­AN EASTENDERS actor and a Strictly judge visited Bude last year to film for a new holiday television series — and it is being broadcast on Monday.

In the early 1980s Hargrave Park Primary School in Islington, London, used to bring children to Bude on an adventure holiday, staying at a hotel in Summerleaze Crescent run by Nick and Jeanie Cole.

Trevor Lashbrook, the headmaster, was a Bude lad and wanted his pupils, from a tough urban environment, to enjoy the seaside. The children did rock climbing, horse riding, canoeing, archery and swimming. One of his pupils was a boy called Jake Wood who went on to become a popular actor — most famed for his role as Max Branning in EastEnders, as well as his appearance on Strictly Come Dancing.

Len Goodman, one of the judges on ‘Strictly’, presents the holiday series and worked with Jake when he took part in it. The programme takes celebrities down memory lane to remember a trip that gave them lasting memories from their childhood, often reuniting them with familiar faces, and that was the case for Jake who saw his former headmaster for the first time in many years.

Jake had fond memories of his school trip to Bude and both Len and he visited the town last September to film. The weather was perfect and the programme is sure to be a wonderful advertisement for the town ahead of the Easter and summer season.

The ‘Holiday of My Lifetime’ team got in contact with Trevor as they wanted him to surprise Jake on the programme as he delved into some childhood memories of being on the north coast of Cornwall.

Trevor said: “I spent all my working life teaching in London, but when I retired my wife and I moved back to Bude. Our school was in a rough area and we took in many children that other schools didn’t want, so we organised many activities to widen their experiences.

“We took parties skiing in the winter and brought them to Bude for adventure in the summer. Jake took part in both skiing and a trip to Bude — he was never a problem, coming from a good home.

“He was a quiet, gentle lad so it always amuses me to see him playing a villain in EastEnders!

“Our school had a fine reputation in London for music and drama and we put on three shows a year, so Jake was usually involved on stage, which led to his determination to become an actor — he told me he particularly remembers being in Bugsy Malone.

“I had never tried to contact Jake, not knowing if he wanted ‘fans’ bothering him, but we have always followed his career with interest and were thrilled to get the chance to meet him.

“The meeting was exciting. He was obviously delighted to see both myself and my wife, who also taught at the school. He had so many good memories of the place and said that, but for us, he wouldn’t be a successful actor.”

Jake said: “I have many happy memories of Bude from when I was around eight or nine. I went to a primary school in North London and our headmaster was from Bude originally so organised to take us children there during the holidays, canoeing, rock climbing, horse riding and generally walking and playing outside.

“Making the programme ‘Holiday Of My Lifetime’ with Len Goodman was such a thrill for me for two reasons. One I got to revisit Bude after a good many years — and had forgotten how beautiful it was — and second because remarkably they managed to reunite me with my old headmaster Mr Trevor Lashbrook and his wife Joan after a gap of 33 years.

“I will definitely be back with my own young family one day, I love the area so much.”

‘Holiday of My Lifetime’ starring Jake Wood re-visiting Bude airs on Monday, February 29, on BBC 1 at 3.45pm.