Photo: Peter painting a scarf for Helen, courtesy of the museum
Whitstable Carnival has a different theme each year. This year we have decided to honour the life and times of Whitstable legend Peter Cushing. We hope everyone will enjoy dressing up as characters from his films.
Peter Cushing, and his wife, Helen, had been coming to Whitstable for holidays since the 1940s. He said he preferred holidaying in the UK to going abroad.
They used to stay at Favourite Cottage on Island Wall, which was owned by writer Harry Hurford-Janes, a friend. Peter said of Whitstable, “it is a lovely part of the coast, and extremely healthy.”
In 1958 they purchased 3, Seaway Cottages as a holiday cottage and began using it regularly. This was during the filming of The Hound of the Baskervilles, in which Peter starred as Sherlock Holmes. He had a studio in the attic where he would paint and make models as well as designing jewellery. The two of them could often be seen on the beach where Peter loved to swim in the bracing waters.
In 1968 they moved into the cottage permanently. This was due to Helen’s fading health. She had emphysema and found living in London increasingly difficult. She said that the city smelled of stale food and smoke and that she preferred the fresh sea air of the Whitstable coast.
Helen and Peter had first met in 1942 when Peter had secured the leading role in Noel Coward’s Private Lives. They both worked for ENSA, the Entertainment National Services Association, entertaining British troops during the war. Helen described their first meeting in an interview in 1955:
“I saw a man with an old suitcase listed to starboard, a grubby ancient mackintosh and wearing a very old hat. Yes… it was Peter. He swept off the hat and greeted me as if I was royalty and seemed unconscious of his appearance. I thought, this is the strangest individual I’ve ever met – and the most attractive.”
Helen’s mother was the daughter of a Polish baroness and a Swedish army general. Her father was English. She was born in St Petersburg in 1905 but grew up in England. She spoke several languages fluently.
After she met Peter she gave up her own acting career to help further his. It was her proficiency in languages that helped Peter secure a number of his early roles. She tutored him in the proper pronunciations.
In early January 1971 Helen’s emphysema worsened and she found herself in Canterbury Hospital. Peter immediately cancelled his role in his latest film and came home to nurse her. She passed away on the 14th January 1971 in Seaway Cottages, with her husband by her side.
Peter never really recovered from her death. He built a shrine to her memory in the Cottage they had called home.
He finally passed away on the 11th August 1994, having spent the rest of his life in Whitstable as its most honoured resident.
You can read all about Peter and Helen in Whitstable in the book of the same name, written by Chris Gullo, Director of the Peter Cushing Association, and published by the Whitstable Community Museum and Gallery, available from the museum.
On the day…
The 128th anniversary CARNIVAL takes place on Saturday 2nd August 2025. Assemble along Pier Avenue and Northwood Road from 3-3.30pm.
HQ for the day will be at 15 Pier Avenue, in a gazebo in the garden.
LATE ENTRIES are accepted on the day till 4.00pm, but it will help to register early with the entry form in the program or on the website: https://whitstablecarnival.co.uk. Sign in at HQ and then find your place in the procession.
JUDGING starts at 4.15 prompt. All entries must be in position by 4.00.
CARNIVAL ENTRIES: please approach along Northwood Road from its junction with Tower Parade/Tankerton Road (where the laundrette is).
COLLECTING TINS and collecting buckets will be available from HQ.
THE PROCESSION starts at 5.30, passing Tankerton Circus at 5.40, Tower Parade 5.50, the Duke of Cumberland 6.10 and the East Kent at 6.30. These times are approximate. You should be at your vantage point early to get a good view. Please don’t let children run into the road as the procession passes.
PLEASE DO NOT THROW COINS as this has been known to damage property and is one of the reasons carnival has been less well attended in recent years. If you would like to make a donation, please put your coins in the collecting tins as they pass. All money received on the day will go to our participating charities.
ALTERNATIVELY you can DONATE via the QR Code to the right. Off The Wall Club is managing these donations for Whitstable Carnival.
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