1974-1986

In 1974 Polly and I bought a ground floor flat with a small garden in Tournay Road off the North End Road at Fulham Broadway. A few years later we moved to a characterful three bedroom house at 31 Novello Street with the District Line 20 yards behind the house. During this time we both worked hard but not as long hours as are experienced now. At my first firm Roger Mortimer (later merged with Sheppards and Chase) we started at nine and finished at five. When I became a Partner in 1979 we used to enjoy long, jovial lunches in the Partners’ dining room most days. We started  with a pre-luncheon gin and tonic, during the meal a decanter of fine wine was produced and quite often a vintage port would be passed around the table as the meal was bought to a close. This was before  Maggie Thatcher shook Workforce GB by the neck  and forced us to become more competitive on the International Stage. One result of this was a lot of stock broking firms were bought. I later moved to Warburgs, Panmure Gordon and finally Numis. In 1982 Linley was born to much rejoicing from us both and this encouraged a move down to Sussex where Polly had inherited a small but wonderful Georgian farmhouse  with 25 acres and sensational views. In  1985 we renovated and enlarged Ramsfold Farm  and moved down in 1986.

After meeting Polly ‘Have I told you my name‘ seems a good place to start ‘Life with you‘ was my first song specifically written for her, closely followed by ‘The Sea‘ which was written in the back of a Hercules aeroplane returning from a Nato exercise in Greece. This was a few months before our wedding and she had written me a letter saying she was being drowned by all the wedding hassle that so many people seemed to be involved in. She  wanted the simplest of weddings..no speeches, no cake, no official photographer  etc. In the end we did have a cake and the Band of the Blues and Royals played during the service in the Guards chapel. We married in 1972 a time of great civil unrest, a three-day working week and  limited use of electricity . There was no power  to operate the lift  to our bedroom at the Dorchester for the first night of our honeymoon. Two weeks later I was on tour in Northern Ireland for four months. ‘We’ll travel on‘  was written for our much-loved and loving parents. They died in their seventies. On reflection this was a comparatively stressful time. I was attempting to  forge a new career and was living in an urban environment for the first time in my life. Hence songs such as ‘Do you ever wish‘, ‘At the end of the day‘, Funny old life‘, ‘ Tortuous road‘, ‘This old guitar‘. It was also a time of nostalgia ‘My old tin train‘  and on reflection  ‘Thank you‘. I spent a lot of time on the Underground from Parsons Green to Mansion House and my song ‘Underground‘ was conceived.  It also has a mention in ‘We’re going on holiday’. Polly producing Linley was the highlight and climax of our stay in London, and is celebrated by ‘Birth‘.

1.  Have I told you my name
2. Do you ever wish
3. Life with you
4. The Sea
5. Thank you
6. Underground
7. We’ll travel on
8. My old tin train
9. At the end of the day
10. Funny old life
11. Tortuous road
12. We’re going on holiday
13  This old guitar
14. Birth