大象传媒

It was June 23 1940 when it looked as if Hitler was going to invade England. The towns and villages around Hythe and Kent had already evacuated London. Myself and other children from Hythe and Dover were sent to Wales. We were sent on 23 June 1940 to Pembrokeshire.

We came by train to a village called Crymych after about 6 hours journey. We arrived about 7 in the evening. Each class was sent to a different village, one class was in Crymych, one class in Blaenffos and one class in New Chapel. My class went to a village called New Chapel and we were divided to farms and houses in the area.

I was taken to a place called Pen y Graig, Cilgerran and I walked 3 miles to New Chapel to school everyday. I was 12 on June 26 1940. We walked all the way to school and walked back. It was lovely we had the roads almost to ourselves because there was no traffic on the road.

Memories of school

Our school was in a place called the reading room where once a month the local judges met. There was no room for us in the village's Welsh school. On those days that we couldn't go to the reading room we did go to the Welsh village school.

The headmaster was called Mr Parry. In our homes people said, 'you are in Wales and you will have to speak welsh we won't speak english you will have to speak welsh'. We were taught in welsh and if we didn't understand they would say in english.

On the weekends we went to the village to play with our friends. I was in Cilgerran for 5 years and I remember my foster parents were very strict, we weren't allowed to go out anywhere without telling them. We had to be home for a certain time. They were responsible for us that's why they were so strict.

If we got on a bus to go to Cardigan on a day and somebody older than us came on the bus we had to give them our seat and we had to help elderly people to cross the road and we had to be truthful at all times.

On Saturdays we always went to Cardigan. We went to the pictures and got a bus home at night. Then on Sundays I had to go to Manor Deifi church in the morning and I was in the choir Sunday school in the afternoon and chapel in the evening; that was every week.

Every summer they had Camanfa Ganu in the chapel. All the Baptists came to Cilforian Chapel bettween Cilgerran and New Chapel.

When we were walking to school everyday we always stopped to talk to the local farrier, they were horse and cart days. At dinner times we had an hour for lunch and we went out on the street to play.

One day it was snowing and a car passed through the village, which was quite an event, and I picked up a snowball and threw it at the car. The driver stopped and took me to the school. He said, 'I've been all over Britain in my car and this is the first time anyone has thrown a snowball at me!' and I got a cane for that.

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