St. Anthony’s alumni, Robert Barclay has found his old school exercise book being auctioned for thousands of pounds after a chance encounter with Linda McCartney in his mother's antique shop, Hampstead Antique Emporium. Linda McCartney along with the band members of Crosby, Stills and Nash were in his mother’s shop in Heath Street, where he would head to at the end of his day at school. After his school exercise book, which he had been using as a notebook for his guitar lessons, had been autographed by the famous group Linda then offered to take it home for her husband Paul McCartney to sign as well.

Some months later the guitar book was posted back to Mr Barclay on which Paul McCartney had autographed the front cover and written inside the book the lyrics and chords for an original song, Pensioner’s Waltz. He had also drawn a picture of an apple and this was coloured in green felt pen. The song is thought to have been written for but finally omitted from the Beatles legendary ‘White Album’, thus was destined to be forgotten having never been recorded by the band.

Rather comically 10 year old Robert, little realising what his notebook would be worth in later years, one morning bored and day dreaming not only traced over the autograph but also defaced the cover of the book with a transfer of a cow and a milkmaid, both of which had fallen out of a packet of Frosties.

The notes have changed hands since and have now gone under the hammer again in New York in a sale organised by  Julien’s auction house, allowing buyers to bag a unique piece of musical history, albeit an expensive one. The higher guide price range was estimated at $60,000.