A STYLISH Fylde grandma who was voted most Glamorous Grandmother of Great Britain 20 years ago is in line to win the title all over again.
Lilian Close, 67, from Tudor Road, St Annes, is set to compete with 19 others in the 2001 final of the competition in Scarborough.
The competition became a popular tradition following its humble beginnings in Butlin's holiday camps in 1957. While on holiday with her family in Bognor Regis in 1981, Lilian, pictured here as she looks now, stormed her way through the heats to clinch the top spot and eventually received her award on TV's The Russell Harty Show.
Butlin's dropped the competition in 1997, but when Grand Hotels purchased the chain in 1999 they resurrected it and contacted previous winners to take part.
Now, 20 years on from her original victory, Lilian has once again impressed the judges with her looks and youthful exuberance in various heats held at the the Grand Metropole Hotel in Blackpool, and will meet finalists from the other five Grand hotels around the country in Scarborough on February 15. Lilian, who has four children, ten grandchildren and even a great granddaughter, was contacted by the Grand Hotels chain along with hundreds of other previous winners and said she was over the moon at the prospect of meeting up with all the old finalists.
Sporting a healthy all-over tan and dressed in youthful tracksuit bottoms and trainers, the sprightly grandmother explained the secret of looking and feeling so young.
"My family keeps me young. I keep busy by meeting up with my children and taking the little ones to school. I don't have time to grow old -- my life is like Charing Cross Station.
"I don't go in for bingo really. I prefer more energetic hobbies such as ballroom dancing -- one of my ambitions is to learn Latin American dancing with my grandchildren!"
And if any further proof was needed that Lilian is younger than her years, she said: "I got a call from the organisers telling me to get my heels out of the attic and I said what do you mean? My high heels have never been in the attic!"
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