I used to play the oboe. I spent my entire playing career believing that I wasn’t very good only to get Grade 8 distinction when all the people I believed were far better than me just scraped a pass. A nice shock and a good lesson.

After I finished my exam I played only a few times and then I lost interest. I hadn’t been driven by the exam, but finishing school and a wide world waiting for me to explore was too delicious to stay at home and practice.

Ten years on and I have just picked it up again for the first time. More than a little rusty, but managing a decent sound and at about Grade 4 in sight reading tests, I was having fun..

..Until I started worrying about disturbing the neighbours. And it was then that I realised: ‘madame’ the downstairs hatefully unfriendly neighbour was being disturbed. A little chuckle and I carried on puffing away merrily on double octave scales over and over and over and over again.

The only thing worse than listening to her scream and yell abuse at anybody who has rung her bell over the past 18 months, has to be repetitive scales that are nearly right!