Bentwater Roads: A Filming Day.

A blazing hot day, and I'm out on the road. To Wantisden Church to film some scenes that will form part of the show. Ellie, the daughter of a friend of one of the office staff, is playing Young Charlie in these scenes, and had been given a 70s style dress to wear.

Ellie was an absolute star - never complaining, and very excited about the whole thing. The scenes we shot today will be edited and fomatted to look like an old cinefilm, and involved Ellie exploring the church and graveyard. Avoiding nettles was the biggest issue of the day, as Ellie brought Young Charlie to life. She does look very much like a younger version of Nadia, who is playing Adult Charlie in the play.

Ellie's dad John was on hand to help Ellie recreate the scenes from Charlie's distant past, and both of them were very patient, as we set up shot after shot in and around the church. As the sun blazed outside it was a relief to enter the cool of the church, and Ellie took great delight in exploring this dusty old church that will play such an important part in our show.

With all the shots in the can, I said goodbye to Ellie and her dad, locked up the church and went to the Hush House, our performance venue on the base. It wasn't long before the Eastern Angles van appeared on the horizon, and the actors arrived to catch their first glimpse of the unusual venue they will be performing in. We spent the next couple of hours exploring the space, and the wonderful sci-fi tunnel which forms the backdrop of our poster image. The actors got used to the unusual acoustics and then Ivan the Director took them through the wonderfully moving final scenes of the play.

Meanwhile I joined Assistant Director Alan as he wandered around the outside of the Hush House with his sound recorder. He found a large metal box structure that, when hit, gave off a wonderful gong sound that reverberated around the Suffolk landscape. Perhaps a clarion call for our Ancient Britons?

Just time for a quick chat with Valerie, who will be mounting an exhibition about the church within the Hush House, before heading back to Ipswich to look through the footage I had taken that day. The actors meanwhile moved on from the venue, over the perimeter fence to check out the church for themselves. A couple of actors felt brave enough to climb the stone steps up to the tower, where they were treated to a panoramic view of Wantisden and the base. It wasn't long before EVERYONE put their vertigo behind them to share the tiny tower top and take in the beautiful views of the Suffolk landscape.

A beautiful day. Let's hope this is the kind of weather we get in July!