Not the easiest place to find, Ticehurst. Buried deep in the heart of rural East Sussex, somewhere near Tunbridge Wells on the old coaching route to Hastings. The reason for going there? Simple – we were asked… No, actually it was to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Mr Spike Milligan’s birthday, April 16th 2018.
Spike lived there for a while–the GSPS had considered a blue plaque for the house, but the current owner didn’t seem keen, so we organised a Spike Weekend in the local pub, The Bell Inn. Well, I say ‘we’ but really it was all down to that stalwart fellow and all-round good-egg, Monsewer Les Drew, better known to all his friends as Lord Les of Sussex (that’s what it says on all his emails anyway, and why not, he’s a star in our eyes).
So, once you’ve found Ticehurst, there’s no missing The Bell Inn: a large, old, 15thC drive-in coaching-inn with bags of history–it must have been there since at least the reign of Queen Anne. Hey, we’ve been asked to do a Goon Show there–what could be better than Queen Anne’s Rain? Les Drew, chair-thing of the Sussex Mob, got busy. Boy, did he get busy! No amount of thanks can be enough for the weekend he organised. “Applaud for me, Moriarty…..that’s enough!”.
He adapted the original Queen Anne’s Rain script with links to an excerpt from The Rent Collectors and an excerpt from a Bluebottle-Eccles sketch by the famous Dave Withall.
He bought in extra coal to keep his computer running with some 200 emails sent in a month.
He engaged the talents of actors Jeffrey Holland, Richard Usher and Peter Stanford, plus a truly superb stand-in for Max Geldray in the form of Pete Hewitt, the current British harmonica champion and ace BA 747 airline pilot.
He liaised with John Littman, the current owner of Spike’s last Mini, who brought it to the Bell for all to see.
He contacted Jane Milligan who had very much wanted to come but had to call-off at the last minute.
He garnered enthusiastic support from the award-winning South Downs Film & Video Club, in the shape of cameraman Howard Johnson and sound man David Allen who recorded the whole day’s events (the DVD will be available shortly folks!).
He saw nothing but a computer screen and heard nothing but phone-calls for weeks! And it was all worth it, Les!
The Bell is full of character, like its genial and hospitable landlord Richard Upton and our main point of contact Kit Smith, Major RA R’td, late of the Fourth Armoured Thunderboxes and fishmonger to the stars ( “Down, Moriarty—he’s too young for you!” ) who organised a walk around the village with recitals of Spike’s poetry along the route, finally ending up at the oast house where Spike lived, as a kind of ‘tribute’ to the great man.
In the pub, pillars of books appear to be holding up the ceiling, and the gents’ toilet walls are adorned with sheet music discovered during renovation, and the urinals are upturned tubas (impossible to miss, folks! ). I don’t think the Ladies have these, but then we didn’t ask… There is much wood panelling, winding staircases and interesting rooms of varying shapes and sizes both upstairs and downstairs in the pub itself. The most imposing of which is a sort of covered bus-station where the horse-drawn stagecoaches would disembark their passengers onto raised indoor platforms either side of the wheels. The gentry could then enter a welcoming snug, plush with armchairs and a roaring fire in winter where they could rest and partake of food and ale aplenty whilst the horses were changed. This snug is now immortalised as the “Spike Milligna” Room, decorated with Goon memorabilia, and later opened officially to the admiring public. Go and see it.
All praise to our four guest performers–they ex-celled, working alongside Sussex stalwarts Phil Ladd ( Neddie Seagoon ), Dave Withall ( Moriarty, Minnie Bannister and others ) plus the redoubtable Les on SFX and Grams, also our esteemed GSPS leader John Repsch of London and Adrian Briggs, ex-Surrey & Hants, who is occasionally allowed to empty his wallet at the “Jolly Tanners”. We must not forget the skill and enthusiasm of Howard Johnson and David Allen on camera and mics.
The audience, some of whom came willingly, numbered about 80, including local Goon fans; Tina Hammond and family; a gang from the Laurel & Hardy Society; one of the team currently involved in the Norma Farnes Goon Show touring the UK at this very moment; performers’ WAGs, friends and relatives; and a couple all the way from Yorkshire (“Owww!”); they said they enjoyed it. Our guest performers said they enjoyed it. We enjoyed it. The audience certainly enjoyed it and the ‘locals’ enjoyed it, so we reckon a good day was had by all!
Many, many thanks to The Bell for all their hospitality and a superb lunch( “Get back to your fish-bone, Moriarty!” ). We look forward to the DVD of the celebration cake-cutting and all the events, plus interviews with the stars. Also to revisiting The Bell, which can now count itself the GSPS’s second home in Sussex.
Thanks also to Spike—–we shall never forget you.
Co-written by: Desperate Dave Withall of Sussex and Mr Phil ‘painter-to-the-stars’ Ladd. This article was originally published in issue 162 of Goon Show News in November 2018.
The Goon Show Preservation Society 