Early classical music

We were not a musical family in particular. The record player was kept upstairs, and we certainly had some records of performers like Victor Borge, but listening to music wasn't a habit of any sort. I have no memories of the radio beyond the news and The Archers. But at some stage, when I was about ten, my parents bought a Readers' Digest boxed set of classical music, a sort of potted history of classical music in ten albums. A greatest hits selection. I came across this by accident shortly afterwards and started working my way through the collection.

The composers that really interested me were the more modern ones, and in particular Stravinsky, whose Rite of Spring was included in the set and which I played over and over again. I found this to be some of the most exciting music I had ever heard. It opened up completely new perspectives on what music could be, and probably fixed me for ever in preferring 20th Century composers to most others. I then discovered Delius (On First Hearing..), Walton (Facade) and Prokofiev (Romeo and Juliet) through my mother, for whom these were favourite pieces. And when I bought my own first record out of my pocket money, it was an EP of Sir Malcolm Sargent conducting Mars and Venus from Holst's Planets Suite.

Cars - the Healey 100/6

For my 21st birthday (just before in fact) I was given an Austin-Healey 100/6 by my parents, which cost £200. I had chosen this machine myself, and in my glee had failed to discern that its bodywork was largely made up of chicken-wire, newspaper and fibreglass filler. The engine, however, was simply superb and it went like the clappers. I took it out onto the newly constructed motorway north of the Forth Road Bridge and topped 100mph, which was something in those days. It had electric overdrive on 3rd and 4th gears, and there was nothing sweeter than flicking overdrive on and hearing the engine note drop a tone as you surged onwards. It was heavier than my father's big Vauxhall estate, and almost impossible as a result to push, let alone push start, so during the winter months it was essential to find a hill to park it on, just in case. I had the most marvellous eight months with it.

Its demise was tragic. I was taking a friend down to Harrogate en route to a summer job north of London, which was going to fund my driving the car to Greece to meet my then girlfriend who had had a job out there. The friend had brought along a whole box of books which went in the boot. It was pouring with rain. I had just fitted a brand new set of Michelin XASs. Just south of Newtown St Boswells on the A68 I lost the rear end completely on a bend, the car careered through a wire fence and into a field of barley. We were fine, thank goodness, but the car was in shreds. It was only insured for third party damage, and repairing it cost more than I could afford, so off it went to a new home.

As we were sitting in this field in the car in the rain, some people ran over from a house nearby and said. "you know, you're the second car that's done that this week". The corner has now gone, smoothed away, so I suspect we weren't the last car to do that particular trick either. I took the train to Greece.