Monument Restored
Those were the poignant last words from George's mother, Eliza, and his sister, Louie, when George Formby Jr. was laid to rest in the family grave in Warrington following his death on March 6 1961, some forty years after his father had passed away in 1921. The monument, being the last resting place for George's mother as well as his father is therefore around 76 years old now and naturally was starting to show it's age. Countless tourists posing for photographs by the side of the monument had unknowingly helped in the deterioration and some of the slabs forming the base of the grave had been broken. The whole monument had started to sink and the original bright white colour had long since faded to a dismal brown owing to age and pollution.
That's all in the past though, and restoration work by the original builders of the monument, Alberti, Lupton and Co., Ltd. has recently been completed. All members of the GFS can take pride in knowing that they have had a hand in the restoration work, because this work and the permission to carry it through was secured by the Society's Executive Committee and all costs are being met from the Society funds.
If you wish to view the monument,
it is situated in Warrington Cemetary between The A50 and the A49.
Access from the A49 is via Church Street and access from the A50 via Manchester
Road. The Cemetery is actually on Manchester Road. To find the grave:-
Go through Cemetery gates and turn left. Follow the path for about 100
yards and then fork right. Walk another 50 yards to GF memorial. It's
right there in front of you, you will see it long before you reach it.
