Latest News – 2026
SEPTEMBER 10th 2026
Dr Phil Smith’s Wildlife Notes are added monthly and his notes for AUGUST 2026 are now live, please click HERE to view
Future Meetings and events 2026
Please click HERE for further meetings details – new meetings added
News – September 3rd 2026 (see below)
Our Ongoing Colourful Display on the Formby Lifeboats at the Heritage Centre
This will still be available for open viewing on Saturdays all through September 2026 from 11.00 to 14.00 at our HERITAGE CENTRE, down ‘Historic Alley’ and up the stairs to our site above Woodward’s Wine Bar (don’t forget you can have refreshments at ‘Woodies’ before or after your visit!).
Are you interested in making a visit as part of a group – a club, a Society and simply friends, family and visitors to Formby? If so, simply contact us at
chairman@formbycivicsociety.org.uk
We will be able to arrange a visit some time midweek and you will be very welcome
Also, remember we have 2 very special and personal display items on loan to us for the Display.
Eric Norris, who was brought up with his family at the Boathouse when it was a Café, has loaned us the detailed model he made of his old home – you really should see it!
Also, we have a copy or two of a lovely book of interviews with Formby people written up by Jane Riding Smyth when she used to say at her caravan off Lifeboat Road. Jane published her book “A Pocketful of Memories” in 1992, containing drawings by Muriel Sibley, Eric Gerrard – and her then teenage daughter Lucy. It was therefore a great pleasure when Lucy turned up on a Saturday morning at the Heritage Centre to see our Display – and loaned us her lovely ceramic model of the Boathouse. She and her Mum then joined the Civic Society! Photos of the ceramic model can be seen below.
FRIDAY 18th SEPTEMBER – Woodward’s Wine Bar at 2 pm
An Undemanding Walk through the ‘The Village’, Spotting Clues to our Past
A Walk for Members as well as any friends, family or guests who would enjoy a fairly short, guided walk (with stories & memories along the way). Not only would this be a good joint activity for members but you may know of some people who get out for a walk very little and would enjoy being involved with us. All are welcome to join us!
We will start and end at the Heritage Centre with an Introduction.
We hold walking events within Formby each year and we have details of four longer local walks with plenty of local historical detail elsewhere on this site (click HERE). If any of you want to revisit one of those walks, just let us know and we will set it up.
This particular walk has two extra contexts for 2026, however.
1. First, we will remind all our walkers of the ‘Hearts of Gold Formby Community Heritage Trail’ developed a year or so by a smashing group of volunteers – and there are still some copies of the printed Walk at the Heritage Centre. We will try to get more copies
2. Secondly, we will record our participation in this walk with a programme this month called, ‘Go Jauntly, This City Moves’. This This programme is a for the Liverpool and Birmingham regions this September/October and is built around friendly rivalry between the two cities. It is an opportunity not only for ‘Walkers’ in our community but also ‘Wheelers’ – and if you know anyone who would like to join us round our shortish course then please let them know we will be delighted to have them with us on the day!
We will meet up for the Walk outside Woodward’s Wine Bar at 2 pm on Friday 18th September.
https://seftoncvs.my.canva.site/formby-heritage-trail
There are 2 versions of the Walk in the published leaflet – one for 40 minutes and another for 90 minutes.
Newsletters for Members
We produce two full-colour 16-page Newsletters to Members each year, plus a shorter ‘Christmas Edition’. Newer newsletters will no longer be on the website as they are a ‘perk’ of membership. They contain reports by Dr. Phil Smith, original research on local history in Formby and latest information on Society affairs.
The Christmas edition 2021 was dedicated to Percy French, following the raising of the Blue Plaque to him, and his cousin John Brooke Richardson, the Vicar of Holy Trinity Church for many years and in whose house he passed away in 1920.
You can catch up with older previous editions of the Newsletters here
If you are interested in joining us and becoming a member please contact us at: membership@formbycivicsociety.org.uk
The membership cost has been held at £10 per individual or £15 per couple and the cost of our full-colour printed Newsletters is included within that.
MUCH OLDER NEWS 2023
Tony Bonney our Digital Archivist created a pdf of Formby Police Station from 1894 – 1994 please click HERE to view
Latest Update Devil’s Hole Dec. 2022
Dr Phil Smith has provided a 26 page ‘update’ report on the Devil’s Hole blowout at Ravenmeols, one of several Sefton Coast sites that have been monitored for floristic change over time. To view the latest report (pdf) please click HERE
To view the complete list of previous Wildlife Notes going back to March 2007 please click HERE plus an updated article on Formby’s Black Poplars together with an previous Devil’s Hole article
March 28th 2022
Fascinating snapshots of Formby’s Public Health from Medical Officer of Health reports are now available – please click here
Interesting news and history of the Royal Hotel on Liverpool Road – please click here
Our first involvement this year follows on from the raising of the Blue Plaque to Percy French at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Brereton at 26 College Avenue (on the corner of Wicks Lane and close by the railway footbridge).
31st Jan 2022
The Memorial Service for Percy French to mark the centenary of his burial – deferred for two years due to Covid – was very successful with not only FCS members present but also others from our local community and a good Irish representation. We were all very grateful for the input by the Reverend Matt Davies of St. Luke’s and the members of the church congregation who gave a hand to proceedings.
The event was put together and presented by Gerry Molumby of the Triskellion Theatre Company in Derbyshire and he helped us remember the ‘tender tones’ of some of Percy French’s touching and humorous songs with his fine Irish baritone voice. John Phillips representing FCS described Percy French’s links with Formby in the early years of the 20th century and the friendship between him and his cousin Rector Johnny Richardson, Vicar of Holy Trinity. Joe Riley represented the Parish Council in describing how the raising of a Blue Plaque had come about, and events were brought to an end by Sarah Mangan, representing the Consulate-General of Ireland – the organisation that provided the funding for an excellent buffet.
A number of older members of the Percy French Society were unable to attend but sent notes of goodwill to everyone here. This included Berrie O’Neill, the author of the biography “Tones that are Tender”.
Please click here for an article of Percy French’s links with Formby including the Blue Plaque and Memorial Anniversary Service.
Archive additions
Jan 20th 2022
2 new fascinating additions to the Formby archives – please click here to view
Local History Walks
We have devised 4 Local History Walks within Formby that can be downloaded and printed out.
We carried out some of these walks with Society members in summer 2021 and enjoyed ourselves finding any ‘glitches’ in the text and providing further information for future updates. Our idea is for anyone interested in going on any of the walks to print the routes and information about them directly from this website.
To access these Walks, please click here
“The History of Human Influence on the Sefton Coast”
Dr. Phil Smith has provided an updated and fascinating (44 page) report
supported with a wide variety of fascinating images for our Civic Society pages.
To view please click here (pdf opens in a new tab) or it can be found on our ‘Wildlife Notes’ page click here
The Village that was Formby” by Joan A. Rimmer, a member of the Formby Civic Society
This very popular and informative coffee table book – which comprises Joan’s three history books ‘My Formby’, ‘Formby Remembered’ and ‘Formby Today’ – was originally published in 2007. After several years out of print it has recently been re-published in a limited edition. Its ongoing success has proved its value to any reader of any age whether long-standing resident or newcomer alike and is available from Derbyshire’s on Chapel Lane in Formby Village for the price of £18.99. All money goes raised goes to charity. This would make a perfect present for any Formby residents.
In the photo is the award-winning Joan Rimmer, a member of the Formby Civic Society, with her new edition of “The Village That Was Formby
“A Community in Wartime – Formby 1914-1918” – John Phillips and Tony Pawson. Copies of this Formby Civic Society book are still available at Derbyshire’s on Chapel Lane at a cost of £5 each
To view an excerpt of the book please click here (opens in a new window)
Local History Resources
Our resources are often used by local students and are available to all bona fide researchers, but particularly our members. Offers of practical help in our work with research and archive management are very welcome. We get quite a number of enquiries on local history via e-mail from all over the world and try to assist with these when information is available.
Please click here or on the local history navigation tab at the top of the page for articles, online resources ceramic models and others. The Society would welcome any additional images of old Formby. Arrangements can be made to collect these, make digital copies and return them with a CD/DVD. Please contact the Society (see below).
To donate resources, access any of the resources, purchase any of the images, please contact Bob Prescott via email – click here or phone Phone: 01704 872862
Our Collection of Photographs and Images of Formby
We have an excellent archive of digital images of our community from the early days of photography to the present. This collection of photographs is held on Flickr. It is available to view at our site by clicking here. We invite you to delve through the collection and enjoy walking through our village at different times in its history. If there is any image you would like for a small charge to purchase an image in digital format, please contact us at: chairman@formbycivicsociety.org.uk
Using these assets, Society members have carried out research on the history of many local subjects such as:
● The Formby Lifeboat Station (the first in the world, as demonstrated by Reg and Barbara Yorke in their book),
● Asparagus cultivation, having played a major role in developing the ‘Asparagus Trail’ with the National Trust
● The Home Front in Formby 1914-1918
● Walks down Chapel Lane, in conjunction with the Formby Business and Community Partnership
● Early flying at Freshfield (1910 -12), and
● ‘Sand-winning’ in Formby during the first half of the 20th Century
● The Devil’s Hole, with its fascinating wealth of flora and fauna
● The Lost Seaside Resort of Formby-by-the-Sea
Other than helping to develop the Asparagus Trail, we have worked in partnership with Sefton Council to produce two walks along the Ravenmeols shoreline for local people and visitors alike:
We are also available to give Talks and Presentations on topics of local history for local community groups, as well as Talks and Walks for children in our local schools. In addition we have arranged and presented occasional historical exhibitions or displays such as early flying from Freshfield beach (then officially designated an aerodrome!), 1910 – 1912. We have conducted historical and environmental, research and published several local history books, including:
● “A Community in Wartime: Formby 1914-1918” by John Phillips and Tony Pawson (2011)
● ‘Formby, Then and Now’, by Reg and Barbara Yorke, 2012
● “Viking Village” by Edith Kelly, 1973
Duke Street Library holds the unique ‘Formby Tapestry’, created by founder member, Lilian Rushton. This provides a visual record of Formby’s history from the Vikings to the 20th Century. Our collections also include a unique collection of ceramic models of old local cottages here and in full here.
We have continued our programme to raise Blue Plaques in Formby to recognise and celebrate former residents who have made significant contributions to our community.
The first three Plaques were dedicated to Thomas Fresh, Beryl Bainbridge and Percy French
We work with people of all ages across the community and are always open to fresh ideas and imaginative projects in order to preserve our culture and our heritage whilst also recording it both digitally and in print forms for the benefit of our community members in the future.
We continue to seek ways of making local people more aware of the information we hold and ways of developing our bank of information in text to add to and support these images.