My father, Stephen Shears, who has died aged 70, was an incredibly talented piano tuner. He was always in great demand all over the UK and was renowned for his old school ability to tune by ear, a skill gradually being replaced by the use of mobile apps.
Over the years he tuned pianos in every conceivable setting, from a box trailer towed behind a car to the grotto at Stourhead House in Wiltshire. He would drive long distances to fulfil jobs and on one occasion undertook a four-day round trip from his base in West Pennard, Somerset, all the way to Inverness.
