Like a lot of kids I didn't like my first day at school, Mum walked me to Mrs White’s
private school before she went to work, and I let everyone know I didn't want to go. We
had only just moved from Deptford London to our new home in West Drayton which is
about 30 miles from London. I can't remember too much about Mrs White except that she
seemed very tall she wore a long black dress and she carried a cane which she always kept
where we could see it. From there I progressed to the proper school with all the other five
year olds, where learning began in earnest, football ( soccer) was one of the major
priorities, I liked that. When I was seven the Second World War broke out and that was
fun for a seven year old, spending most of our school days in the air-raid shelter got us
out of lot of school work, a fact I regretted in later life. My Dad was working as a metal
polisher in a factory that made aircraft parts so he didn't go into the army ,his work was
considered to be essential to the war effort. He was a lovely person my Dad, a real
cockney. I loved my Dad even though he seemed to mix with some rather shady
characters. I remember one night the piano had to be moved, the floorboards raised and
some goods were placed under the floor. I never found out what it was, but Dad never
seemed to be short of a drop of scotch. None of our family could play the piano but
occasionally Dad would invite someone home who could play and we would have a good
old sing along. One of the few regrets I have is that I never learnt to play the Piano,
