John Walley’s prediction!

Just under three years ago, on a video dated to the 18th November 2023, GFS Founder Member John Walley took to the legendary Imperial Hotel stage and told us all ‘Isn’t it sad that it’s the last November meeting’, a sentiment clearly echoed by the audience, with cries of ‘hear, hear’ emerging from the back rows. However, when he followed that statement up with ‘I’ve got a good feeling it won’t be’, I admit that I, a thirteen-year-old new member stood at the back of the room clutching a video camera, had my fingers crossed. But, as ever, John was right! And although he and Gill couldn’t be with us due to holiday preparations, I know he was very proud of the great success that our return to a Winter convention, albeit for one day only in Nottingham.

Nottingham 2026

Our first Winter meeting since the aforementioned 2023 occasion was held on Saturday 7th November at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nottingham. The location was ideal for members to access the city centre, with the nearby shopping centre proving an ideal opportunity to purchase the raffle prizes for the evening! The Crowne Plaza itself was a fantastic venue, and the moment we stepped into the Royal Suite just after 7:00 AM, we knew that the Committee had made a great choice – the convention facilities were immaculate and perfectly accommodated the equipment that we are all familiar with at Blackpool. Jim Makin and Andy Poppleton must be credited here as they had the unenviable task of transporting all the GFS setup – we brought Blackpool to Nottingham! In the early morning, alongside Andy and Jim to construct the setup were Andrew Higham, Stuart Lowther and his partner Rhianne, who all deserve a medal for sacrificing a few hours of sleep to help out.

Great attendance

As for the external conditions, ‘Oh don’t the wind blow cold’ was the most popular expression as a steady flow of members trickled into the hall in time for the 10:30 ‘meet your friends’ opening to the meeting. As for many other areas on Saturday, Nottingham was covered in thick fog, and the main concern at the opening of the meeting was that this may have affected the amount of attendees that travelled over, but happily this was not the case and we recorded a very commendable 110 in the audience at the peak on Saturday afternoon. This was more than was anticipated by any of the organisers, and especially impressive for a first-time meeting. However, most encouragingly of all, a large proportion of the attendees were there for their first time at a convention – the accessibility of the location meant that members who hail far from Blackpool could make an appearance, an example being Lee Shetliffe from Devon, a returning member who joined the Society in the 1990s. Lee was very well received for his appearances on stage, a player of the highest standard who we are delighted to see back.

Welcoming the Formby Family

Another surprise appearance was when George’s niece Beverley and members of her family arrived. Beverley is the daughter of George’s younger brother Frank, who memorably made a visit to a Blackpool meeting in the 1960s. At the raffle in the evening, we were delighted to see that Beverley had made a £200 donation to the Society – thank you for your generosity and for honouring us with your presence on Saturday. It is very rewarding to know that the work of the Society to perpetuate George’s music and memory still reaches the Formby Family.

Players

Thanks to great use of advertisement on social media by the Committee, we were able to attract a number of wooden ukulele groups and players to the event. This most notably included the Hucknall Ukulele Group, who brought a terrific ensemble of 20-day members, and also a few from Peter Nixon’s ukulele group from Mansfield. On the subject of Peter, I must use the opportunity to commend his involvement on the day, as he organised two of the afternoon and evening concerts, which is no mean feat when you have over three hours of slots to fill, and also gave four great individual performances of his own. Returning to the topic of the wooden ukulele groups, this meant that the three tuition classes ably delivered by Andrew Poppleton had great attendances, and it was lovely to observe the clear progress that they made in their playing ability as the day progressed. On the topic of stage performances, the organisers’ clipboard was populated with the usual stars of Blackpool and the local branches, with the likes of Stuart Lowther, Matthew Richards and Andrew Poppleton wowing the audience as ever with their tremendous playing skill – Andrew even had yet another new instrument to show off! However, it was not only George’s music that entertained us – Simon Kinrade’s performance of ‘The Laxey Wheel’ (a song commemorating the famous Isle of Man attraction) drew attention, not only for Simon’s excellent stage presence but also for his wife, and former GFS Chair Gail’s stage debut teaching the audience the actions! Gail deserves a medal – she was the architect behind the whole weekend in its early stages last year, and without her I am almost certain that the day would not have taken place. On the topic of memorable performances, Peter Jones from The Retford Ukulele Ensemble (T.R.U.E.) must be highlighted for his excellent rendition of ‘Putting On the Style’. Peter is sure to become a convention favourite and is a lovely man to boot, so we hope to see him at a future meeting!

Andrew Poppleton

To conclude, I must highlight the member who arguably left the biggest mark on the weekend, and that is of course our fantastic President Andrew Poppleton. Behind the scenes, Andrew was actively working right from the first items set up in the morning all the way to the last note of Lamp Post in the final Thrash. Andrew deserves full credit for his activities, especially as he has to balance the GFS with an, at times, almost incomprehensible role as a deputy headmaster. Most notably, Andrew has taken on the ever-present Society Shop, an incredibly difficult activity to ensure that the Society is well funded. The shop received great takings throughout the day, so thank you to the Shop volunteers who assisted Andrew: Cassie Morris Dalton, Lynne Griffiths, and Karen Evered. So thank you to Andrew, Gail and all the other volunteers who helped to create a wonderful spectacle at the Crowne Plaza. However, the more help we can get the better – please do not be afraid to volunteer for the Society, your work will never go unnoticed. All in all, a fantastic meeting, and the feedback has been excellent – the one-day format is sure to return. Charlie Evered 11 November 2026