Lytham-St-Annes 1996

In 1996, Alan Randall promoted a new but much smaller exhibition than the 1991 Warrington event, in Lytham-St-Annes. The interest in the media was aroused once again, with one report stating, "A museum in honour of George Formby, Lancashire's most famous ukelele-player and the man who practically invented the concept of the double entendre opened this week in Lytham St Anne's, near Blackpool. And as the maestro himself might have put it, it's quite a big one. This George Formby Experience contains hundreds of items - including instruments, costumes, posters and pictures - relating to the Wigan-born star, whose films would regularly take more money in Britain than Hollywood's finest offerings. Among the exhibits, of course, are ukelele-banjos, including one bought by George Harrison, who refers to Formby as his idol." Whereas the Warrington exhibition in 1991 was free to enter, the Lytham-St-Annes exhibition made a charge of £2.50 per person to view the exhibits and it would run throughout the Summer months.

Blackpool 2004

When the 2004 Blackpool North Pier exhibition was launched, this again, like the Warrington event, was free-entry and would run from Easter through to November 2004. On the day when Kathryn and I visited, there was only a few people there, but I feel sure that the display would have proved to be very popular throughout that Summer. A lovely brochure was produced which was available for sale and illustrated much of the Formby archive, it really was worth the outlay of… I can’t remember but probably something like £5. When members of the Randall family came to the Imperial to a convention after Alan had died, they brought many copies of the brochure and gave them to anyone who wanted one. For those who did not get to the exhibition or were not at the convention, a PDF copy of the brochure is available to download. PP - June 2020