The traditions and industries of 19th century Lowestoft will provide the nostalgic backdrop for a romantic stage musical premiering in the town later this month.

The traditions and industries of 19th century Lowestoft will provide the nostalgic backdrop for a romantic stage musical premiering in the town later this month.

Fisherton tells the tale of a fisherman who meets a farm-girl at a market and follows their lives and conflicts in the town's lost Beach Village of the 1850s.

The music and lyrics were penned by retired teacher Brian Mullen, 62, who had his own call of the sea as a teenager and said the original work was inspired by his childhood memories of Lowestoft's bygone fishing community.

Mr Mullen said: "When I was 15 the first job I had was to go to sea as a fishing boy, and that experience has always been in the back of my mind.

"It is amazing what you can get out of a fishy tale - it is a time-capsule of nostalgia.

"It is a reflective representation of the times, traditions and beliefs of a community living in a hardy yet rewarding way of life."

Fisherton will be staged at the Crown Street Hall, which at the time of the show's historic setting was operating as Lowestoft's first purpose-built theatre.

After the debut performances from October 24-27, Mr Mullen, of Chestnut Avenue, Oulton Broad, hopes to take his 10-strong cast and three musicians on the road around the east coast, and even plans a mini-tour around England.

Tickets are available from F W Knights on High Street, Lowestoft.