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Mum and Dad lived in Wallasey with my older brother Ken. Mum worked as a receptionist for a dentist in Rodney Street, Liverpool. "Uncle Frank" was the Dental Technician, he had four daughters, Olwen 13, Marjorie 12, Barbara 10, and Audrey 4. He and his wife then had a baby boy (Peter) and when he was about 4 months old his Mother died. Their maternal Grandmother said she would have the baby but not the girls. Rather than put the girls in a Home (which happened in those days), my Mum and Dad moved in with Uncle Frank Jones at Grove Street, Liverpool 7 to look after the girls and my brother Ken.
Subsequently Mum had 4 girls starting with me in April 1935, Margaret in May 1937 and Pamela in March 1939, and Beryl in March 1945.
Dad was an A.R.P. Warden, Uncle Frank was in the N.F.S., Mum naturally gave up work to look after all the children and the men. By 1939 the two oldest girls were working, and all the school age children were evacuated to Chester, Ken being a Sherlock, was sent to a different address from the others (Jones's). I was evacuated with my Mum and two younger sisters to Tarvin and Tarporley. I was 4, Margaret 2 and Pamela a few months old.
After a few months we were walking along a country lane and I became aware that my Mum was crying. I asked her what was wrong, she said 'Nothing'. We then saw a sign which said 'Pears for Sale', the baby was taken out of the pram, Margaret taken off the end and the well of the pram was filled with Pears. We were all given one (except the baby) and Mum seemed a lot happier. I asked Mum if she had been crying because we were hungry, to which she replied 'No'. I found out in later years it was because she wanted to go home.
She decided to go home on a visit to see how the Men were coping. The lady we were staying with asked her not to go because it was not safe for the 3 little ones in Liverpool City Centre. Mum said she would leave the pram (a Silver Cross) there and we would have to come back. She never went back, so never saw the pram again.
Shortly afterwards, without my knowledge, Mum decided I was old enough to be evacuated again. I was taken by her to Chester and remember sitting on her knee in a room being 'viewed' by at least a dozen ladies. One of them said that she would have me, but I saw the ladies' children playing out in the front and noticed they had big holes in their socks, so I screamed and kicked and shouted and said I didn't want to go with her. Mum took me home again. One of the other ladies in the room felt sorry for me. She already had a 13 year old from Garston plus two girls of her own who were working. She decided she would find room for me and contacted a lady living in the same road who was looking after Audrey, Barbara and Peter. I was then taken back to Chester by my Dad, along with my younger sister Margaret. Memories of going to Chester with Mum prompted me to ask Dad if he was going to leave me there, to which he replied 'No of course not', but he did! I was heartbroken, mostly because Dad told me a lie. Mrs Randles tried to placate me by saying that Audrey, Barbara and Peter were only over the road - over the road in Liverpool was literally over the road, where we were it seemed like a mile away. I don't remember seeing much of them while I was staying there as Mrs Connor - their Carer - didn't really like visitors. Mrs Randles and family took me to Llandudno for a week every summer, and periodically I came back to Liverpool to visit my family. I didn't come back to live permanently in Liverpool until I was 10, and this was quite traumatic. Mrs Randles and Mum went into the sitting room and both came back very upset. I was later to find out that the Randles wanted to adopt me but my Mum refused.

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