The other person who was important to me, who came quite late, I think when I was in the sixth form, was Stanley Simmonds, who was a painter. I mean a proper, a good painter. And he was able to kind of develop my… encourage me in the way of art in general, really, and doing paintings. And he lived in Redcliffe Square. He lives in… he’s 80 something now, but he lives in Cornwall now, but he used to live in Redcliffe Square, which is actually why I live in South Kensington, because many, many years ago I came, and I was impressed with the size of the rooms and I thought it was a good place to be.

And so he had a lot of influence on me, but in fact I didn't go to an art school, and I'm not quite sure why. I think partly because I was taught English very well, and so I was prepared to read English at university, and by Walsh, and I think I also thought I mean one remembers what one thinks I thought that if I went to an art school, I might stop reading. I don't know what the logic of this was. Whereas if I went to a university, I wouldn't stop drawing. So I wanted to get that bit of life on board, I suppose, but I couldn't go directly to Cambridge because I had to do national service. Sometimes you did it before university, and sometimes afterwards. And I got into Downing College, Cambridge, which I was particularly I mean that was the college I was directed at by Walsh. He was able to do knew the kind of English that was taught there by FR Leavis, and so I was prepared to go in for that exam, and got in, but then I had to go and do national service, which I didn't enjoy at all.