Laughter fills a seaside home in East Sussex as five women in their 80s and 90s sit together, their voices overlapping like teenagers as they relive decades of theatrical memories. These are the Golden Girls of Eastbourne—dancers, singers and comedy performers who first met in rehearsals and backstage gatherings over 50 years ago, when they were working the variety circuit across British theatres, cruise ships and pantomime stages in the 1960s and 70s. Now reunited in the town where they made their names, they have become the subject of a photographic project documenting their remarkable careers and the enduring sisterhood that has sustained them through triumph and loss.
Photographer David Pickens, himself a retired circus performer who once worked in a double act with one of the group's sons, was captivated by their story.
They've got amazing life stories, amazing camaraderie. What I really admired was the fact they were all women in a very male-dominated world, and then all those men have gone now, and they're the last people standing.He chose to photograph them at the Royal Hippodrome, the Victorian theatre where each of them performed during their working years. The theatre, which opened in 1883 as the New Theatre Royal and Opera House and was renamed the Eastbourne Hippodrome in 1904, has hosted generations of variety performers and remains an active venue today.
Who are the Golden Girls?
The group comprises five distinct personalities, each with her own path through show business. Jenny Lawrenson, 83, is a former dancer and dance teacher whose petite frame and impeccable posture reflect a lifetime of ballet training. She speaks with the refined accent of Mary Poppins and recalls performing at the Hippodrome with particular clarity—though not for pleasant reasons.
You're dancing uphill!she says of the theatre's famously tilted stage.
Beryl Plummer, 90, with her distinctive lilac hair and red-framed glasses, was half of a smash-hit double act with her late husband Tommy. He played xylophone and drums while she tap-danced alongside him, and they became mainstays of variety shows—those multi-act performances that could feature magicians, musicians, animal acts, and even a performer known for balancing a cartwheel on his head. The Plummers' popularity reached such heights that they once topped a bill ahead of the Beatles.
They were just normal boys, but you could not hear anything they sang because of all the screaming,Plummer recalls.
Vicki Goodwin, 85, worked as a dancer and singer in shows including Dad's Army and performed alongside her second husband, a comedian. Jacquie Toye, 83, began as a comedy stooge for Ken Dodd and went on to play Velma Kelly in the United Kingdom's first production of Chicago in the West End. Jan Lynton, 82, travelled the furthest, performing from Japan to Egypt as a showgirl and later becoming a choreographer, only retiring in 2022.
What made their careers so memorable?
Rather than boast about their greatest hits, the former performers prefer to laugh about everything that went wrong. Goodwin remembers being discovered by Bruce Forsyth after breaking her arm.
I fell down a flight of stairs outside his dressing room.Toye recalls tripping over a plug while rushing for a curtain call, turning off the electricity in an entire theatre.
I had to apologise to everyone!
Plummer's most mortifying moment came at the Hippodrome itself. She was wearing a halterneck costume that dropped unexpectedly during a performance, leaving her exposed.
I had nothing underneath. The press were in that night.The newspaper cutting that followed read:
… and she never missed a beat.
Lynton's story from a Cairo nightclub demonstrates the genuine hazards performers faced.
We did the number with big feathers on our heads, shimmying back and forth. The girl opposite me shimmied back and went into a candle. When she came up, her feathers were on fire. She didn't know.Her friends gasp as she continues:
Somebody threw a jug of water over her!
The women also recall supporting major stars of the era. They were once booked to support Cliff Richard, but the show was called off early after performers including comedian and singer Des O'Connor were pelted with eggs and potatoes.
An announcement was made to say: 'Give the acts a chance!'Toye worked with Morecambe and Wise in pantomime at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham, where Eric Morecambe poured a bag of crisps down the back of her jacket and slapped her on the back, leaving her unable to retrieve them during the performance.
What were the less glamorous sides of the profession?
A shared sense of humour helped the women bond over the years, particularly when dealing with the unglamorous aspects of show business. The accommodation provided for touring performers was often poor. They discuss rooms in Glasgow with black mould and London lodgings with no hot water. Lawrenson remembers searching for accommodation during a season in Cardiff with her dance partner Robert Marlowe.
The landlord took us into the bathroom and there was a chipped, brown rusty bath. And he said: 'And do you know, [comedian] Gladys Morgan had a bath here!' My God!
Being a young woman in the industry presented additional challenges. Bottoms were pinched, stagehands smuggled their friends backstage to ogle performers, and producers extended dubious invitations.
You just took it in your stride,says Lynton.
An agent chased me around a table once. He was horrible.
How did their lives diverge after their performing years?
The group's careers followed different trajectories. Lawrenson spent only five years in the business before leaving to settle down with her husband. She moved from Bournemouth to East Sussex in 2005 following his death and the loss of one of her twin daughters. Plummer and her husband kept threatening to retire but did not finally step away until 2016, when they settled in Eastbourne. Lynton became a choreographer, working for decades before retiring in 2022. Goodwin moved to Spain and then to Llandudno with Ken, her second husband, until his death from Alzheimer's in 2012.
We've all been through the mill one way or another,says Toye.
We've all had tragedy in our lives.She lost her husband. Despite these hardships, sisterhood has become increasingly important in their later years.
How do they support each other now?
The women rely on one another in practical and emotional ways.
I rely on all my lovely friends here, and if I need them, they will come to me,says Plummer. When she underwent a serious operation in 2019, Toye took her to hospital and brought her home several weeks later, decorating her house with welcome-home balloons. Toye also stayed with Lynton during a period of memory loss.
The group is inclined to drop things for you if you need it,says Lynton.
We're there for each other, and even if you're not there physically, you can talk on the phone.Goodwin calls Lynton most nights and Plummer every evening.
It's nothing really, after this length of time,Lynton says, then jokes:
I like to know she's not lying on the floor in the kitchen.
How do they approach their retirement?
The Golden Girls have not retreated from life. Their days are filled with lunches, showbiz-themed talks at local hotels and activities designed to keep them engaged. Toye hosts a hospital radio show. Lawrenson runs an exercise class. They attend social events with enthusiasm—the day after the photoshoot, they were planning to visit a friend's tower-block flat to watch an airshow.
He calls it Ladies' Day at the tower,they explain, dissolving into laughter.
Lynton says she does not feel her age.
I have to be honest – and we all feel the same – I sometimes say of others, 'There was this old person.' And I think, 'No, I'm old.' But they just seem a lot older, because of their mentality.She recently bought coasters that read
Growing old disgracefullyand intends to live by that motto.
Age is a number,she declares.
What is their secret to staying young at heart?
When asked what sustains their youthful outlook, Toye offers a simple answer:
Gin and tonic.The laughter that follows is the same infectious sound that greeted the photographer when he first arrived at their Eastbourne home—the sound of women who have spent more than half a century supporting, entertaining and delighting one another.
The Royal Hippodrome's place in variety history
The theatre where these women reunited holds its own significance in British entertainment. The Royal Hippodrome underwent major restorative work in recent years, including a facade restoration in 2018, a foyer extension in 2019, and a full auditorium refurbishment completed for its 140th anniversary year in 2023. The theatre's history page records that it hosted variety-era stars including Tommy Trinder, Vera Lynn, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Ken Dodd, Roy Hudd, and Bruce Forsyth, many of whom crossed paths with the Golden Girls during their performing years. The venue remains an active theatre with scheduled programming, ensuring that the tradition of live performance continues in the town where these five women built their legacies.
Key Facts
- The five women—Jenny Lawrenson, Beryl Plummer, Vicki Goodwin, Jacquie Toye and Jan Lynton—first met more than 50 years ago while working as dancers, singers and comedy performers in the 1960s and 70s.
- They performed across cruise ships, pantomime stages and British seaside theatres, including the Royal Hippodrome in Eastbourne, where they reunited for photographer David Pickens's project.
- Their careers brought them into contact with major entertainment figures of the era, including the Beatles, Cliff Richard, Bruce Forsyth, Morecambe and Wise, and Ken Dodd.
- Despite diverging life paths and personal tragedies, the women have maintained their friendship and now provide crucial emotional and practical support to one another in their 80s and 90s.
- Rather than retire from life, they remain active through radio shows, exercise classes, social gatherings and regular contact, embodying their philosophy of growing old with humour and vitality.
