Haven My KENNEY JONES

The drummer, 69, in the living room of his 14th-century country house in Surrey

1 PUKKA CHUKKAS

I moved to this area in the 80s with my wife Jayne. We’re near to Hurtwood Park Polo Club in Ewhurst, which I own. I used to be in a polo team with drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Mike Rutherford, who gave me this polo stick, with which Ignacio Heguy scored the Gold Cup winning goal at Cowdray Park in 1996. I’ve given up the sport but one of my sons plays now. I have four sons and two daughters – and the dog here, Lilo, belongs to one of the boys.

2 BIG SHOES TO FILL

I joined The Who in 1978, shortly after the death of their drummer Keith Moon, aged 32, and they were the most exciting band. The hardest thing was learning their repertoire as quickly as possible. I said from the start, ‘I can’t copy Keith, he’s more of a showman and has a different style.’ When I first played Wembley Stadium with them, Keith’s mother sent me this telegram: ‘To Kenney, the drummer of The Who, good luck.’ That meant a lot. I wore this leather jacket on the cover of The Who album Face Dances.

3 FACES TIME

The Small Faces [pictured] were the most creative band I’ve been in, and the Faces who followed were so much fun. The award on the desk is from 2012, when the two bands were inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall Of Fame. It was so sad that Steve Marriott (who died in 1991, aged 44) and Ronnie Lane (who died in 1997, at 51) didn’t experience it. Since Ian McLagan died in 2014, I’m the only surviving original member, which is lonely.

4 BEAT OF MY HEART

My uncle Dave led a brass band in Catholic processions that went round London’s East End, where I was raised. As a kid I followed them, pretending I was a side drummer. Then I’d rush home, get a biscuit tin, turn it upside down and play it with two bits of firewood. When I was 13, I started playing the drums on a kit which I replaced after eight months. My friend and bandmate Ronnie Lane later gave my first kit to his best friend, but I didn’t know. Ten years ago, I was contacted by that man’s son in Cornwall asking if I wanted the kit back. When I first saw it again, it made me emotional. This is the piccolo snare drum from that kit.

5 A SURPRISE FROM THE SKIES

Around the time of 1985’s Live Aid, which I played with The Who, I learnt to fly helicopters, and when I got my pilot’s licence, my instructor gave me this rotor blade as a gift. The only helicopter I owned is one I bought with David Essex. Noel Edmonds passed his test around the same time as me and we used to fly together. Once, in his single-engine Squirrel helicopter, we got stuck in bad weather and landed in the grounds of a mansion in Kent. It was their young son’s birthday party that day and seeing us arrive in a helicopter became quite a present for him!

6 MAKING OUR MARK

This is The Small Faces’ Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake, released in 1968 and listed in 2004 among the greatest rock albums ever. When we finished it we all thought, ‘How do we follow this?’ We wanted to be recognised for our musicianship, not just as this rinkadink pop band. We couldn’t lose the teenybopper image, which drove Steve Marriott nuts. He left in 1969, then Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood joined and we became The Faces – thanks to them being taller than us we were no longer all small! For the album’s 50th anniversary we’re releasing a special edition and I’m doing a full-length animation film of it.