goathland 2017
£2000 raised for Prostate Cancer UK
The latest Goathland/Grosmont George Formby meeting took place on the
weekend of 05 to 07 May 2017 and was another great success from start to
finish.
This year the weekend was focused on raising money for Prostate Cancer UK
in the memory of one of our best and much missed friends, Alan Kershaw.
Caroline Stewart has been planning this event for quite a while and
endeavouring to raise funds for her chosen charity, before the weekend
commenced, she had managed to raise approximately £800 through the JUST
GIVING web pages.
Caroline got the ball rolling on Friday night when she gave a talk on the two
George Formby’s with the aid of slides in St. Matthews Church, Grosmont. For
a modest charge of £3, one could learn all about the fascinating lives of
George Formby Snr and Jnr and their family. It couldn’t have been a better
way to launch a Formby weekend and Caroline gave a very enjoyable and
interesting presentation of her favourite subject.
On Saturday we all made the journey to Goathland Village Hall where for the
second year running we would transform the hall into a mini Imperial Hotel to
hold once again, one of the best meeting in the GFS calendar.
The hall was full by the start of the meeting with local friends of Caroline’s
being joined by many Formby people who had travelled from far and wide to
help make the weekend the success that it was.
As usual, Caroline had catered for all tastes, not only from a musical point of
view, but also her bar which was run by the ever willing John Howard and
Martin Fowkes and is always a great place to chat and enjoy a drink at very
popular prices.
In the concert hall we enjoyed all sorts of brilliant entertainers, especially some
wonderful playing from Matt Richards both on his banjo-uke and then on his
lovely ukulele/guitar. Gabriella La Foley made the round trip of almost 400
miles to give a brief glimpse of her talent before disappearing in to the night
and for the first time we also had Paul Kenny, who again gave a great display
of exactly how to play the banjo uke in the Formby style.
We also had Grosmont’s finest in the Cordite Sisters who are Caroline on
ukulele and her friend Louise Wootten on piano. These two ladies play in the
local area and bring delight to all.After two magnificent raffles and a “Gerry
Mawdsley” style auction, we learned that the fund had risen to close on £1800.
The evening closed around 23:00 and all agreed that it was once again a
smashing day for all concerned.
The following morning many of us made for the Hazelwood Tea Rooms in
Grosmont where we enjoyed a nice little thrash session before retiring to the
Birch Hall Inn at Beck Hole.
A great weekend was enjoyed by so many people - and all for a good cause
driven by Caroline Stewart and inspired by our great mate, Alan Kershaw.
Well done to all who contributed in any way at all, a wonderful weekend!I
understand that at the time of writing, the fund is now at approximately £2000 -
brilliant!
Peter Pollard - 11 May 2017
Alan Kershaw
Alan was in the GFS from 2011 until November 2015. `In that time he took the Society to his heart and the members, his new friends were swept away by his friendship, his lovely sense of humour and his willingness to do anything for the GFS or anyone in it. He was at Grosmont 2014 and loved every minute of the occasion, the people and the lovely countryside
The latest Goathland/Grosmont
George Formby meeting took
place on the weekend of 05 to
07 May 2017 and was another
great success from start to
finish.
This year the weekend was
focused on raising money for
Prostate Cancer UK in the
memory of one of our best and
much missed friends, Alan
Kershaw.
Caroline Stewart has been planning this event for quite a while and
endeavouring to raise funds for her chosen charity, before the
weekend commenced, she had managed to raise approximately
£800 through the JUST GIVING web pages.
Caroline got the ball rolling on
Friday night when she gave a
talk on the two George
Formby’s with the aid of slides
in St. Matthews Church,
Grosmont. For a modest charge
of £3, one could learn all about
the fascinating lives of George
Formby Snr and Jnr and their
family. It couldn’t have been a
better way to launch a Formby
weekend and Caroline gave a
very enjoyable and interesting presentation of her favourite subject.
On Saturday we all made the journey to Goathland Village Hall
where for the second year running we would transform the hall into a
mini Imperial Hotel to hold once again, one of the best meeting in the
GFS calendar.
The hall was full by the start of the
meeting with local friends of
Caroline’s being joined by many
Formby people who had travelled
from far and wide to help make the
weekend the success that it was.
As usual, Caroline had catered for all
tastes, not only from a musical point
of view, but also her bar which was
run by the ever willing John Howard and Martin Fowkes and is
always a great place to chat and enjoy a drink at very popular prices.
In the concert hall we enjoyed all sorts
of brilliant entertainers, especially
some wonderful playing from Matt
Richards both on his banjo-uke and
then on his lovely ukulele/guitar.
Gabriella La Foley made the round
trip of almost 400 miles to give a brief
glimpse of her talent before
disappearing in to the night and for
the first time we also had Paul Kenny,
who again gave a great display of exactly how to play the banjo uke
in the Formby style.
We also had Grosmont’s finest in the Cordite Sisters who are
Caroline on ukulele and her friend Louise Wootten on piano. These
two ladies play in the local area and bring delight to all.After two
magnificent raffles and a “Gerry Mawdsley” style auction, we learned
that the fund had risen to close on £1800.
The evening closed around 23:00 and all agreed that it was once
again a smashing day for all concerned.
The following morning many of us
made for the Hazelwood Tea Rooms
in Grosmont where we enjoyed a nice
little thrash session before retiring to
the Birch Hall Inn at Beck Hole.
A great weekend was enjoyed by so
many people - and all for a good
cause driven by Caroline Stewart and
inspired by our great mate, Alan
Kershaw.
Well done to all who contributed in any way at all, a wonderful
weekend!I understand that at the time of writing, the fund is now at
approximately £2000 - brilliant!
Peter Pollard - 11 May 2017
Alan Kershaw
Alan was in the GFS from 2011 until November 2015. `In that time he took the Society to his heart and the members, his new friends were swept away by his friendship, his lovely sense of humour and his willingness to do anything for the GFS or anyone in it. He was at Grosmont 2014 and loved every minute of the occasion, the people and the lovely countryside
£2,000 raised for Prostate Cancer UK
