WITH his gormless toothy grin, twanging ukelele and catchy little ditties, George Formby was the official No.1 box-office draw at British wartime cinemas, leaving the likes of Errol Flynn, Clark Gable and Spencer Tracey in the shade.

Yet the springboard to George's showbiz success was a little theatre tucked away in an Earlestown side-street .

Kemp's Hippodrome in Chemical Street gave him his first break when he was billed as a 'patter comedian' and appeared as George Hoy (his mother's maiden surname). The date was March 21, 1921...just six weeks after the sudden death of his comedian father, George Formby senior, who was a Music Hall legend with a five-year waiting list for his services. Pictures and details of George's debut (he was to make a return to Earlestown 21 months later, this time at the Pavilion and as George Formby Junior) are to be found in a superb Millennium Calendar, currently on sale.

Focused entirely on the twin Earlestown and Newton-le-Willows districts, it provides fascinating snippets of local history and fabulous flashback photos covering sporting, industrial, entertainment and social scenes from bygone times. There's also a snippet of historical interest for every day of the year.

It's all the work of Neil Forshaw of Camelot Close, Newton, who is a well-known member of Haydock Male Voice Choir. And he's obviously put much time and effort into compiling this little, well-illustrated gem.

I recommend it as a bargain-buy Christmas stocking filler at £3 a copy. And it's obtainable at a number of local outlets or from Neil direct (tel. 01925 222585).

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.