SCHOOL, FINE WOODWORKING AND LUTHERIE

Some of the fine woodworking and lutherie I have done is shown above:

Having failed the eleven plus examination I was in a secondary modern school and in the second stream not even the top stream. Those who passed the eleven plus went to a grammar school where the more academically gifted went and often ended in office jobs . One factor on going or not was if your parents were keen on you going to a grammar school, in which case there was some pressure to study and perhaps more books in the home. One reason to prefer a trade was because the pay was often better than an office job.

I had no encouragement from my parents who assumed I would go into a trade as my father had. I was fascinated by the transmission through the air of radio and television and when I was fifteen I built a radio. I put it in an OXO can but knew enough to leave the antenna outside of the metal can. When I told the school that I wanted to repair radios and television they said I would not be able to do that due to a lack of education and that I should work on a building site, which I did. I was a lb weaking and could only carry a half a hod of bricks, which made the brickies mad. I did then work mixing concrete which I could just about do. Only later working on radios, television, tape recorders and electronics.

One thing I did learn from a very encouraging teacher, was woodwork and I continued this as a hobby until recently.