charles peacock
I am saddened to report the death of Charles Peacock on Tuesday, 05 April 2022. A stalwart member of the Society and Treasurer in the golden period of the GFS in the early 1990s. Charles joined the Society in 1971 at a time when he was living in Middlesbrough. He made the journey to the Blackpool conventions as often as he could. In 1978 Charles moved to Rochdale but despite being so much closer to Blackpool, Charles dropped his membership for a short time but re-joined again in 1985. In September 1987 Charles bought a new computer system and volunteered to create a database of members so that Vellum editor John Guy could streamline the delivery of The Vellum magazine to all the members. Charles also offered help in assisting the Treasurer with his financial records, compiling a list of all the archives and even offering to type any articles that the editor needed him to do. In short, he didn't just come up with bright ideas, he implemented them as well! By 1988 Charles was on the GFS committee as the Assistant Treasurer and in that same year, he must have proved his worth as Treasurer Roger Platfoot stated that he "has given me magnificent support in chasing subscriptions and in identifying the actual membership”. In the year 1990, Charles was promoted from Assistant to the actual Treasurer position. He must have been a good choice as he continually worked on updating his database and in the nicest possible way he would chase late subscription payers to make sure that the GFS was always in a healthy state. You may think that the Society in those days was nothing like as large as today but do not kid yourselves, the Warrington Exhibition and Daniel Wiles production of the brilliant The South Bank Show on George Formby were just around the corner and Charles played a very important part in the membership explosion of the early 1990s. I remember visiting Charles when he could not attend a convention owing to illness. I travelled with Dennis Mitchell and Dickie Speake to Charles home in Rochdale on our way home from the Blackpool meeting. Charles was delighted to welcome us in and it was evident that he was on the mend. Charles recorded the visit in the Spring 1996 magazine. "All the people and branches who telephoned or sent me cards whilst I was recovering from the heart by-pass operation that I had on 16th November 1995. Unfortunately, I had to miss the Blackpool Convention in early December, but imagine my surprise and delight when Dickie Speake, Dennis Mitchell and Peter Pollard arrived on my doorstep on the Monday lunchtime en route from Blackpool to Yorkshire. This was a lovely gesture and typifies the spirit within our Society. I am now well on the way to a complete recovery and will be in Blackpool in March, hopefully, fitter than ever. For your information, I had FIVE by-passes, and people who have had this operation are referred to by the medical staff as Cabbages. This loosely stands for Coronary Artery By-pass Grafts. I did not mind being called a cabbage whilst I was in hospital, but I don't know how I would react if the term were to stick. I look forward to seeing you all at Blackpool in March. In September 1995 Charles retired from his position as Treasurer and committee duties." The President at that time, Dennis Taylor wrote, “Our grateful thanks must go to our Treasurer, Charles Peacock has decided to retire from this post after serving six years as Treasurer and three years as Assistant Treasurer. He has kept our accounts and our membership records, seeing them increase and our funds swell as our membership has increased, and done it well. Don't worry, he will still be playing the bass guitar at our Conventions”. The evidence that Charles had hit the right notes not just with his bass guitar, but also in his role handling the memberships as the subscriptions had risen from around 200 when he started in 1990 to around 900 when he retired. Charles’ George Formby story closes around 1998 but I do know that he was also interested in singing with a local choir and continued to do so for many years. I also believe that he was a keen supporter of Rochdale FC Many in today's GFS will not know of Charles and the work he did but there are still quite a few members who did know him back in the day and I know that they would all wish to join me in expressing our sincere condolences to Charles’ family.
1944 - 2022
CHARLES PLAYS THE DARING YOUNG MAN - GFS CONVENTION, NOVEMBER 1993 He shared the stage with Derek Simpson on drums, George Cheetham on ‘bones’ and Dickie Speake on keyboard.
CHARLES JOINS HIS FIRST GROUP!
CHARLES PEACOCK
CHARLES VISITS THE YORKSHIRE UKULELE CIRCLE
I am saddened to report the death of Charles Peacock on Tuesday, 05 April 2022. A stalwart member of the Society and Treasurer in the golden period of the GFS in the early 1990s. Charles joined the Society in 1971 at a time when he was living in Middlesbrough. He made the journey to the Blackpool conventions as often as he could. In 1978 Charles moved to Rochdale but despite being so much closer to Blackpool, Charles dropped his membership for a short time but re-joined again in 1985. In September 1987 Charles bought a new computer system and volunteered to create a database of members so that Vellum editor John Guy could streamline the delivery of The Vellum magazine to all the members. Charles also offered help in assisting the Treasurer with his financial records, compiling a list of all the archives and even offering to type any articles that the editor needed him to do. In short, he didn't just come up with bright ideas, he implemented them as well! By 1988 Charles was on the GFS committee as the Assistant Treasurer and in that same year, he must have proved his worth as Treasurer Roger Platfoot stated that he "has given me magnificent support in chasing subscriptions and in identifying the actual membership”. In the year 1990, Charles was promoted from Assistant to the actual Treasurer position. He must have been a good choice as he continually worked on updating his database and in the nicest possible way he would chase late subscription payers to make sure that the GFS was always in a healthy state. You may think that the Society in those days was nothing like as large as today but do not kid yourselves, the Warrington Exhibition and Daniel Wiles production of the brilliant The South Bank Show on George Formby were just around the corner and Charles played a very important part in the membership explosion of the early 1990s. I remember visiting Charles when he could not attend a convention owing to illness. I travelled with Dennis Mitchell and Dickie Speake to Charles home in Rochdale on our way home from the Blackpool meeting. Charles was delighted to welcome us in and it was evident that he was on the mend. Charles recorded the visit in the Spring 1996 magazine. "All the people and branches who telephoned or sent me cards whilst I was recovering from the heart by-pass operation that I had on 16th November 1995. Unfortunately, I had to miss the Blackpool Convention in early December, but imagine my surprise and delight when Dickie Speake, Dennis Mitchell and Peter Pollard arrived on my doorstep on the Monday lunchtime en route from Blackpool to Yorkshire. This was a lovely gesture and typifies the spirit within our Society. I am now well on the way to a complete recovery and will be in Blackpool in March, hopefully, fitter than ever. For your information, I had FIVE by-passes, and people who have had this operation are referred to by the medical staff as Cabbages. This loosely stands for Coronary Artery By-pass Grafts. I did not mind being called a cabbage whilst I was in hospital, but I don't know how I would react if the term were to stick. I look forward to seeing you all at Blackpool in March. In September 1995 Charles retired from his position as Treasurer and committee duties." The President at that time, Dennis Taylor wrote, “Our grateful thanks must go to our Treasurer, Charles Peacock has decided to retire from this post after serving six years as Treasurer and three years as Assistant Treasurer. He has kept our accounts and our membership records, seeing them increase and our funds swell as our membership has increased, and done it well. Don't worry, he will still be playing the bass guitar at our Conventions”. The evidence that Charles had hit the right notes not just with his bass guitar, but also in his role handling the memberships as the subscriptions had risen from around 200 when he started in 1990 to around 900 when he retired. Charles’ George Formby story closes around 1998 but I do know that he was also interested in singing with a local choir and continued to do so for many years. I also believe that he was a keen supporter of Rochdale FC Many in today's GFS will not know of Charles and the work he did but there are still quite a few members who did know him back in the day and I know that they would all wish to join me in expressing our sincere condolences to Charles’ family.
CHARLES PLAYS THE DARING YOUNG MAN, GFS CONVENTION, NOVEMBER 1993 He shared the stage with Derek Simpson on drums, George Cheetham on ‘bones’ and Dickie Speake on keyboard.
CHARLES JOINS HIS FIRST GROUP!
CHARLES PEACOCK
CHARLES VISITS THE YORKSHIRE UKULELE CIRCLE
charles peacock