Between redecorating and managing family life during a pandemic, Glastonbury resident and professional actor of 28 years David Reakes has organised a film project dedicated to the community spirit and often forgotten history of the Windmill Hill area.

Based around the gathering of stories from a broad array of hill residents, Tor Theatre's entry for Wassail Theatre's Connecting Communities Project offers a unique and deeply personal take on local community.

Mr Reakes and Angela Laverick of Tor Theatre, the brains behind Buttons Bounces Back an original pantomime and comedic parody of Cinderella, as well as the artists behind an enthusiastic and lively adaptation of the poem Rime of the Ancient Mariner have adapted their storytelling over recent months due to the outbreak of Covid-19, shifting their styles from live theatre and performance towards editing and film-making, a process Mr Reakes described as "learning on the hoof".

Outside submissions for the Somerset 1 Minute Theatre Festival, hosted virtually, and learning digital editing through working on online classes, Tor Theatre applied for and won a bid to enter the project, where Mr Reakes has endeavoured to show he and his partner's appreciation for the community in which he has lived for 16 years and shine light on a very different perspective of Glastonbury as a town.

Through the creation of this 45-minute documentary-style film, dedicated in part to both the remarkably rich history of Windmill/St Edmond's Hill and it's thriving community, Mr Reakes described the process of gathering stories from a diverse array of hill residents as "a worthwhile experience".

He also expressed his interest in showing a different side of Glastonbury as a town to the one commonly portrayed and perceptions of locals, recounting the tales and narratives of a community around the hill.

In order to achieve their goal of producing a meaningful and insightful look into the lives of the community, Tor Theatre published on several Windmill Hill community pages their plans and asked for residents to come forward for video interviews which would later become a part of the film, as well as old photos of hill pastimes and stories, including the hillside motorbike races of the 1970s and enormous bonfires across the area now colloquially called The Mound before housing was built in the area.

These calls for stories online were just the beginning, as Mr Reakes started interviewing more than 20 locals, from a broad cross-section from hill newcomers to long-time residents, people from every social group to show just how diverse and thriving the hill's community is.

Mr Reakes on behalf of Tor Theatre promised that their project would show not only "another layer of the Glastonbury onion" but also a fresh perspective, free of preset notions people might have about the town, locals and otherwise, as such they want to avoid topics commonly associated with the town, such as the festival or high street.

Furthermore Mr Reakes wants to "make sure the film doesn't become a time capsule" avoiding subjects that may show its age, things such as coronavirus especially which he sees as irrelevant to the message they want the film to convey.

The questions asked by Mr Reakes in the quick-fire round of community-oriented interviews aim to gather the perspectives and experiences of all kinds of locals, discussing what they love about the area and it's history as well as some fun trivia regarding Windmill Hill.

Once the ambitious project is completed, Tor Theatre, alongside an online publication and submission to the film contest, wishes to air the short film in the hill's community centre alongside an evening of social events and music as to "capture some of the old community atmosphere" they have endeavoured to bring to life through his film, and show what it is that makes the community of Windmill Hill so unique and lively.