Back in 1972, when the decision to scrap the 11-plus exam in Derbyshire was implemented, Deincourt School was woefully unprepared to become a comprehensive. It didn’t have the facilities, the staff, the books, the curriculum, and most importantly, it didn’t have the culture or the mindset to educate kids of all of abilities. Of course, lots of promises were made at the time, and so people generally went along with it, hoping for the best. One of the challenges that emerged when it got time to choose our options (the subjects that we would study for two years, leading up…

I don’t remember what triggered me to want to take singing lessons, or to even know that was something that you can do. I was wondering if it had something to do with Lena Zavaroni’s record-breaking winning streak on ‘Opportunity Knocks’, the 60’s and 70’s talent show hosted by Hughie Green (who later turned out to be Paula Yate’s birth father), but after asking the Google, that turned out to be in 1974, which was 6 years after I’d started taking singing lessons, at the age of 7.

Back in early 2001, I was waiting for my divorce to be finalized, and I was finally feeling ready to dip a tentative toe back into the dating waters. Early in my separation, when word got out that I was newly single, a number of my friends had taken it upon themselves to try and help remedy that, by suggesting that I go out on a date with one of their friends, a fellow co-worker, or someone they knew from the gym or from church. My answer was always the same… “thanks, but no thanks”, followed by “I’m not ready to date, yet”.

As a child, my window into the world was small. Outside of parental and sibling supervision, I was restricted to exploring just the street that I grew up on, Seanor Lane, which Google just informed me is 293 metres long, or approximately 320 yards in old money. The Google also told me that there is only one ‘Seanor Lane’ in all of the UK. I always thought that it was a special place to grow up, and I now have confirmation of that fact.

My Dad was a storyteller, and what would always pull you in, was his attention to detail, and his ability to convincingly answer any clarifying questions that you might have, without taking a breath or blinking an eye. Whenever I think about his warm teasing and playfulness, I feel a smile breaking out across my face. I hope that you might feel the same way, as you read this.