Like many a 50s baby, I grew up with The Beatles. Back then I preferred baby-faced Paul McCartney but later came to realise Lennon was the musician who gave the band its edge. Harrison and Starr were both brilliant musicians, and McCartney is a strong singer, player and songwriter, but without Lennon in the mix, there wouldn’t have been enough alchemy to make that fresh, cheeky, tender and original sound. Lennon was a troubled boy with a difficult background, a rebel, someone whose creativity was multi-faceted. He seemed to be finally settling down with Yoko and his second son, when he was unexpectedly shot down in New York by a random, unstable fan. The shock waves went through all of us who’d followed his career, shock and sorrow as profound as when Kennedy died, when Diana was killed.

A few years ago I visited the homes of McCartney and Lennon…