Saucy songs turned out nice for George
ENTERTAINER GEORGE FORMBY PASSED AWAY 60 YEARS AGO. MARION McMULLEN LOOKS BACK AT A LIFE OF LAUGHTER
BANNED by the BBC and loved by the Queen, George Formby was one of Britain’s biggest stars making 22 movies bearing titles like He Snoops To Conquer and Bell-Bottom George, and entertaining Montgomery’s troops in the Sahara, where he declared “Ee, it’s just like Blackpool sands.”
But he worked hard for success, recalling of his early days: “I was the first turn, three minutes, died the death of a dog.”
George Hoy Booth was born in Wigan in 1904 and later adopted his father’s stage name of George Formby. George senior had been in a music hall troupe with a young Charlie Chaplin and encouraged him to try his luck in America. George left school at seven, unable to read or write, and started as stable boy in Yorkshire and later became an apprentice jockey before turning to comedy and making his professional stage debut in 1921 aged of 16. He was paid the princely sum of £5 a week for a fortnight at the Hippodrome in Lancashire and it was his first step to stardom. Queen Elizabeth loved the king of the ukulele so much she toyed with becoming President of the George Formby Society and it is claimed she once said she knew the words to his songs Leaning On A Lamp Post, When I’m Cleaning Windows and With My Little Stick Of Blackpool Rock ... and could sing them.
Her Majesty had been won over by the comic after his private performances at Buckingham Palace, and the Windsors were said to be huge fans. In 1941, when the BBC banned the saucy track When I’m Cleaning Windows, branding it a “disgusting little ditty”, George reminded the corporation it was a favourite of Queen Mary’s.
The lyrics of many of his songs were rather saucy though. He sang in Andy The Handyman: “A girl gave me a gold watch. I said ‘It’s rather light, it’s got no works inside it, now surely that’s not right’. She said ‘Now don’t you worry, I’ll give you the works tonight’”.
With his catchphrase “Turned out nice again,” George was Britain’s biggest entertainer in the 1930s and 1940s and was seen as a lovable working-class hero with a goofy grin no-one could resist.
His career took off in 1924, when he introduced the ukulele banjo
George in 1945 into his act and fell in love with clog dancer Beryl Ingham. They married two years later and she gave up her career to become his manager. Beryl helped him to memorise the words of his movie scripts and his songs, because of his problems reading and writing, and George was soon the highest-paid entertainer in Britain earning the equivalent of £1.5 million a movie although Beryl only gave him five shillings a week pocket money. Most of his earnings were spent on their home in Lytham St Annes, near Blackpool, which came to be named Beryldene. George made movie after movie and his work entertaining the troops during the Second World earned him an OBE in 1946. Basil Dean, head of ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) remembered him “standing with his back to a tree or a wall of sandbags, with men squatting on the ground in front of him, he sang song after song, screwing up his face into comical expressions of fright whenever shells exploded in the near distance, and making little cracks when the firing drowned the point lines in his songs.”
Beryl was a controlling influence in George’s life and, when she died from leukaemia on Christmas Day 1960 he admitted: “My life with Beryl was hell”.
He became engaged to teacher Pat Howson, more than 20 years his junior, shortly afterwards and bought her a diamond engagement ring and a car.
He knew the engagement would cause a stir, but said: “I’ll be perfectly honest. I’ve got to have somebody to look after me.”
George died of a heart attack on March 6, 1961, just two days before he and Pat were to married. He was just 56 and had planned a honeymoon cruise to the West Indies for them, before moving to a new home near Preston.
Around 150,000 people lined the streets of Warrington to pay their respects at his funeral and the entertainer was buried next to his comic father in Warrington Cemetery. The inscription on his grave reads: “A tradition nobly upheld.” The George Formby Society was founded shortly afterwards and he became inducted into the Ukulele Hall Of Fame in 2004 with the citation: “He won such love and respect for his charismatic stage presence, technical skill and playful lyrics.” As George himself would say, “Turned out nice again.”
This two-speed crossword has two sets of clues, but just one grid. If you can’t solve the Cryptic clue, try the Quick.
Cryptic
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What census officers and defeated boxers do (4,3,5)
Perhaps the end of safety is found in rotten beam (5) A number worth re-establishing in part (5)
9 & 2Dn. Trumpery companion needs to make an effort (6) 10. Usual memo. required for constructing a tomb (9)
Doctrine is embraced by them (6)
Aim to give the position of the camper (6)
It’s dreadful when our coat is ruined (9) You must follow a direction to make observations (3)
The girl is a learner with a distinctive air (5)
Animal showing dash and the first bit of determination (5) What the sneaky raconteur is doing? (7,5)
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The underworld engaged in severe business (6)
The expenses of sorties away from home (9)
She may assist in the theatre (5)
Could be the same strains for sewers! (12)
Here’s an affray – shelter behind me (5)
All is much changed in this sphere of entertainment (5-4) In a conclusion you’ll find me correct (5)
New style Royal Navy (6)
Stir up quarrels, we hear (5)
Nautical term used among craftsmen (3)
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1. Be defeated in boxing (4,3,5) Perhaps (5) Number (5) Friend (3) Large tomb (9) Belief (6) Determined (6) Shocking (9) Sight organ (3) Girl’s name (5) Antelope (5) Relating tall stories (7,5)
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Signals for action (7-5) Attempt (3)
God of darkness (6) Expenditure (9) Hospital worker (5) Needlewomen (12) Brawl (5)
A variety entertainment (5-4) Correct (5)
Up-to-date (6)
Awaken (5)
At the rear (3)
ASCOTTISH architecture practice is expanding its UK footprint by targeting the Birmingham market.
Residential specialist Hoko Design has invested £400,000 in the move to create a new operation in the city and has recruited experienced architect Jo Ellson to lead it.
She studied at the Birmingham School of Architecture and has spent 25 years working for practices across Birmingham, Warwickshire and the West Midlands.
The Glasgow-headquartered firm said the expansion was part of its wider target to be working on 1,000 projects nationwide by the end of the year.
Hoko was founded in 2019 by Scottish architect and entrepreneur Danny Campbell with a mission to fix what he calls a “broken” industry by pairing homeowners with architecture and design experts.
The process includes a virtual reality interior design service to help clients realise their plans, with architects earning a base salary which is topped up by 30 per cent commission. Mr Campbell said: “The Hoko mission has always been to provide the perfect home remodelling experience for homeowners.
“The traditional architecture process can be complicated, inaccessible and out of line with advances in customer experience in other industries. We have seen rising demand for our brand of residential architecture across the West Midlands, particularly during lockdown, and Birmingham is the perfect place to base our operation.”
AN estimated six million employees across Britain have become “accidental savers” during the coronavirus pandemic, a survey suggests.
Researchers said those with extra cash windfalls now have an opportunity to put their finances on a firmer footing.
While many household incomes have been hit hard by the pandemic, some people have seen an unexpected boost to their standard of living.
This is perhaps because their incomes have been unaffected but their outgoings, such as transport to work or spending on activities such as holidays or eating out, have been vastly reduced.
Without actively choosing to do so, this group have accidentally saved – in many cases thousands of pounds each – as a result of being locked down and unable to spend in the same way as before.
The report was compiled by financial consultancy LCP (Lane Clark & Peacock).
LCP used a survey of 10,000 employees in the autumn of 2020 to shine a light on accidental savers, who tend to be on higher incomes and able to work from home.
It said, based on Bank of England estimates of increased savings over the period March to November 2020, six million accidental savers are likely to have improved their net wealth
by thousands of pounds, through a combination of cutting their debts and holding more money in savings pots.
Just under 24 per cent of those surveyed said the pandemic had changed their ability to save.
In most cases, extra cash piles tend to have ended up in a bank account or short-term savings account, with relatively little money used to boost long-term savings such as pensions, the research suggests.
With some people now more likely to work from home even after social distancing restrictions lift, they may find their work-related costs are permanently
reduced.
The LCP paper argues people could make their cash work harder for them by:
Reducing debt, particularly highcost borrowing;
Building up a short-term savings buffer to provide security against future unexpected spending;
Improving pension saving, especially where their retirement prospects are relatively modest.
Employers have a key role to play in helping to build knowledge and awareness among staff of the advantages of saving more, including promoting workplace savings schemes and incentives to reward pension saving, the report said.
Heidi Allan, senior consultant and financial wellbeing specialist at LCP, said: “Whilst the pandemic has led to a hit on household incomes for large numbers of people, there is also a significant group of employees whose household finances have improved in recent months.
“This is an opportunity for them to put their personal finances on a firmer footing by reducing debt and increasing saving. Employers will have a key part to play in ensuring that workers take advantage of this opportunity and do not simply allow these increased balances to sit in current accounts and gradually drift away.”
Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister and a partner at LCP, said: “As a nation, we have a problem of under-saving, whether for shortterm emergencies or for our retirement. There are few silver linings from the current crisis, but the emergence of a large group of accidental savers could be one of them.
“Many people who have built up balances have not yet committed them to long-term savings, and many pension schemes and providers do not make it easy for members to make one-off contributions.
“A concerted effort is needed to use this unexpected opportunity to create more of a savings culture, especially among those who may permanently benefit from reduced outgoings as a result of a switch to greater home working.”
THE Old Rectory in Droitwich Spa is understood to have been built for the vicar of the town’s St Andrew’s parish in 1910.
It is, however, considered most unlikely that the clergyman was able to enjoy the indoor pool, the hot tub or the garden’s recessed trampoline!
The spacious house, in Lyttelton Road, the town’s most exclusive street, was built for the vicar by Lord Lyttelton, whose family seat was Hagley Hall.
It boasts a host of original features including stone sills, keystones to the windows, an ornate stone portico framing the front door with a fan light above, high ceilings, panelled doors, coving, picture and dado rails and large sash windows creating a very light and airy living space.
The current owners have extended and updated the property, including a kitchen extension and re-fitted bathrooms, blending the period character with contemporary living.
The front door opens to a vestibule with quarry tiled flooring and an inner door opens to a fine entrance hall with refurbished parquet flooring that continues through into the three reception rooms. Off the entrance hall is a boot room with a wash hand basin and a separate toilet.
The drawing room has a square bay and a log burner set on a slate hearth with a limestone surround, whilst the dining room has a working fireplace with a fine carved wood surround and French doors opening to the garden. The focal point of the sitting room is a bay window with a window seat.
The open plan, multi-level kitchen has been custom fitted and includes a breakfast island, quartz worktops, double Belfast sink and an integrated dishwasher and fridge. The gas-fired, four-oven Aga with electric module is available by separate negotiation.
From the kitchen, steps lead up to a breakfast area and further steps lead to the family room with both areas enclosed by a glass balustrade. The family area features a ceiling lantern and two sets of bi-fold doors opening to the garden terrace.
Off the rear inner hall are doors to a large pantry, a store/boiler room and the fitted utility room, which includes tall pantry cupboards and space for various additional appliances including a separate washing machine and tumble dryer.
A door from the inner hall leads to the pool complex, which includes a changing room and wet room. Bi-fold doors lead to the rear garden terrace and a further door to the large games room / gym with projector and screen. According to Zoopla, a traditional, wide, turning staircase from the entrance hall rises to a galleried landing.
The principal bedroom has built-in wardrobes and an en suite with a shower bath. There are four further double bedrooms, two of which have traditional feature fireplaces and these rooms are served by a sumptuous family bathroom, with a freestanding bath and a walk-in double shower.
The top floor attic room could be used as a sixth bedroom or a study and doors at either end of the room open to two eaves storage areas.
Electric gates open to driveway parking for several cars in front of the attached single garage. From the driveway, a gate in a picket fence opens to the lawned gardens that wrap around the house.
A path passes an ornamental fish pond to the rear decked terrace, offering a perfect spot for al fresco dining under the canopy. A hot tub is available by separate negotiation. There is also a log cabin home office/ hobby room with French doors, power and light at the rear of the garden.
Lyttelton Road is a desirable, tree-lined street characterised by fine family houses in a mature setting, close to St Peter’s Fields and the heart of the town.
The guide price is £1,250,000.