Santa of attention...

He has just self-published his topically-titled The Trials and Tribulations of being Santa Claus, adding to a wealth of yarns for youngsters aged around 10 which have been born of his fertile imagination and inspiration offered by children themselves.

Previous titles to have tripped from his pen include Oli Gilpoon and the Medieval Princess, The Tangletree Village Bike Race, Don’t Blow That Horn and Ghost plc.

Peter, 72, of Rookhurst Road, has lived in Bexhill for 50 years and formerly taught at St Mary Magdalen’s junior school and St Richard’s, where he delighted in casting aside textbooks to give free rein to his young proteges’ own thoughts and ideas.

He said: “I’d get them writing little stories about something, and then we’d develop it from there, imagining characters, what they’d do, things that might happen to them and so on. I suppose my stories have just taken that a few steps further.”

A keen modeller and an enthusiastic engineer - with the help of older pupils he once built an electric car - Peter is currently chief executive officer at Bexhill Museum in Egerton Road.

Before it shuts its doors for winter on Thursday, December 9, he aims to put copies of his paperbacks on sale, each for under a fiver, as potential Christmas presents for children.

But Peter said: “Financial reward is not so important to me as keeping the stories alive for the enjoyment of this and future generations of youngsters, perhaps encouraging them to dream up adventures of their own.”

Each of his books has covers and layouts created with the help of his daughter, Maria, 45, a freelance designer who lives in London, and are printed by Rother Reprographics, an offshoot of the district council.

For anyone unable to get to the museum, Peter has a website, www.tangletreevillage.tv, through which it is possible to order copies.

ABOVE: Peter Fairhurst