Sitting
on a train travelling back from Ilkley, Yorkshire to Paddock Wood, Kent, I find
myself wanting to shout from the luggage racks about the most remarkable
adventure I have just shared with my ten year old daughter, Lottie.
Unfortunately, however, this is a quiet carriage & Lottie is asleep, so
nothing would be gained from my outburst... I have resorted instead, therefore,
to tapping out my little tale, on my lap, before I combust with the sheer joy
pent up inside of me.
I recently read a book, 'Raising Girls', written by a clever chap who knew lots about children, and he said that if his readers took only one thing from his book it should be (I’ll paraphrase - it was a whole chapter) this:
Find out what your child's 'spark' is... What sparks their imagination, their enthusiasm, their zest for life? Recognise their spark, and then feed it, to make a flame, and the eventual fire that flame creates, will fuel your child forever more. They will be happy and content in their adult lives because you enabled them to be who they dreamed they should be.' Simple, straightforward advise that got me thinking...
Lottie (my sleepy daughter) loves music; she plays the piano and the violin at school and she practices like crazy at home, so her dad and I promised her (in a 'spark' fuelling moment) that if she passed her grade 2 piano and violin, we would buy her a piano of her very own. Goodbye dodgy old keyboard from eBay; hello proper grown up, shiny new piano, to be treasured forever more. Now, where (we asked ourselves) could we buy a shiny new, 'spark' fuelling piano? With a little research, we struck gold... Based in Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire, we discovered 'Cavendish Pianos' the only manufacturer of pianos left in Britain. Nestled in the glorious Yorkshire countryside, in the most unassuming, converted barn was, to our minds, Britain's best kept piano secret. Cavendish, we discovered, were made up of a co-operative of craftsmen - headed up by a chap named Adam Cox and his wife, Charlie.
I spoke to Adam on the phone... "Could I be cheeky?" I said. "Could I bring my daughter up to meet you?" I wanted Lottie to see her piano being put together, to appreciate and understand its provenance. I explained to Adam that I wanted Lottie to feel like she had been part of her piano's journey, from wood in the workshop, to finished instrument in the living room. "Perhaps she could even pop in a hammer or something..." I ventured.
I could never have dreamed that the experience Adam had planned for Lottie would be so inspiring... I could never have envisaged the enthusiasm, passion and generosity of spirit that was going to be afforded to my little girl, in that unassuming barn, by that team of craftsmen in Yorkshire.
When we arrived, the very bare bones of a piano, in many pieces, were laid out, all about the room - by the time we left, Lottie had built her piano, capstan by capstan; key by key; hammer by hammer, until she sat down, and played it, in front of me. Imagine that for 'spark' fuelling stuff...playing the very first note on the piano that you have just built, and (to Lottie's delight) signed and dated. Unforgettable. Unbelievable. Undeniably 'spark' fuelling... Adam and the team loved the day as much as Lottie - my cheeky request for Lottie to, 'pop in a hammer or something' together with Adams 'can do better' mentality, resulted in an unforgettable day that will now hopefully be replicated for hundreds more children (and adults) in the future.
So to everyone on this quiet train to Kings Cross and to the rest of Britain, can I please shout: "Find out what your child's spark is and then feed it with British sustenance." If your child loves music or art, buses or bricks, horticulture or haberdashery and you (like me with the piano) know nothing about it, find a British expert who does and invite them to inspire your child. Together with Lottie, today I discovered, first hand, that there is no substitute for home grown, pride-filled, enthusiastic, quality expertise to inspire a child for life. The little girl, asleep by my side, is a very different child to the one I travelled up to Yorkshire with...her spark has become a flame and she is keeping me warm as I bask in her glow.
I recently read a book, 'Raising Girls', written by a clever chap who knew lots about children, and he said that if his readers took only one thing from his book it should be (I’ll paraphrase - it was a whole chapter) this:
Find out what your child's 'spark' is... What sparks their imagination, their enthusiasm, their zest for life? Recognise their spark, and then feed it, to make a flame, and the eventual fire that flame creates, will fuel your child forever more. They will be happy and content in their adult lives because you enabled them to be who they dreamed they should be.' Simple, straightforward advise that got me thinking...
Lottie (my sleepy daughter) loves music; she plays the piano and the violin at school and she practices like crazy at home, so her dad and I promised her (in a 'spark' fuelling moment) that if she passed her grade 2 piano and violin, we would buy her a piano of her very own. Goodbye dodgy old keyboard from eBay; hello proper grown up, shiny new piano, to be treasured forever more. Now, where (we asked ourselves) could we buy a shiny new, 'spark' fuelling piano? With a little research, we struck gold... Based in Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire, we discovered 'Cavendish Pianos' the only manufacturer of pianos left in Britain. Nestled in the glorious Yorkshire countryside, in the most unassuming, converted barn was, to our minds, Britain's best kept piano secret. Cavendish, we discovered, were made up of a co-operative of craftsmen - headed up by a chap named Adam Cox and his wife, Charlie.
I spoke to Adam on the phone... "Could I be cheeky?" I said. "Could I bring my daughter up to meet you?" I wanted Lottie to see her piano being put together, to appreciate and understand its provenance. I explained to Adam that I wanted Lottie to feel like she had been part of her piano's journey, from wood in the workshop, to finished instrument in the living room. "Perhaps she could even pop in a hammer or something..." I ventured.
I could never have dreamed that the experience Adam had planned for Lottie would be so inspiring... I could never have envisaged the enthusiasm, passion and generosity of spirit that was going to be afforded to my little girl, in that unassuming barn, by that team of craftsmen in Yorkshire.
When we arrived, the very bare bones of a piano, in many pieces, were laid out, all about the room - by the time we left, Lottie had built her piano, capstan by capstan; key by key; hammer by hammer, until she sat down, and played it, in front of me. Imagine that for 'spark' fuelling stuff...playing the very first note on the piano that you have just built, and (to Lottie's delight) signed and dated. Unforgettable. Unbelievable. Undeniably 'spark' fuelling... Adam and the team loved the day as much as Lottie - my cheeky request for Lottie to, 'pop in a hammer or something' together with Adams 'can do better' mentality, resulted in an unforgettable day that will now hopefully be replicated for hundreds more children (and adults) in the future.
So to everyone on this quiet train to Kings Cross and to the rest of Britain, can I please shout: "Find out what your child's spark is and then feed it with British sustenance." If your child loves music or art, buses or bricks, horticulture or haberdashery and you (like me with the piano) know nothing about it, find a British expert who does and invite them to inspire your child. Together with Lottie, today I discovered, first hand, that there is no substitute for home grown, pride-filled, enthusiastic, quality expertise to inspire a child for life. The little girl, asleep by my side, is a very different child to the one I travelled up to Yorkshire with...her spark has become a flame and she is keeping me warm as I bask in her glow.
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