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Iconic: Poet Roger McGough with the framed trousers

Poet Roger McGough, presenter of BBC Radio 4 programme Poetry Please, says the most valuable gift he ever received was a pair of Paul McCartney's old trousers. 

The 83-year-old says he was given them by McCartney's brother Mike when they were part of pop group The Scaffold. 

He has now written a poem about the trousers and turned them into a work of art on canvas. 

His latest book, Safety In Numbers, a collection of funny and moving poems about lockdown, will be published on Thursday. He is married to Hilary Clough, a scientist, and lives in Barnes, South West London. 

What did your parents teach you about money? 

Not a lot. I probably inherited a fear and mistrust of it from them. They never had any money. My dad worked on the docks in Liverpool, eventually becoming a foreman. He worked hard and died young – in his 50s – like so many men of his generation. 

My mother worked in a sausage factory and at a laundry. We never owned a house or went on holiday – we couldn't afford it. 

More than anything, my parents taught me about the value of education. My mother in particular, who was extremely bright, saw education as key and made sure I went to a decent school on a scholarship. I then went to university on a grant. 

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet? 

No. After university, I became a teacher and started writing poetry in my spare time. I made friends with other poets such as Adrian Henri and Brian Patten and started doing poetry readings around Liverpool. 

Then I met John Gorman and Mike McCartney, Paul's brother, and we formed The Scaffold. We used to do comedy. The next thing we knew we received an offer to go on television and do a weekly comedy show. 

Then we started writing songs and had hits called Thank You Very Much and Lily The Pink, which got to number one in the charts. So I only spent four years as a teacher and then I quit. 

At the time it was a risk as I didn't know what would happen. But, since I packed in teaching, I've never earned a monthly wage – and I wouldn't say I have ever struggled financially. 

Did you make a lot of money as a pop star? 

No, but I did have a lot of fun. Jimi Hendrix played on our albums, Tim Rice produced our records and we recorded at Richard Branson's manor house in Oxfordshire. 

Suddenly, from being a part-time poet and teacher, I was faffing around, living what seemed to be the high life. It was great – we went touring around the country and I made enough money to put down a deposit to buy a nice house in Liverpool. 

But, in that industry the money you get just sort of disappears. So many people take a cut: the managers, the rights people. I wonder where they are now.

What was the best financial year of your life? 

I am not sure exactly, but it would have been in the 1970s when I stopped singing and dancing and got back to just writing poetry – which is what I really wanted to do. 

By then, the Mersey Sound had been published – an anthology of poems I wrote with Brian and Adrian – which has sold more than a million copies. I had the freedom to say no to gigs if I wanted to and I could make money doing what I loved doing, which was writing. And that's what I have done ever since.

What is the most valuable thing you've been given? 

Paul McCartney's old stage clothes. In the early days of The Scaffold, I didn't have many cool clothes because I'd been living on teachers' wages. So Mike gave me his brother's old stage clothes – two pairs of trousers, a shirt and a suit – which Paul didn't need and had given to him. 

About four years ago, I found the trousers and the shirt in my attic. Sadly, the moths had gotten to the trousers, all around the crotch. 

So I decided to make them into framed works of art. I had the trousers put on a canvas and I wrote a poem called Macca's Trousers. 

Now it is hanging in a local museum. I should think one day, if I ever get really hard-up, I could sell them – with Paul's permission, of course. There must be someone out there who would buy an old pair of Macca's trousers.

In good company: Roger McGough with Paul McCartney in 1974

What is your biggest money mistake? 

The American company that was making the iconic, animated film of Yellow Submarine invited me to rewrite the dialogue to make it more 'Liverpool'. 

Initially, all the characters sounded like Woody Allen talking to Steve Martin. I agreed to do it for a minimal fee. I didn't even get a credit. That was a mistake. It could have led to other opportunities.

The best money decision you have made? 

Buying my home in Barnes, South West London. It's a big four-bedroom house in a nice, quiet neighbourhood and we've been here for 30 years. 

I think I paid £300,000 for it. It's definitely gone up in value. Barnes has become quite a trendy and expensive place to live. 

But mainly it's my best money decision because it's important to me to own my own home. My mum and dad never did. 

Do you save into a pension? 

No. I wasn't really thinking about my retirement when I was young. I focused on paying off my mortgage. If I had stayed in teaching, I'd have got a full pension. 

Instead I get a minimal payment of £100 a week plus my state pension. My books and writings are my pension. I earn money from royalties and new books I write. 

Do you invest directly in the stock market? 

No. I've never wanted to. I don't know why exactly. I've just never been interested. I'm quite cautious with my money. 

If you were Chancellor, what is the first thing you'd do? 

I would offer more funding to libraries and give a tax break to independent bookshops that are struggling on the high street. I think that would level the playing field as they try to compete with Amazon and the supermarkets. 

I would also be in favour of a pandemic support fund for struggling writers and authors. 

What is your number one financial priority? 

My family. I want to make sure my four kids and three grandchildren are all right and can get on the housing ladder.