Westhoughton GFS
A great night out!
The Castleford GFS lads made their regular visit to
Westhoughton last night (25/10/2017) and were greeted by all in
the usual friendly way. The Westhoughton branch is nothing but
friendliness. Even though our journey there is roughly a round
trip of 100 miles, it is made easy knowing that we are always in
for a great evening of friendship and top entertainment.
MC for the evening is usually the very capable Garry Hampson
who always goes out of his way to make long distance travellers
welcome and also make sure that they are all featured in the
evening’s entertainment.
The quality of entertainment is as good as any within the GFS
circle and as usual, all players are given the same rousing
cheer at the end of their spot no matter what level of
advancement the player has attained.
Branch helper Dennis Lee goes back a long way in GFS history
and has always been involved with some aspect of the
Society.He launched the North Wales branch in 1994, in 1996
Dennis was Vice-Chairman of the GFS and also our archivist,
then in 1998 Dennis was elected Chairman of the Society. One
could say that Dennis has definitely paid his dues to the GFS!
The Westhoughton branch is renowned for doing outside
entertainment and Dennis and his wife Debbie are at the
forefront in organising the dates and venues. The branch does
great work in all sorts of venues and will go wherever there is
entertainment needed. They also manage to get most of the
playing members of the branch to Llandudno once a year to
take part in the three-day Victorian weekend event, playing
outdoors to the holidaying masses.
Some members of the branch will travel to the Liverpool branch
and Liverpool branch organiser Peter Swetnam and his pals
Dave Hall and Alan Williams return the favour and are also good
supporters of Westhoughton.
The Yorkshire Ukulele Circle at Mirfield is also fortunate that
each month we are delighted to welcome Dennis and Debbie,
Garry Hampson, Bernard Gallery and Vinnie Byrne to our
meetings and they make a great contribution to our evening.
Last night was actually one of the best meetings I think that I
have attended anywhere in many a year. Not only did we enjoy
branch member Paul Kenny who is always great to watch, but
we also had very special guests in Liverpool based long term
GFS member Chris Webster and then completely unexpectedly
the one and only Anthony Mason made an appearance! I
honestly cannot remember the last time I met Anthony but it is
quite a few years ago.
When I made the excursion to the famed Warrington exhibition
in the summer of 1991, the very first person I met was a young
but brilliantly talented Anthony Mason who along with Vellum
editor of that period, Stan Evans, were at the exhibition every
day for the whole three months run and of course Anthony was
always on hand to impress visitors and members of the media
with his playing skills. Moving on 26 years and Anthony is still
the consummate professional entertainer and his presence
along with Chris and Paul made this night so memorable.
Let us not forget though that the evening was made up of many
talents who all played their part in ensuring that the
Westhoughton branch remains one of the best branches within
the GFS.
The lads making the trip back to Yorkshire always have plenty to
discuss after a Westhoughton evening and this one certainly
gave us all lasting memories of a great night out.
Anthony Mason’s Activities
Anthony is involved
in various music
projects. He leads
Cafè Society, a very
stylish 1920s four-
piece jazz band.
He also has just
recorded his latest
CD The George
Formby Project.
I have listened to it
in full and can
recommend it, as
good as anything
since Mr Formby
ceased to record!
WESTHOUGHTON GFS DETAILS
The branch was formed in early 2000 in the now
demolished Red Lion pub. The venue is now: The
Mercury Motel 540 Manchester Road,
Westhoughton, Bolton, Lancashire BL5 3JP
They meet on the last Wednesday in the month
and admission is free but there is a raffle held to
raise funds for the branch. Details from Garry
Hampson 01942 209485
Westhoughton GFS
A great night out!
The Castleford GFS lads made their regular visit to Westhoughton
last night (25/10/2017) and were greeted by all in the usual friendly
way. The Westhoughton branch is nothing but friendliness. Even
though our journey there is roughly a round trip of 100 miles, it is
made easy knowing that we are always in for a great evening of
friendship and top entertainment.
MC for the evening is usually the very capable Garry Hampson who
always goes out of his way to make long distance travellers welcome
and also make sure that they are all featured in the evening’s
entertainment.
The quality of entertainment is as good as any within the GFS circle
and as usual, all players are given the same rousing cheer at the end
of their spot no matter what level of advancement the player has
attained.
Branch helper Dennis Lee goes back a long way in GFS history and
has always been involved with some aspect of the Society.He
launched the North Wales branch in 1994, in 1996 Dennis was Vice-
Chairman of the GFS and also our archivist, then in 1998 Dennis was
elected Chairman of the Society. One could say that Dennis has
definitely paid his dues to the GFS!
The Westhoughton branch is renowned for doing outside
entertainment and Dennis and his wife Debbie are at the forefront in
organising the dates and venues. The branch does great work in all
sorts of venues and will go wherever there is entertainment needed.
They also manage to get most of the playing members of the branch
to Llandudno once a year to take part in the three-day Victorian
weekend event, playing outdoors to the holidaying masses.
Some members of the branch will travel to the Liverpool branch and
Liverpool branch organiser Peter Swetnam and his pals Dave Hall
and Alan Williams return the favour and are also good supporters of
Westhoughton.
The Yorkshire Ukulele Circle at Mirfield is also fortunate that each
month we are delighted to welcome Dennis and Debbie, Garry
Hampson, Bernard Gallery and Vinnie Byrne to our meetings and
they make a great contribution to our evening.
Last night was actually one of the best meetings I think that I have
attended anywhere in many a year. Not only did we enjoy branch
member Paul Kenny who is always great to watch, but we also had
very special guests in Liverpool based long term GFS member Chris
Webster and then completely unexpectedly the one and only Anthony
Mason made an appearance! I honestly cannot remember the last
time I met Anthony but it is quite a few years ago.
When I made the excursion to the famed Warrington exhibition in the
summer of 1991, the very first person I met was a young but brilliantly
talented Anthony Mason who along with Vellum editor of that period,
Stan Evans, were at the exhibition every day for the whole three
months run and of course Anthony was always on hand to impress
visitors and members of the media with his playing skills. Moving on
26 years and Anthony is still the consummate professional entertainer
and his presence along with Chris and Paul made this night so
memorable.
Let us not forget though that the evening was made up of many
talents who all played their part in ensuring that the Westhoughton
branch remains one of the best branches within the GFS.
The lads making the trip back to Yorkshire always have plenty to
discuss after a Westhoughton evening and this one certainly gave us
all lasting memories of a great night out.
