Turner play under way

LEWES resident Dr Mike Turner has received an Awards for All grant to put on a play he has written about Thomas Turner, the 18th century East Hoathly shopkeeper who kept a most revealing diary.

Thomas Turner was unhappily married and given to prodigious bouts of drinking and eating which often left him full of regret and vowing never to indulge to excess again until the next night.

The play also explores his life as a village councillor, operating the poor law, enforcing marriage on unmarried parents, collecting window and highway tax and finding recruits for the armed forces.

As a well read man he undertook many jobs in the village, including teaching school, surveying land and writing wills. Thomas was constantly trying to collect his debts and at the same time anxious to make friends in the village (not always compatible tasks).

Some of the escapades in the play involve drunken parties with the vicar, getting involved in a brawl on The Broyle and helping an excise officer drink brandy confiscated from smugglers.

The play uses video projection and local songs of the period to help tell its tale.

There will be a performance at East Hoathly Parish Hall on September 13 at 7.30pm.

Mike is holding auditions at The Kings Head, East Hoathly, at 11am on Sunday and invites anyone interested in helping with the project in any capacity to attend and/or contact him on 01273 472799.

l Thomas Turner wrote his diary between 1764 and 1765. His shop catered for all the needs of the local community including providing food and household requirements for the Duke of Newcastle at Halland House.

It is possibly because he was unhappy in his first marriage to Margaret (Peggy) that he wrote his diaries.