Jean, who is 85 later this year, is looking forward to showcasing her first masterpiece, 'Swan Summer', at The Maltings stage this weekend.

As the title suggests, the show looks at the experiences of the birds who have become part and parcel of life in and around the River Tweed.

Hailing from Bristol, Jean first noticed just how big Berwick's swan population was when she moved to the area in 1990 and has been a great admirer ever since.

"One of the first times I came up to Berwick, my son Walter and I noticed some swans who were close to town and starving, so we fed them and it all went from there really," Jean said.

"I got involved with the Swan and Wildlife Trust and I thought something needed to done to get people in Berwick to appreciate what they have.

"The town has the second largest swan population in Great Britain.

"The largest is in Dorset and the people down there really value the swans. I thought it would be good to target the younger generation in the area and what better way to get the message through to them than music and drama."

While the bigwigs behind Broadway and West End musicals may take years to come up with their shows, Jean said it took her roughly two weeks to get 'Swan Summer' into flight as ideas just kept popping into her head.

"I'd had the idea of doing a musical for a few years before I actually got going with it. It was Walter who said I should do something about it. I probably wouldn't have bothered if it wasn't for him.

"Once I got started I found it quite easy to come up with the songs and fortunately Walter is a trained musician, so he was able to refine them and write the music for me.

"I based the songs on issues that affect the swans, such as people throwing things at them, fishermen leaving things that swans become trapped in and, obviously, the major one - pollution.

"But on the positive side of things, swans are very intelligent birds and although they have their tragedies, they move on from them."

To get the songs that she dreamt up in her garden onto the stage, Jean needed some professional guidance and that arrived in the form of Brian Martin and his team at The Music Gallery, in Tweedmouth.

Jean received a £5000 grant for the project last year from the National Lottery's Awards for All scheme and started working with Brian on taking things a step further.

And Brian said he couldn't fail to be impressed by what Jean had been working on.

"For someone in their senior years to be able to come up with such fantastic original ideas was tremendous. There are some lovely melodies in the songs and they're a real credit to Jean as it's not always easy to get the ideas in someone's head onto paper," he said.

"Walter approached us with the score and it's taken a lot of hard work to get everything together. We had to get the stories behind the songs into the heads of the musicians so they could sing the songs like they were that particular character."

With well known local acts such as Lizzie Bell and The Podlies on board, Brian decided to produce a CD of the musical's soundtrack which he hopes local schools and community groups will use, and he said the fact that so many varied artists lent their services means that 'Swan Summer' has something for everyone.

"We decided to let the artists do their own interpretations of the songs and lots of different styles have been thrown into the mix. We've got classical, jazz, folk and even rap!"

And as well as impressing Brian and everyone at The Music Gallery, Jean has also impressed her nearest and dearest with her abilities.

"To get to see 'Swan Summer' on the stage will be very gratifying. I've never done anything like this before - when I lived in Somerset, I wrote songs for the local youth club but nothing more than that," she said.

"I've loved making stories up ever since I was young so it's good to finally put it to some use. My husband is used to my airy fairy ways so I don't think he was too surprised with me coming up with something like this, he has been right behind me though as have all my family.
And Brian said that Jean deserves all the plaudits as her imagination has thrown up some real musical gems."

He added: "Swan Summer isn't like a typical West End musical and it's not quite Disney, it's somewhere between the two. Jean's songs are terrific and listening to all the tracks together there are some classics."

Jean said the project wouldn't have got anywhere without all the help she's had and added that she hasn't ruled out doing something similar in the near future.

"Brian and his team have been amazing, they've helped me so much. And just listening to the artists singing my songs, it's clear that Berwick has got so much talent and the singers are just as good as anyone else I've ever heard.

"Although it's been hard work I've really enjoyed doing the musical and I'd love to do another although my son has already said 'don't you dare'!"

'Swan Summer' will be making a splash at The Maltings this Saturday, May 30. The show starts at 7.30pm and tickets are priced at £7 and £5 concessions (including members of BSWT). To get yours, call in at the box office or ring (01289) 330999.