Into the classical music bear-pit: Alan Johnson goes to the Proms

Growing up in North Kensington Alan Johnson used to play around the Albert Hall but never went inside. 60 years later we sent the former home secretary along to experience the Proms for the first time. What did he make of it?I’m no stranger to the Royal Albert Hall. John Lennon knew how many holes it took to fill it and, as a child, I knew how many steps it took to reach the huge statue of the Prince Consort that stands opposite (42 in case you’re interested). Raised in the royal borough, my sister and I would spend most of the school summer holidays in Kensington Gardens while our mother scrubbed and cleaned for the more prosperous folk south of Ladbroke Grove. We would be released into the park straight off the No 52 bus with sandwiches wrapped in waxed paper and told to visit the museums if it rained. The great Italianate edifice of the Albert Hall was familiar terrain. Continue reading…
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