This incredibly sweet letter is from Walter Carroll to his daughter Ida while she is visiting Queenswood School. "I want you to tell all who know me - even by name only - how glad I am they use my music for young pupils."

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff is at the Exhibition (Festival of Britain) and writing to her from the post office in London. "A small queue is waiting but I've just seen a great crocodile of children."
He relays his morning in London and suggests plays they may see when she makes it over.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff tells Ida that he is listening to the Manchester String Orchestra with Dennis Brain on the horn, and they are "playing sweetly."
Griff has been invited around to her family's house for cauliflower cheese. He updates her with news of friends and the renovations/decorations at the Northern School of Music.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff thanks Ida for writing to her from holiday in Portpatrick. He declines the offer to join her, worried that her father will be left without a chess opponent.
He's sending the Kate O'Brien book and is working through a tome he's got from Boot's Lending Library.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff writes to Ida while she's away. He hopes she didn't starve on the train, despite the fact that he gave the train company ample notice to make sure she wasn't too far from the dining car (they seem to have failed in that regard).
He's been to the cricket and has bought himself a feast so that "with all luck shall avoid starvation over the weekend."
He relates that Mr Rumney, the "dust bin the merchant" listened to her radio broadcast and that Griff has promised to watch him play football/cricket on the weekend.
He updates her on her family who are well. He's arranged Kelley and Son to lift the carpet in her/his home renovations, and with Kelly being in bed "negotiations were conducted from street level to upper window and back again."

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff writes to Ida just after he's seen her on the train to Queenswood. Queenswood is a private school in Hertfordshire where Ernest Read, old friend of the Northern School of Music, was head of music.
Griff is looking forward to seeing her at the Festival (likely Festival of Britain.)

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff writes to Ida to detail the plans for meeting in London to attend the Festival (of Britain?). He heard Archie Camden give a performance on the radio, a presentation that he prepared himself. Camden was a bassoonist with the Hallé and a teacher with the Royal Manchester College of Music.
"I feel quite nicely rested already, but am glad our nice holiday comes between now and the opening of term - I'm not ready for Sept. 17th until Sept. 17th!"

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff writes to Ida a quick note referencing the weather, plans for his ration book and the whereabouts of a Northern School of Music report.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff has only just received the letter Ida sent from Dumfries and he's grateful for it. He updates her on her family, her father beat him in chess and then proceeded to reminisce for a long while. He wishes that "your piano tuner would arrive unexpectedly. He would receive a real surprise."
His apple tree is doing nicely and he thanks her mother for the fruit pie.
Her home renovations/decorations are going well and a friend has been promoted up the Didsbury Cricket Club team. He'll post her issues of the Manchester Guardian she's missed.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff writes to Ida while she's away. He trusts "you are all earnestly preparing in the best style for the concert on Friday," he writes, and he looks forward to seeing her. They could be going to the Festival of Britain but it's not clear.
He updates her on her family, saying that her father has a toothache which is being treated with bicarb and that he played cards with her sister.
He's been watching cricket and meeting friends who have "toured extensively, even unto descending upon Warwick in two cars with a party of ten all told."
Griff's eyes aren't what they used to be and he hopes she has shared the right information with others.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff writes to Ida while she's away. I don't know what the following relates to but it is almost certainly the premise for a good Miss Marple Murder Mystery: "Just fancy, Garden Fete, and Prinny (oh! how I blush again) in a motor boat."
He "did a slow tour of town today" where he bobbed in and out of shops and picked up some things. Remember when that was a thing? Wandering around shops? That was nice.
He updates her on his day, assures her that her family are well.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff writes to Ida while she's away. He discusses concerts on the radio and by the County Borough of Bolton which he describes as "quite enterprising."
He writes about football and assured her that all is well at her family home. He's still in the midst of decorating his own.
One of the cats was startled by a window being blown open in the heavy winds, "and I went down to find Malcolm/Charlie scared out of his wits apparently trying to get through a closed front room window, a stupid occupation." Well quite.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff writes to Ida while she's away at Portpatrick . He's just got in from cricket, has a stew heating to warm him up and was very pleased to see her letter.
He met with friends at the cricket and "lashings of chocolate circulated."
Brahms is creating "rich and rare sounds" in duet with the bubbling of the stew on the stove.
He discusses cricket and chess plans, and will drop by to see her family. "I have half a month's ration of tea for [Mrs Anderson] so that should do for the tea problem, yes? I have my emergency card, and will take a few more scraps that might be surplus by the end of the week." Very kind of you, Griff.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff thinks he has left the letter he previously wrote to Ida on the counter at the tobacconist's shop. Or at home. Either way, he hopes it can finds its way to her.
He's on his way to buy sandwiches for a cricket match.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

A gorgeous little declaration from Ted Taylor, one of Ida Carroll's early boyfriends.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 MISC
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff writes to Ida while she is away, updating her on friends he's visited and her family.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff informs Ida that "Vincent Billington goes for his medical on 18 August. He is hoping to get in the Preston concerts. I certainly think he won't get called up in two weeks, but I suppose one never knows." He remembers that "Vincent had his bass bow stolen" from the bus to Blackpool, which meant he had to sit out of playing with a youth orchestra "for he would neither beg nor borrow."
Someone seems to have pretty much skimmed the top of their thumb off, "he seems to have a positive genius for wounding himself." And re relays that Frederick Moore of the Royal Academy of Music and friend of the Northern School of Music has died.
There is a new play by Ben Travers (Wild Horses perhaps?) and he wonders if Ida will go with him.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff hopes the weather is good for Ida while she's away at the Danskey Fete (anyone know what that could be?).
An acquaintance had asked both him and her sister Elsa about a house for sale down the road. It sounds like they weren't keen on her putting in an offer as "fortunately we were both wary and spoke disparagingly about the not-so-short to the good bus service." Another friend went along and "wanted to see No.9 Roseland where a Gentleman hit his housekeeper with a Blunt Instrument." Oh my.
He tells Ida that "I found H[ilda] H[ester] C[ollens] as well as ever but either she isn't well or is over-nervous. I think it is a lot of the first and some of the second." She thinks she may have to move closer to the Northern School of Music to continue to work (she was the founder and principal).
He updates her about admin and finance matters of the school including the "dim view" of the canteen's books where there is a deficit somehow.
All us well at her home and he "can recommend the latest lot of home-made cake, coconut and fruit."
He might go to the cricket or he may go to the Central Library but before any of that, he's off for a bath.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff assures Ida that while she is away, "everything was in good order at Glenluce" (her family's home). Her father seemed "quite bright" and they had tea in his room.
Perhaps there was some disorder, particularly "in the kitchen a great cake-baking took place. Every time you moved you kicked a tin, or put your hands in dough; or sometimes both together. Rods were produced to stick into the cakes and there were the usual consultations."
Updates her re friends and the Northern School of Music. He's been invited by the university football team to accompany them to Blackpool to watch a match "but I declined without regret."

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff updates Ida with her family activities whilst she is away. Her father is feeling better "and seemed very bright and cheerful when I left at 1030."
He advises her about travelling on the tube in London.
"I am quite looking forward to doing the music card index" for the Northern School of Music, he tells her.
He discusses the Hallé prospectus for the coming year and notes that there seems to be "neither a Muster or an Esquire in the whole bag of tricks" but that she is listed as "Carroll, Miss Ida."
He tells her that a boy from St. Ann's-on-Sea who can play concertos from memory has won a scholarship to the Royal Manchester College of Music at 13 years old. Probably David Wilde, who went on to teach at the college too.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff has had a Sunday nap, he tells Ida. (A nap sounds delightful right about now.)
He hopes to get tickets to the opera house to see a play and will try to get better than balcony as the actor Robert Lynn has a weak voice. He'll use the old swapped out tickets for the Terence Rattigan play next week.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff hopes that Ida's journey wasn't spoiled by the argumentative "crabby individual" on the train. He hopes she is now "in that ever so nice creaky bed" getting rest.
He updates her on Hilda Collens' activities who is finishing the reports for the NSM, and he's arranging work with Greyson's the printers.
"There were two or three callers of doubtful value and intention but I signed on a junior, piano," whose mother is eager for them to attend the NSM.
He's swapped tickets for the Opera House and is excited to see the Noel Coward play.
Her house, he tells Ida, was too quiet for her father Walter so he "requested Marie to kick up a row with her broom, brushes and so forth. Not once during the day, he said, did anyone use the cellar steps dropping a piece (or two) of coal on the way."

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Griff writes to Ida updating her on general news at home while she and her mum are holidaying in Scotland. Elsa, her sister, has been busy with the Joint Matriculation Board and has watered Ida's plants.

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

A speedy note to Ida from Griff confirming their concert tickets for the Opera House and telling her that he visited "your abode where everything was under control."

Ref: CARROLL/IGC/3 GG
With thanks to the Ida Carroll Trust
Date is unknown.

Part of the #NSM2020 project "A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music" supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.