The Club was set up by Bryan Corrin at the suggestion of David Lamb. The inaugural meeting has been held in 1980 at Merton College, Oxford, hosted by Michael Dunnill.
The purpose of the Club was and is to promote the exchange of ideas on lung disease and facilitate social contact between pulmonary pathologists.
The programme followed a format that has been adhered to subsequently: short presentations of work in progress followed by a slide seminar.
The meetings initially lasted half a day and were generally held on the afternoon before the summer and winter meetings of either the Pathological or Thoracic Societies but they gradually lengthened to a whole day and came to stand-alone, often being held on a Friday to permit some social activity the following day.
Occasional French guests attended and a similar Club was formed in France. In 1993 the two clubs met jointly in Caen and similar joint meetings have subsequently been held every other year, alternating between France and England.
Membership of this initially British Club has expanded to include Irish, Dutch, Portuguese, German, and Swedish members.
Meetings have been held  in Portugal, Ireland and The Netherlands as well as Great Britain.