THE WHISTLER
Obituary : Peter Wilkinson
Peter was a gentleman , a throwback to a bygone era . Dancing was his life , teaching ballroom to others well into his later years . When not dancing he was his happiest tickling the ivory on his piano , continuing to have lessons himself well into old age .
That , and watching the old Ealing comedies . He was a humorous and witty raconteur - always had a tale to tell . He was a much loved and well respected local character who looked out for us all on West Hill Street . It was a privilege to have known him .
Justine , his neighbour for 30 years X
Peter Wilkinson was born in East Sheen in 1930 , the youngest of two boys . He spent the II world war in Birmingham , and moved to Brighton in 1966 , first living in the North Laine with his mother , whom he had a very close relationship with .
He did his national service with the RAF and became a communications officer . He also took a secretarial course urged on by his mother , as she was worried ( as mothers do ) he would struggle in the workplace . She shouldn ’ t have worried . He had no problems and in fact had various successful jobs in communications with the BBC and British Rail .
His abiding love though love was big band music and dancing . All types of dancing . He opened a dance school in Patcham early on , and remained an active dance teacher until his retirement .
He specialised in ballroom and tap dancing , and went on to teach many thousands of Brightonians over the years , including Vinod ( Bright News ). He also played piano beautifully .
After his mother died in 1981 he moved to West Hill Street in Seven Dials and remained here until his death in 2021 .
He was well loved in the community , he knew everyone and everyone knew him . He loved to chat , and would often be found gossiping with the neighbours and passers by .
He made it his business to know everything that was going on , he was the go to for all the real local news - the local news you don ’ t get in the newspaper . He was always smiling , and you could hear his laugh down the street .
“ Ah Peter was such a lovely man . I remember every time he saw us walking Rosie , our little dog past his house he ’ d rush in and get her a digestive biscuit . So much bigger than her normal dog biscuits . She was delighted with him .”
Everyone has fond memories of Peter , he was an absolute darling and will be truly missed in our neighbourhood and community .
He kindly left a donation in his will to West Hill Hall which backed on to his garden . He loved the Hall and loved the idea that it was a place where local people
WEST HILL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Ballroom dancing , playing piano and telling stories . What lovely things to be known for . Communities are really all about the people who live in them and here we remember a man who , to quote the football song , really was one of our own
could get together , somewhere that wasn ’ t commercial , somewhere that didn ’ t belong to anyone , somewhere that was just ours .
Trombone Man : Ska ’ s Fallen Genius
If you ’ ve been down on London Road lately , you might have spotted a brightly coloured mural round the side of Richer Sounds hi-fi shop . Its been created to announce the arrival of Trombone Man : Ska ’ s Fallen Genius , a comic book series by Adam Reeves on the life of Jamaican trombonist Don Drummond .
The piece came about as a result of a chance meeting on the seafront back in March 2021 between renowned local graffiti artist Fek and writer / creator of the comic book , Adam Reeves .
‘ I got into original Jamaican ska in the 1980s ,’ says Adam , ‘ and the figure of Don Drummond was always shrouded in mystery .’ Widely acknowledged as a musical genius , having played trombone in 1960s Jamaican ska band the Skatalites . Drummond was a graduate of Jamaica ’ s world famous Alpha Boys School , which Adam co-wrote and published a book about in 2017 . Drummond ’ s life was a tragic one . Troubled by an improperly diagnosed mental health condition , he ’ d been in an out of a mental institution for voluntary stays . Then just as the Skatalites were taking off , it all unravelled , resulting in the murder of his lover , rhumba dancer Margarita Mahfood .
With illustrations by Cypriot artist Costantinos Pissourios , Trombone Man : Ska ’ s Fallen Genius will bring to life their
incredible story and the tragedy that befell them . Issue # 1 will be crowdfunded on the Kickstarter platform in March .
You can support the project by preregistering for the crowdfund : https :// www . kickstarter . com / projects / 2007751561 / trombone-man-skasfallen-genius
( More details on the Whistler website )