THE WALTER WILKINSON TRAIL by Des Turner

This is a slim volume of rare Photographs and stories of Walter's travels. It is a 'must have' for admirers of Walter and his brother Arthur and family. Walter's books inspired me to take up puppetry. I would have loved to have written more about their lives but the person who owns the source of my information was against it, but kindly allowed me to write this article for a Christmas issue of 'The Swazzle' magazine, mouthpiece of the Punch and Judy Fellowship. See: www.thepjf.com The article cannot be published but I am allowed to print inkjet copies for collectors. Walter Wilkinson became internationally famous for his glove puppet ‘Peep Show’, and the books describing his adventures performing the show around Britain and abroad in the 1920's. His equally famous brother Arthur and his wife Gail formed the Gair-Wilkinson Marionettes and also travelled widely.

There are extracts from diaries of travels in England and abroad, quite lyrical, not seen before. Walte, Arthur and his rich wife Gair and their two children experienced so many unusual adventures travellig around Europe. The children were educated by their parents and uncle Walter. They were in France when the First World War broke out and so moved on to Italy.

Returning to England, Walter and Arthur were imprisoned for being conscientious objectors. This is all before Walter picked up his pen to write 'The Peep Show'.

Arthur's son died in WW II when his Lancaster bomber crashed into the sea.

With the right director this story would make a wonderful family film. The photographs are from the family archive trunk and my own camera as I followed his trail. I discovered his original puppets and the caravan that they used to travel around England, etc. This publication comprises 10, A4 pages of text and 6, A4 pages of 15 glossy colour photographs.