Letters to America Letters to AmericaThese memories were written when Joan was in her eighties.
School photographs
At 5 I was enrolled at Harrow Weald Infants School. The first picture (above) is the official school photo when I was 6.
I seem to have been happy enough but only one incident sticks in my memory. That is when I couldn’t be bothered to work out my sums and wrote down any old answer. The teacher wrote DISGRACEFUL right across the page and sent me to the Headmistress. The real surprise to my mind was that one of the answers was actually correct. Each sum was a column of 4 double digit figures so the chances of guessing correctly were slim. I’m not sure about the 3rd picture. It is certainly a professional one but the clothes don’t look English so it must have been in the US.
At 5 I also began to take piano lessons with Mrs Lloyd-Thomas, a kind Welsh lady who lived in
Wealdstone. In Dec 1939 I passed the
Primary grade examination at the London College of Music in Great Marlborough Street with 74% and in April 1940 I passed the Elementary
with 76% [1st class]. I loved my lessons and practised willingly. Then came the WAR.
Practising the piano.
