On Saturday, 18th October 2025, sixteen members of the George Formby Society met at the Coleshill Community Centre for the grand opening of the Coleshill Branch. Although there were a few apologies, all in attendance agreed that we had a great night. Four Committee members were in the audience, including GFS president Andrew Poppleton and newly elected Vice President Summer Valentine, along with Chair Gail Kinrade, who brought her knitting! The evening began at approximately 7:30 with a few words from organiser Andrew Higham (luckily he didn't tell any jokes), who along with fellow organiser Tom Cutler, led a thrash of about 10 songs before breaking into the solo performances of the first half. Andy Poppleton brought along a sound desk and a speaker, so we had good amplification for microphones and backing tracks throughout the evening. The Community Centre is well equipped with a kitchen, so in the break we were treated to food and drink brought along by Tom Cutler. A nice touch during the interval was that some for George Formby’s songs were projected using the Songs From The Films collection. At the beginning of the second half, Tom tested out a new system with scans of the Songbook songs on slides projected onto the wall to help players in the Thrash out with chords. Some of the younger members had never seen a piece of equipment like this before! The second half allowed for another song from each player before finishing at about 10:00 with a Lampost thrash. All in all, a great evening! The branch has strong foundations, and the future looks bright. It echoes the golden 1990s period of the GFS, where for some time there was a Coventry Branch. Words by Charlie Evered

coleshill branch