The show must go on!

We are so very sad to announce the untimely passing of our dear friend Martin Wimbush in the early hours of Sunday morning, December 1. He was 75. Many will know that Martin, so well-known and well-loved in Rye, was suffering from motor neurone disease – a cruel and unfair fate.

Martin’s Quaker funeral is to be held at 11am at St Mary’s Church on Friday December 13. The funeral procession will start from Martin and Marie’s house at approximately 10.30am, and proceed around the town to the church. All are welcome. I’ve been advised that the church heating is currently under par, so please dress warmly.

This past week he had been preparing for his third annual Christmas show with his musical team-mates and long-time partners Malcolm Newton and me, and a dear acting friend Gregory Cox, who Martin had invited to join this year.

He was, as ever, full of his wonderful warmth and humour. He had recently had a fall, which had certainly taken its toll. But we were all looking forward to what we suspected would likely be his final stage performance, and this timing is so very sad.

However, as Martin would have said “the show must go on!” – so at the request of his beloved wife Marie Hanley, we still plan to bring the show to the stage in tribute to this remarkably talented and much-loved local man. It will be an honour to pay tribute to him in this most fitting of ways

Let’s fill the community centre to the brim with love and light, in the knowledge that Martin will be watching with approval. To quote him when I last saw him on Friday: “It’s all going frightfully well!”

There are more details about Martin’s long and respected acting career in this Rye News article, along with a YouTube link to his life’s work.

Rest in peace, dear friend.

“Christmas Crackers – a Tribute” will go ahead on Saturday, December 14 at 7pm and Sunday 15 at 4pm, tickets £12 from Grammar School Records. Profits to Motor Neurone Disease Association and the community centre.

Image Credits: Sally Bayly .