大象传媒

I and my brothers had just returned to school, St Mary of the Angels, or the Friary asa we called it, after the summer holidays. The priests of the Franciscan order were based at the church.
I only vaguely remember being told by our teachers that we would all be going to stay in North Wales for a while. We were told to go home andtell our mums and dads tht we would need a suitcase or pillowcase,which we had to take to school on a certain day. I think we were given a list of hat we needed- clothes,etc.

At first my mum said we wouldn't be going with the other children to Wales as some friends in Ireland had said they would take us. However, we insisted on going to Wales with the other children.We assembled at the Boys'School one morning, and eventually, after having labels tied to our arms,with our names and addresses on them of course,we were taken to Lime Street Station by bus and started off on our journey to this far-off country of Wales. The journey seemed to go on for ever. We were each given a brown paper carier bag containing, as far as I can remember a packet of biscuits, a large bar of chocolate and i think a tin of corned beef. Very strange! We eventually came to a place, by which time it was very dark as lighting had to be blacked out. It was rather frightening when I think back. I was always a child who clung to my mum and wouldn't normally let her out of my sight. The station turned out to be Denbigh and we were taken to a school there, where it sseemed lots of local people were waiting to look us over and persuade us to go to say with them. One thing mother had said was that we mus stay together no matter what.

Our ages were me,Eileen aged eight, my brother Bill aged ten and my brother John aged six. After some persuasion we went with some people to a place called Cefn near St Asaph. It turned out to be the private estate of Sir Robert Williams-Watkyn Wynn and his wife and family. The Big Housse was called Plas-y-Cefn. It was a lovely estate when I recall it now, but at the time I don't think I appreciated how lucky we were. ( I still have some letters from Lady Wynn written to mum.) My brother Bill was billetted with a Mr and Mrs Gwyllum Jones and the had a son Gwyllum of the same age. My younger brothr went to stay with a Mr and Mrs Foulkes and family. He was the gamekeeper and John was not very appy there so eventually went to live with a family of children who lived for a time in some rooms over the stables at Plas Cefn. they were looked after by a Miss Rose Lawlass who was one of the many people who volunteered to go as helpers and care for the children. Eventually Lady Wynn found a cottage for them where they had a bit more room and freedom. I swent to live with a Mr and Mrs Dickinson and their son Edgar who eas at university but who enlisted in thge RAF and became a pilot. I think he was killed on one of his first flights. The Dickinsons' cottage was attached to the kennels where the hunting hounds were kept. I was terrified of them although they were only let out when there was a hunt, and looking back I think they were really lovely animals. Mr Dickinson had the red coat and black velvet hard hat which I was allowed to brush and also the hunting horn which I got to polish when thee was a hunt, which seemed to b e every week or so at that time of year.

I think my brother Bill and I were only there for about three months as we were both chesty children and the good folk couldn't cope with us, so Lady Wynn arranged for us to go to convalescent homes in Rhyll where we stayed until 1943. I remember being driven in the Daiamler and not being very happy about it. I think those years were the longest of my life. I never stopped wanting to come home and pleaded with my mum nad dad, whenever they could visit to take me home with them, but our home was bombed out and they were living on a farm in Haskayne mear Ormskirk.

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