PERSONAL ELTHAM Local Bagpiper


Jim Turkington, 67, is a piper who will be in demand for Burns Night celebrations at the end of January. MATTHEW BELL spoke to him


What type of music do you play? I can play all the traditional Scots


and Irish bagpipe music, a lot of classical tunes and party tunes, including Happy Birthday, Amazing Grace and lots more.


Where have you played? The full Highland Dress with Royal


I’ve played at Windsor Castle for the Queen and at the Remembrance Day Parade in Eltham. People hire me to play at weddings, parties and funerals.


Stuart Tartan and feather bonnet or the traditional green Irish uniform with cape.


How and when did you learn to play?


I learnt to play as a boy in Belfast where all my family played, including aunts and uncles and we could have made up a whole band between us.


People assume that if someone plays the bagpipes they are Scottish but the Irish had the bagpipes before Scotland which is not widely known.


Do you play any other instruments or have any other skills?


No, I don't play any other instrument but I do dance. I was the United Kingdom, Irish, Scottish and Welsh Senior Ballroom Dancing Champion, and won most of the county


In London? Every year at the War Widows


Parade in Whitehall - the day before Remembrance Sunday. At the 100th birthday ceremony for the Tower Bridge


26


championships in the UK. My wife Catherine and I were


proud to be in the British team and represented England abroad. We danced at all the championships in Blackpool


What were your most memorable occasions?


There are so many besides all the


above mentioned. I have played on stage for a charity night with Jim Davidson when the audience thought his rendition of Amazing Grace was backed by a tape until the curtain behind him opened and there were three of us playing the pipes. We received thunderous applause.


I have also played with the whole


Glenduart Pipe Band in the Benidorm Palace in Spain, the largest night in Europe. But the most rewarding thing about playing is that I have earned thousands and thousands of pounds over the years for charity - my favourite being the British Legion and Help the Heroes.


Where will you be on Burns Night?


At a large hotel in Kent but it's not my busiest night. I am usually busiest around Remembrance Sunday as there are a lot of marches and functions on.


If anyone wants to hire Jim, his email address is turkington3@btinternet.com.


Help keep Eltham tidy! Put your litter in bins.


Abroad? At


in London for the Lord Mayor, as well as at the Lord Mayor's Parade.


Tattoos (military displays) in


Germany, Holland, Italy and France, and several times at Ypres in France at the World War II graves.


My other engagements have included playing at the Somme and Arnhem with the Royal London Irish Rifl es, performing for the Dutch Royal Family at Oosterbeek .


What do you wear when you perform?


SEnine


and at London's Royal Albert Hall and represented the South East in Come Dancing on television.


Did you meet anyone famous when you danced?


I fi rst came to England in order to dance and was in the fi lm Magical Mystery Tour, dancing with the Beatles years ago. I was also in a play with Harold Pinter's wife Vivien Merchant, teaching her to dance.


When did you arrive in Eltham? I moved here 40 years ago when


we married and have a son and three daughters. We’ve been very happy in Eltham and although many surrounding areas have changed vastly, I still think that Eltham is a good place to live.


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