Still a schoolgirl I made my first visit to the Royal Festival Hall on the last day of the wonderful, lauded and controversial Festival of Britain.  My friend and I were a little late, but had to stop running for the entrance during the playing of the National Anthem.  Everything inside the Hall was magical; we were in awe.  After obeying the get to your seats 5 minute 'boing' for the first time, we sat in the cheapest seats behind the Orchestra and fell in love with the young brilliant conductor Guido Cantelli, a protege of the great Toscanini.  The Orchestra was the Philharmonia perhaps newly formed.  I visited the Hall over the next few weeks experiencing music from a vast swathe of composers.  It was a time I shall always remember with gratitude.  I have loved the RF Hall ever since and still feel at each visit an enduring affection.