大象传媒

My sister Edna and I were evacuated to Chester when I was eight and she was eleven.

We arrived in Chester to find that all the other children had been allocated a family to stay with. However, the family we had been allocated to had gone away due to a family crisis.

A local lady called Mrs Dutton came to our rescue. She was passing by and saw us sitting on our luggage with our gas masks round our necks. She felt so sorry for us, that even though she had no beds for us, she decided to take us in. We had to sleep on a mattress balanced on four tea chests!!

We called Mrs Dutton 'Granny' and Mr Dutton 'Grandad', they had a daughter we called 'Aunty Dolly' and her husband was called 'Uncle Sam'. Next door to them, lived 'Granny and Grandad Pinnington' (Mrs Dutton's parents.

Grandad Pinnington had a wood yard and made up bundles of wood for sale, including shavings for a penny!

Uncle Sam had a fruit and veg shop, and travelled to Liverpool every couple of weeks in his horse and cart to sell his goods.

One week I went along with him and he fetched me a doll with no eyes from a skip! It was on Church Street, at the back of Woolworths. The funny thing was, I did not even realise I had just visited Liverpool. And only found out when we were half way back to Chester.

I loved my time in Chester, even though my sister Edna cried all of the time!

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