In Our Own Words – Blackpool in June - by Gill

Walley

With the last meeting of 2025 about to begin; yes, this coming September meeting is the last meeting of the year. Then a break of six months before we meet again so it’s worth revealing why the June meeting was so successful. It was a busy, well attended meeting. The various branches were well represented. The meeting followed the usual formula of concerts, tuition, films, auctions, raffles, ukes, displays, uke sales and the GFS Shop. There was lots of fun, and laughter, and bad jokes and interesting comments or remarks as well as lots of talent on stage of all ages. As usual some new faces, returning faces and, of course, one or two surprises thrown into the mix. More of the new display boards were on show, archives exhibited, the raffle table heaving with prizes and the auction table piling up, the uke sale room busy, what did our members think of it all….? Alan Molyneux said “It is my first year as a member of the GFS and I am loving it. I have joined the Westhoughton branch. Roll on the next Conference in September. 

Visitor from Sweden

Björn Heden making the long journey from Sweden says. “I can only say that I never regret a trip over the North Sea for the sole purpose of attending the GFS convention. It's nice talking to you all and I can only say that Formby is like spiritual thing for me, I loved it since hearing him first in 2018, and it only grown since and still do for the moment. It's nothing like what you see today in mainstream entertainment. A true story is that in Sweden, if you pick up a uke among older swedes, the first association will be "Cleaning windows". Charlie Evered noted the opportunity for him to buy “90 GFS cassettes; to enjoy the GFS Jazz Band (described as fantastic), an honour to perform with John Walley, to attend the Abbott Ukulele talk (standing room only)”. He mentioned that the GFS Isle of Man T shirts were on sale but declined to say if he bought one. He did however declare that “he enjoyed Summer Valentine performing Formby songs” and thought “Jamie Routledge was improving every time”. Jamie Routledge and family travelling for five hours from Essex had the privilege of Jamie being the first performer on stage on Saturday afternoon. He described it as ‘nerve-wracking’ but thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. “This was one of the best conventions I have been to so far. From walking in I was greeted with smiling faces and ukes being strummed. The magic was in the air, especially during the thrash when someone was heard saying it was the ‘best experience’ they had ever had. There was a great variation of performers and some rarely performed Formby numbers such as The Baby Show and Summer Valentines brilliant rendition of Lancashire Romeo. In Lewis Clifton’s absence some thievery of his songs was going round, the culprits were Charlie Evered and me!

GFS Jazz

The return of the George Formby Society Jazz Band was a pleasure to see. All members showing off their unique talents on their instruments. Steve Thomas was in the spotlight for his amazing bass solo, as someone learning the ukulele bass it was interesting to watch. Of course there was the usual dazzling performers such as Stuart Lowther, who was doubling as sound technician for the weekend, John Walley whose duet with Charlie is always great to see, a nice contrast of the history of the society and the age range of performers we have. It’s always nice to see that George Formby isn’t just remembered in the UK, it’s nice to see members from overseas such as Björn Heden from Sweden who is always a pleasure to see him perform his Swedish versions of Formby classics such as Grandads Flannelette Nightshirt and Cleaning Windows. I had the pleasure of performing with him and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also performed with Jon Baddeley who is always a joy to chat to and perform with. Every convention seems to be as good as the last, and I think this will continue for a very long time. It’s always great to see good attendance for these conventions, ensuring the future of the society. The concerts always begin with a thrash- an opportunity for the audience to eye up the talent, for the performers to warm up, and a unique opportunity, to play or just to “get up there and pretend to play.” This time the Jazz Band was back for the first time since Covid. Alan Newton described, ‘The rehearsals were going well with nobody knowing what they’re playing or in what key’ When Björn sang in Swedish at least we all knew the tune but not the words!

The concerts

The concerts ran slickly as Pam Baddeley one of the concert organisers, busy gathering names and sorting out the keys and backing tracks for the performers noted. “The performers were ready just before they went on stage enabling the concert to run smoothly. Johnny Key needs a special mention for his role as Microphone adjuster. This helps the performer immensely and assists in the smooth running of the concerts.” John doesn’t have time to sit and watch, he’s up and down like a yo-yo. Ray Reynolds finds that being a compère is a good opportunity to get to know some other members and he thought the continued influx of new talented younger faces and regulars worked well with a good mix of varied songs. Ray also mentioned the auction describing it as “good fun and light-hearted when Caroline and Stuart tried to outbid one another when the interesting fan club badge came up.”

A new sound engineer

Taking over the sound desk, at short notice meant it was a very different meeting for Stuart Lowther. According to one “member we were in sound hands!” “Normally, I spend my time in Blackpool mingling around the convention, catching up with friends, and chatting about George Formby and Ukulele Banjos. This convention was different as, in the absence of Cathy and Kevin Staniland, I spent most of my time driving the sound desk for the weekend. This meant I got to watch nearly all the performers over the weekend. I enjoyed seeing the huge range of acts on show at the GFS. From the George Formby Jazz band to John Walley sweeping the stage! I still managed to get some chatting done in between concerts. With Rhianne sitting by my side, running the sound wasn't at all lonely. As usual, it was another convention well done, and I'm looking forward to seeing all my good friends at the next one.”

The GFS Shop

Running the shop is always time consuming, especially setting everything out with many members wanting to buy before it officially opens. Kathryn Pollard describes it as ‘total chaos’ and says” she ‘never knows who’s on stage’ but she does ‘meet a lot of new people because they all come to buy their uke supplies’ In the audience was Carol and Frank Ledwood from the South Yorkshire Branch who appreciated the “mixture of music, especially from the youngsters who are learning and performing the less well- known Formby songs which add something new to the meeting.” Pat and Geoff Silcock watching the concerts really enjoyed the banter and performances. “One performer noted 'I think the band got fed up before I did' One female attendee was heard to ask Jimmy Makin: 'Come on then Jimmy, let's have a look at it!' to which he responded: 'I thought it'd be bigger than that!' They were, of course, referring to Jimmy's new ukulele tattoo.” Matthew played 'I'd Rather play Noughts and Crosses’ for Patricia Parkes on her dad's Abbott. Her dad was Tommy Ashmore and 'Noughts and Crosses' was his favourite song.(John Walley remembers Tommy with great affection he was always a Formby fan) Eileen Newsham (nee Dewhurst) was interested to hear that Peter Pollard grew up in Batley and after checking his name, realised that they attended the same infant school in Purlwell. What a great memory Eileen has!” Peter was just delighted to learn that three people came from Batley. Jamie Rutledge's Nan was currently cruising so he sang 'Pleasure Cruise' for her.”  For founder member John Walley the films are always an important part of the meeting because, ‘They give pleasure to lots of members. All of course were made in glorious black and white and show George as he was in the 30’s and 40’s. The stories maybe too familiar now, but when George is on screen it is magic.

One or two surprises

A lovely surprise was Andy Poppleton’s talk and display of the ‘Abbott’ range of ukuleles. Never before have so many of these rare and iconic instruments been seen together, each one valued at several thousand pounds. The pre-war instruments are so light and simple in design that you would not give them a second look (compared with the flamboyant Gibson’s and Ludwig’s), but oh boy the tone! it is unique, and one can understand why his ‘Abbott Monarch’ was George’s favourite uke which he used nine of his films. A wonderful hour – thank you Andy. John Walley had brought all his archives to the meeting and went to a good home and raised £1,000 for the GFS.

The Alan Randall Archives

The arrival of the Alan Randall Archives on Sunday drew members like bees round a honey pot. Kyle purchased a copy of George Formby's death certificate originally owned by the late George Formby impersonator Alan Randall. Frances Lister had this to say about it. “For me the highlight of the weekend was being able to view the George Formby memorabilia brought to the convention by the family of Alan Randall. The huge scrapbook, at least 5 inches thick, was filled with every written article and printed photograph of George and dated and recorded by Beryl. The sheets now in a very delicate condition and in need of someone to rebind and repair the loose pages and the book cover. These newspaper articles and write-ups are most probably the only evidence left of the tabloids at the time as the originals probably no longer exist. The collection of framed photographs and personal effects bought by Alan Randall after George’s death and which had been kept and stored by the Randall family all these years, was now up for sale, I expect to the highest bidder. It’s good to know that the collection has been kept together until now when it seems it could be split up and end up anywhere!” We all missed Kevin and Cathy Staniland, Kevin breaking a rib whilst cheering a goal which he beloved scored, only to find that the goal was disallowed. Talk about killing yourself for nowt. We all wish him a speedy recovery. So, we have to wait until September until we meet again but let us hope that eventually that the November meeting might be re- instated. After all, some of us do get withdrawal symptoms. We just can’t get enough of our George. Gill Walley - June 2025