From Retro Raleighs by Peter Kohler

One of the great traditions of British cycling was "club riding": small, local groups of cyclists organized into clubs for regular sporting or recreational rides. These could comprise long or short tours, day trips, time trials or roadracing. The emphasis in many clubs was more camaraderie than competitive but it was not always a pub crawl. Many group rides were multi-day affairs and as varied as the British countryside.
The sheer variety of club rides and riders demanded a versatile and popularly priced mount, one that was lightweight, but with more relaxed frame angles than a pure racing type, as well as mudguards and lighting equipment for all-year, all-weather use. By the 1930s, most cycle manufacturers offered a specific range of "club" cycles ranging from simple derivations of the steel-framed, cable-braked "sports light roadsters" to the most sophisticated machines of their day with light steel tubing, celluloid mudguards, Sturmey Archer hub gears, alloy fitments and 26" x 1 1/4" (597 mm) lightweight steel wheels, quick release wing nut hubs and high pressure (70 psi) tires.

A bicycle did not have to say "Clubman" to be a suitable mount for club riders, this was a descriptor used by manufacturers like Raleigh to promote these models to those riders.

My 1955 Raleigh Lenton is a classic club bicycle that was fitted with a fixed drive instead of a Sturmey Archer 3 speed and still rolls on Dunlop 26 by 1 1/4 stainless rims.

My 1951 and 1954 Sports were entry level club bicycles fitted with 3 speed hubs.

My 1951 CCM is a Path / Road bicycle.

(My site is down for a tune up - pictures will follow)