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In Sept 1939 at the start of WW2 I was evacuated along with many other schoolchildren from Peckham SE London. I was initially billeted with a Mrs D Stacey of Church St, but I stayed mainly with a Mrs Hooper who was caretaker of a Church, St Martin’s I believe and the school opposite. We lived in the school house and this is where most of my memories are.

Mrs Hooper used to take me into the church where I had to wear a hat, help dust the pews and polish the brasses and generally be her little helper. She would take me around the school to light fires on cold winter mornings which were in each classroom. They were black round belly-top type fires, also in the winter down in the scullery. Mrs Hooper put a big pot on the stove full of milk and the schoolchildren lined up with their mugs and had a mug of hot milk to warm them up — I would be in the queue also.

I remember one occasion (only one) when I was very naughty! I had a dolls pram which had a very deep bottom and in the school was the most beautiful huge doll’s house (it looked huge to me) filled with furniture and fittings, every little girl’s dream. I was a poor motherless little girl from a poor home and had never seen anything like it before. In I went with pram emptied a room of furniture into my pram and then out back to school house. I didn’t have it for long though. I was playing with the schoolchildren and of course all the furniture was found. It was put back intact but I was told off and put to bed early. I can remember being so upset — it never happened again.

Another memory was eating rabbit pie and rabbit stew which was delicious I can still taste and smell it to this day and see it on the plates steaming hot!

The only downside of this was seeing dead rabbit’s in the outhouse, hanging up with and without their skins — this made me cringe, but still didn’t put me off rabbit pie! I don’t know how long I was in Liskeard for. I do know there was a lull in the war and we were sent back to London, later sent to Wales until the end of the war.

Strangely I have not happy memories of Wales because I was happiest in Cornwall.

I think the late Mrs Hooper and anyone else involved in giving me these memories, loving me and making a little girl very happy. My one regret is that I didn’t do this earlier and meet Mrs Hooper again.
Through difficult circumstances and home conditions this wasn’t to be, I hope these memories make amends.

I was 4 ½ in Sep 1939

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