Evacuee

I was evacuated to Borth in 1944 from London. I woke up in the morning in an air raid shelter in Shepherds Bush and went to bed in Benfleet, Borth having been taken in along with my brother by Mrs Bennet who owned the Grand Hotel. I lived in Borth with Mrs Bennet until I was 13 and came to love the village and its surroundings. Sadly for me, when I last visited three years ago it was clear that Borth is no longer the place I knew and loved so much, but that is progress I suppose. Yet the memories of Les Mathews, Trevor the Butcher, Aeron Morris the greengrocer, Mrs Galloway the toy shop, Mr Bowen the chemist and Sgt Davis who caused me to be sent back to London after seven years for taking two tins of condensed milk, the highest price anybody ever paid for such as that. Still, I have many wonderfull memories of Borth, for me as a boy it was a magic place.