Actor Tim's heart in Silloth, no matter how far job takes him
By Julie Armstrong
SILLOTH actor Tim Barker celebrated his 60th birthday at the weekend – with no thought of slowing down in his varied career. The Solway-based actor, who appeared in the hit film Calendar Girls, is touring as Gonzalo in Shakespeare's The Tempest.
That will take him all over the country until June, when he will fly to China for the first time to perform for a final two weeks in Beijing and Shanghai. He has also just finished writing his first book.
The former Nelson Thomlinson pupil said: "My work has taken me all over – to the Soviet Union, Australia, Egypt, the former Yugoslavia and Lebanon, but never to China, until now. "Like the rest of the cast working with Northern Broadsides, Mr Barker will be playing his part as King Alonso's trusted advisor in a native Northern accent. "Gonzalo is a very talkative, good-hearted courtier and I will be keeping a Silloth accent," said Mr Barker, who spent his first 18 years in the seaside town of Silloth. He is known for speaking dialect and translated Shakespearean stories into dialect poems for Shakespeare for Shepherds, which he performed at Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2001.
Now, he has been asked to contribute to a series of books on regional dialects. He has just completed the first draft of Watt Fettle Man?, which features personalities like Melvyn Bragg and George Macdonald Fraser, hopefully for publication in September.
Tim, who has appeared in numerous TV shows such as Peak Practice, A Touch of Frost and Let them Eat Cake with French and Saunders, spent 25 years in London. He returned to Silloth 10 years ago to be with his dad. "I assumed I'd go back to London when he died, but I'd put down roots in Silloth, including the rotary club and the church, and starting to think about the museum," he said.
Over 50 years, Tim has accumulated around 10,000 toy soldiers from around the world. At the end of 2005, he was given planning permission to convert flat on Criffel Street into a museum to show his vast collection.
He still needs £75,000 to set up his venture, and is off to a start with a £1,000 grant from Silloth town council.
"There is a lot of work to be done," he said. "I bought the flat for the museum. If the local authority wanted to take it over, they could borrow the soldiers and rent the property at a very low rent forever. It is for the town."
Published at 01:00, Friday, 04 May 2007
by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk