Many condolences to the family on the loss of Sylvia. I recall her well as Miss Beard, then Mrs Carter, who taught me piano, and A level music at Dame Allans School, Newcastle, in the late 1960s. I never practised enough, nor quite mastered Harmony, but she was patient and encouraging. And a fierce talent herself, composing original songs for the school production of ‘Mother Courage’, in which I played the title role - I often find myself singing her rousing ‘Christians awake, the winter’s gone …’ When I was an undergraduate at York Uni, she kindly invited me and my boyfriend (now husband) to visit her in Bishopthorpe, and we enjoyed a lovely afternoon with her and Andrew.
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