Extraordinary

MY PA overcame so much in his life but always had a smile. When my father was born in Woolwich, Kent, he had cataracts in both eyes. Despite surgery, his sight did not improve much, and after he lost his right eye he was registered blind. However, it did not stop him from doing the things he loved. At one point he was employed by Kent County Council as a groundsman —and was let loose driving tractors and using power tools! Today, of course, what with health and safety rules, this would never have been allowed. But Pa’s amazing capability to do things so well even though he had poor sight probably fooled his employers into taking him on. As a child, he was sent to the West of England School for the Partially Sighted in Exeter, where he improved on his musical talents, later on training to become a piano tuner. He learnt to French polish and would recondition pianos and other items of furniture. He also enjoyed garden landscaping. He met my mum, Brenda, at their church in Belvedere, Kent, and wed just over 50 years ago. They had two daughters, my sister in 1969 and me in 1975. During his years tuning pianos for Robert Morley & Co. he met