In October 1971, the Polytechnic Rugby club got off to an unfortunate season in its opening fixture against Hatfield Poly. During this time, both first and second teams were established whilst, they announced the expectancy of the third team. In November 1971, the Polytechnic’s match against Avery Hill was reported in the McGarel by the famous rugby sport journalist Vivian Jenkins. At the end of the academic year of 1975/76, the society attained four wins overall that season.

In November 1978, training took place on Monday evenings, where teams were selected for upcoming matches after training. A year later, the first team lost in the first round of the B.P.S.A cup match against Brighton Polytechnic. Unfortunately again, they lost against South Bank Polytechnic in the Seetech Cup Semi-finals in January 1980. Later on that year, the society attended a tour to Holland. In March 1980, the society competed in a Seetech 7-a-side competition, where they reached their semi-finals, ultimately losing to Borough Road College. However later on that month, the society went on to win the B.P.S.A 7-a-side tournament beating the likes of Liverpool, Huddersfield and Thames Polytechnic. 
In the academic year of 1980/81, the society played again in the Seetech Cup, and qualified for the final stages of the B.P.S.A cup.

On Wednesday 1982, the society won the Seetech Seven-a-side tournament against Borough Road College. On Friday 2nd April 1982, the society had organised a tour to Amsterdam, which involved playing two local teams. The academic year of 1982/83, saw the society running three XV’s with the first team XV having an excellent record of playing 17 matches, with 14 wins and 3 lost’s.

The Youth's Christian Institute (later known as the Young Men's Christian Institute) grew out of York Place Ragged School, which had been founded in 1864 by the philanthropist and educationist Quintin Hogg (1845-1903). Hogg founded the Institute in 1873 (some sources wrongly given the date as 1871) to provide for the needs of older, working boys who were evidently reluctant to break their connection with the School. It was in this period that Hogg developed his vision for providing for the athletic, intellectual, social and religious needs of young men which later characterised the polytechnic movement.

The initial premises were between Endell Street and Castle Street, which it shared with the Ragged School, but it outgrew these, having increased its membership to some 300, and in 1878 removed to larger premises in nearby Long Acre. Membership fees paid for free use of a library, social rooms, gymnasium and entertainments for members; a small additional fee was required from students for technical classes. Non-members paid larger fees. Robert Mitchell (1855-1933), the Institute's honorary secretary, agreed to become the full-time Secretary. A more ambitious programme of classes was instituted: Science and Art classes began in 1878. A savings bank was also inaugurated. Soon there were 500 members and a year-long waiting list. A monthly magazine, Home Tidings (from 1888 The Polytechnic Magazine), was started in 1879.

Hogg's search for larger premises identified a suitable site in St Martin's Lane, but in 1882 he instead purchased the lease and equipped and enlarged no 309 Regent Street, which provided much larger premises than Long Acre. The building had until 1881 housed the Royal Polytechnic Institution, which failed in that year. It became known as the Polytechnic Young Men's Christian Institute. The premises at Long Acre were closed. Hogg was its President, and Robert Mitchell its Secretary and, from 1891, the Director of Education.

From 1882 an expanded programme of classes began, including science and art classes held in conjunction with the Science and Art Department (of the Board of Trade), and a scheme of technical and trade education, related to the City and Guilds of London Institute of Technical Instruction and to the London Trades Council. The building housed classrooms, a swimming bath, gymnasium, and a refreshment room. Activities included debating and gymnastics. By 1888 membership was 4,200, in addition to 7,300 students, and over 200 classes were held weekly; concerts, lectures, and an annual industrial exhibition were also held. Membership was open to those aged between 16 and 25. A Young Women's Branch, housed in separate premises in Langham Place, was also begun. In the early 1880s the Institute attracted much favourable attention from the technical education lobby.

Following the City of London Parochial Charities Act in 1883, it became clear that funds would be available to endow the Polytechnic and to found and support institutions on the same model across London. A public appeal was launched in 1888 to raise the required matching funding. The Scheme was finalised under the auspices of the Charity Commissioners in 1891, when the Institute was reconstituted as Regent Street Polytechnic, managed by a newly created governing body.

Regent Street Polytechnic, founded by Quintin Hogg as the Youth's Christian Institute, encompassed members who were not students, but were involved in recreational activities via a large number of clubs. The Polytechnic Ramblers' club was founded by W K Davies and Percy Randall, who claimed to have had the idea in 1885. The first reference to the club is found in 1886. It grew out of the Christian Workers Union, whose minute book mentions in March 1886 a proposal for Saturday afternoon rambles 'to promote healthy exercise and social intercourse among those who did not participate in the more athletic games on Saturday afternoons', and includes a few further references to its activities, among them a record of the first ramble in April 1886. The club claims to be the second-oldest walking club in the country. With Saturday rambles in the summer, and visits in winter, ladies were soon invited, and the club became popular. There was subsequently a separate ladies' club. The club was involved in the founding of the Federation of Rambling Clubs in 1905, which later became the Ramblers' Association. When Regent Street Polytechnic became the Polytechnic of Central London in 1970, relations with the sports and social clubs - which had been an integral part of Quintin Hogg's vision for the Polytechnic - were redefined as part of the new constitutional arrangements. They became legally separate, though some links remained. Further changes were made following the Education Reform Act of 1988. The club is now essentially independent, but retains a link as a member of the Institute of Polytechnic Sports and Social Clubs, founded in 1989. The club was variously known as the Polytechnic Ramblers and the Polytechnic Rambling Club, although no definite date for a change of name is known. It has a website at: http://www.polyramblers.org.uk/

The male and female rambling clubs officially joined together in 1954.