HEARTBEAT actress Gwen Taylor has taken time out from

national television to star in a community film being shot in

Derbyshire.

Dressed in a bonnet, she has been playing the part of a

19th-century grandmother in a drama-documentary about the

industrial revolution.

Gwen was born and brought up in Crich and played parts in a

range of television series, including The Sweeney and sitcom

Duty Free, before taking on her current role as Heartbeat's

Peggy Armstrong.

The 69-year-old has joined volunteers and a professional

crew at Sycamore Farm, Hazelwood, to make Spinning Down the

Derwent.

The community project has been set up to involve local

people in film-making, with volunteers taking part in

everything from research to acting.

Gwen plays a central role as the film's narrator, telling

family members the story of how the mills came to Derbyshire,

which is then shown in a series of flashbacks.

She said: “The director, Lloyd Johnston, was playing a small

role in Heartbeat and he asked if I'd be interested in doing a

documentary about the industrial revolution.

“I thought it would be a film featuring me dressed in nice

clothes walking around Derbyshire's mills but I've ended up

playing a terribly ugly old granny.”

Mr Johnston previously collaborated with producer Rosemary

Timms, who runs Milford-based Maypole Promotions, on the

historical documentary Samuel Slater – Hero or Traitor? in

2004.

He wrote the screenplay for that film but said this time he

had been keen for local people to contribute through writing

workshops. He said: “It's given all the volunteers the

experience of working with professionals to make a film.

“Gwen is wonderful, she should get an honour from the Queen.

She's a fantastic actress and can do everything in one take.

She seems to read my mind and comes up with great ideas.

“By pure chance I sat next to her at breakfast on the set of

Heartbeat and when I asked her to take part she said she'd love

to.”

Funding for the film, which has cost £45,000, came from

Nottingham-based EM Media, Heritage Lottery Fund, Derbyshire

County Council and Amber Valley Borough Council.

Ms Timms said: “We've done a lot of research and held a lot

of writers' workshops so we've got enough material to create

about a dozen documentaries.

“We started filming last week and it's been going really

well.”

Filming will continue until the end of the week and a DVD of

the documentary will be ready in December.

One of the volunteers who has been given an acting role is

textile artist Jeni Smith, of Bridle Lane, Lower

Hartshorne.

She said: “I thought I would just be doing the close-up

shots of the embroidery because of my background in textiles

but I had a small speaking part, which was very scary.”