I AM not completely addicted to crosswords, fortunately.

Another quite keen interest I have is in music.

Piano tuition began at about the age of seven and continued until my mid-teens.

The lessons were held at a house in Milton Road, Penarth, the teacher being a Miss Chatterton.

I was, almost literally, dragged to my first lesson by the combined forces of my mother and my sister but, on subsequent occasions, went willingly, but with some reservations about my having to play scales and arppeggios a lot.

This tuition was supplemented by my taking music at school as an O and then as an A-level subject, the latter exam requiring an ability to play a musical instrument to grade seven standard. I passed that level RSM exam separately at around this time when I was 17.

The latter test was held at a suite in the Royal Hotel Cardiff, which seemed very grand to me.

I have continued to play the piano regularly but with long gaps as an adult when I was, for long periods, in rented accommodation with no access to a piano.

In more recent years, when I have had my own home, I have a piano, which is digital and has the capacity to produce also the tone of a harpsichord, or church organ options which are little used.

As with crosswords, piano playing can be therapeutic and help to keep one mentally more active.

One should probably not do things just because they can be beneficial to one’s physical and mental health, but for their own sake.

Nonetheless health considerations can be a real contributory factor, for older people in particular, who may have reached the age of eligibility for free television licences (75 plus), where creeping dementia remains a possible eventuality, to be resisted.

My memory is quite good, except for recalling people’s names, which can be embarrassing.

Arguably, my writing letters to newspapers, and reading, could also assist in the fight against possible future decline, and I almost forgot to mention walking, which I do quite a lot of.

Michael O'Neill

Railway Terrace,

Penarth