Quarry Bank Grammar School, where John quickly gained a reputation as a troublemaker.

Julia Baird, half-sister to John.

An even more attractive alternative was presented each summer, when Aunt Elizabeth (Mater) would invite John to spend time at her town house in Edinburgh, before going on to the family's croft on the extreme north coast of Scotland. Here John explored the hills and glens, learned to fish for salmon and wandered through Stone Age ruins. Many years later John reported he had more fond memories of Scotland than of England. Indeed it was during a visit to Scotland that he first

Edinburgh was a favourite location for John during school holidays

realised his vocation" … this kind of feeling came over me…I thought, 'this is the one they're always talking about, the one that makes you paint or write because it's so overwhelming that you have to tell somebody…so you put it into poetry'".

In September 1955 the new sound of Bill Haley's 'Rock Around the Clock' changed everything. When Elvis burst on the scene soon after with 'Heartbreak Hotel', John Lennon knew this was something he wanted to do. Already able to play accordion and harmonica, which he loved, John was now anxious to get his hands on a guitar. He cajoled both Aunt Mimi and his mother to buy one. Mimi wasn't big on the idea but Julia loved the new rock and roll music. Her father, 'Pop' Stanley, had taught her to play banjo and she felt sure she could teach John guitar. So Julia scraped up the £10 and John took delivery of his mail order guitar.

John soon needed to upgrade his guitar and it was Mimi, hoping to buy some peace from John's pestering, who put up the £14 (about US$20.00). Mimi recalls: "I thought if that keeps him quiet, then there's no harm done. He would even stand in front of his bedroom mirror with the guitar pretending to be that man Elvis Presley."

In March 1957, now 16, John formed his first band. Initially calling themselves the Black Jacks, the boys soon became the Quarry Men for no better reason than most of them attended Quarry Bank School. On 21 June, the band played their first professional gig. At a street party that was part of a citywide celebration, the Quarry Men played on the back of a truck. The PA system was cobbled together from an old radio and a primitive mike. Two weeks later on 6 July, the band played another similar gig. It was here that John Lennon first met 15-year-old Paul McCartney.

Having watched the Quarry Men play a few numbers, Paul borrowed a guitar and gave his rendition of a couple of chart hits by Eddie Cochrane and Little Richard. A slightly drunk John Lennon grew more interested as Paul performed, saying to himself: "He's as good as me…If I take him on what will happen?" Two weeks later Pete Shotton encountered Paul riding his bike. On learning from Pete there was an invitation from John to join the band Paul casually accepted and rode off.

It wasn't long before Paul began pleading the case for his pal George Harrison to join the Quarry Men. George, he argued, was a better guitarist than any of them. But at 14 years of age George was too young and too shy to be taken seriously.

John's relationship with his mother grew steadily better. He spent every weekend and holidays at her home and he was there when, on 15 July 1958, news came that Julia had been killed while crossing the road on her way home. John remembered bitterly: "We were sitting around waiting for her to come home, Twitchy (Johns nickname for John 'Bobby' Dykins) and me, wondering why she was so late." The driver who killed Julia was an off duty policeman.

John was devastated by his mother's death. He began drinking a great deal and became more aggressive than ever. He later recalled that for the following two years he was either 'drunk or angry'.