- Contributed by听
- jenniferanneevans
- People in story:听
- Clifford Evans
- Location of story:听
- Great Urswick - Cumbria
- Background to story:听
- Civilian
- Article ID:听
- A3189710
- Contributed on:听
- 27 October 2004
My sister and I were evacuated in late September 1939. We lived almost in the centre of Ordsall in Salford quite close to the docks. We were the 2 youngest of 6 children, 3 of our older brothers went into the armed services, all surviving the war, and the remaining brother was involved in making munitions. My sister was 9 and I was nearly 5 (d.o.b 1934) and we were first billeted together in Bardsea across the bay from Morecambe but didn鈥檛 last long before being moved inland to the village of Great Urswick. It was to be that we would live next door to one another there, but the hospitalization of a child of the family I was going to, meant me moving 200 yards to another family living on the edge of the village and later I elected to stay there during the whole of our evacuation.
I really enjoyed the completely different life in the village helping my new 鈥 father鈥 with the cows on the several dairy farms in Urswick, and catching rabbits with ferrets and snares for the pot. There were no young men in the village all had joined the services. We came home to Salford for one visit and spent most of the time in the air raid shelter as our visit coincided with the Manchester Blitz, a whole block of houses within 50 yards of our house was destroyed by bombs. We were sent back to Urswick very quickly.
After arriving for one of their visits my parents were quite concerned to see me, then about 6 years old, hefting a big stick moving a herd of cows from one farm to another, not a sight seen often in the middle of Ordsall.
My bedroom had a skylight in the roof which faced west towards Barrow in Furness and whenever there was an air raid I would stand on my bed and watch the planes, bombs, guns and search lights 10 miles away.
We could walk over a hill called Green Pad and arrive at the sea at Bardsea, stopping on the top of the hill at a site to collect clips and pins from hand grenades used in practice by the Home Guard. The whole village celebrated part of Easter on top of Green Pad whilst the children played at 鈥榩ace egging鈥.
We eventually came home in 1944.
Clifford Evans
Marple Bridge
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