Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Left his building society job in Stroud and walked to London with his violin, then travelled to Spain and lived through the Spanish Civil War.
On the island
Eight records
The keepsakes
No book or luxury recorded for this episode.
In conversation
Presenter asks
3:31Did you ever go hungry, or did that violin always work its magic?
What was the charm of Spain at that time [was] that they always had, no matter how poor they were, they always had a penny for music. Music was a kind of credit card, shall we say it? It... admitted you to any circle... and because it was a symbol of music, the hard, poverty stricken faces softened and they always find something for you to eat or a place for you to sleep. So I... was hungry because they were hungry.
“I walked to London and I took my violin. 'Cause I had an instinct that perhaps with my [violin] I could make enough to live on.”
“Music was a kind of credit card, shall we say it? It... admitted you to any circle. It admitted you to a family, admitted you to a wedding, or to just a little group sitting in the shade in the afternoon”
“It was one of the happiest and perhaps in many ways most satisfying and innocent times of my life.”