Farewell to Blackpool performance poet 'Melvis'

Melvyn, known as ‘Melvis’, was a familiar face on stages around the resort and at venues such as the bandstand at Stanley Park, relating his verses on a variety of topics.

John McNicholas, a music promoter in the resort who was also a close friend, said: “We have lost a good man.

"Melvyn was a gentle giant and a really much-loved gentleman who delivered his thought-provoking poetry always with a dash of fun often at Stanley Park Bandstand on summer concerts.

"He was a local lad from Revoe lad and a familar face in pubs such as the Belle Vue and The Saddle man. A big family man and a much respected figure.”

There is a ‘big send-off’ planned for Melvyn on Saturday, January 21 at Blackpool Cricket Club, Stanley Park from 1pm onwards

But in the meantime, tribute around the resort will include the dedication of the Bootleg Social venue’s open mic night on Wednesday, December 7 as a Melvis-themed memorial night.

It will feature seven local poets each reading a Melvis poem to pay their respects.

His close friend Chris Newiss will also deliver a poem he recently wrote to commemorate the Melvis’ life.

Doors at the Topping Street venue open at 7pm and the first act will take to the stage at 8pm.

Here is a typical Melvis poem, about seagulls:

JONATHON GIVE ME SOME SEAGULL

Boys and girls now all take heed

If you're planning outdoor feeds

Id just like you all to know

About this place you shouldn't go

Outside the Houndshill centre doors

There waits a thief with greedy paws

He sits astride the lamp post pole

Whilst eyeing up your sausage roll

And all the other tasty treats

The sandwiches filled with cold meats

The trays that full of fish and chips

That will not pass your human lips

And he is clever he is cunning

No one ever sees him coming

I saw this girl a happy shopper

I shouted and I tried to stop her

I said you're going to come a cropper

Has she bit upon a whopper

But the seagull caught her on the hopper

She did not hear his beating wings

And there by lost her Burger King

And from your port and from your starboard

Hell take your pizza packed in cardboard

At your rear behind your back

He'll swoop around for your Big Mac

I tell him my foods not for sharing

And ask him to go hunting herrings

I'd like to turn the other cheek

But every day of every week

He's mugging someone with his beak

So I'll never sleep I will not rest

Till I rid us of this pesky pest

I'm going to go and find his nest

And when I find the Rocky ledge

I'll abseil over the cliff Edge

And when I do I'll break his legs

As well as smashing all his eggs

Because he nicked my pie from Greggs