From a windswept swimming pool in Morecambe to an art deco theatre in Leicester, via peak viewing figures on TV to the depths of obscurity, the Miss Great Britain pageant has seen it all.

But 80 years on it is celebrating its Diamond Anniversary and in 2025 it is bigger and more inclusive than ever, testimony to the power of its enduring appeal to the modern woman.

This book commemorates eight decades of Britain's longest running beauty pageant with the stories that made the headlines - and those that remained secret...until now.