The return of the evacuee

In 1940 a little girl of about 6½ was put on a train with a whole crowd of other children and sent to live with strangers in the Lancashire countryside because Salford, with its docks and factories, was considered too dangerous a place for a child to live during the second world war. That little girl was my mother. Having first been placed with a lady she desribes as "rather cruel" and having spent a few weeks in a makeshift hospital in a big house because she was found to have measles (or something similar, she can't quite remember), she was eventually placed in Cockerham with a kindly spinster and her mother. Ever since I started hearing stories of Mum's evacuation, she has always spoken very highly of her carer, Miss Corless, with whom she is pictured above.

She lived in a one bedroomed house with this lady and her mother, quite a sacrifice for them to make. She was well cared for by them and also tells stories about Miss Corless's kindly sister and brother and niece, Molly. It must have been quite a wrench being uprooted like that at such a young age, but Mum has no memory of being unhappy.

When I was 10 years old, she took me to visit the family and although I don't remember much about it, I do remember liking Miss Corless very much and wondering how the three of them managed in such a tiny cottage. Miss Corless served us tea on china plates and told me how much I reminded her of Mum when she was little.

Today, 34 years on, I took Mum back to Cockerham for a visit. We went for lunch at the village inn and were served by a young man who sounded just like Vernon.

Mum couldn't remember exactly which cottage she had stayed in, but knew it was near the post office, so it was one of those cottages between Tom and the flag. Of course the family had long since gone.

There really isn't much there at all, not even a single solitary shop. Definitely no point in the Germans bombing here! Mum remembered there being a beach, so we went on there after lunch. It was what could only be described as bracing. Mum told us a story I'd never heard before, of how she had watched the other children jumping into the water here and she, not realising that you had to actually learn to swim, copied them. She says she would have drowned if Miss Corless's niece Molly hadn't rescued her.

So we have a lot to thank Molly for!

On the way home we called into Lancaster, where I did my teacher training 21 years ago.

There we found this cafe. Mum opted for the "Ugly" cupcake and Anni went for "Barbie Vanilla" ~ Quelle surprise! Tom, for once in his life, was actually full and stuck to hot chocolate. It was a most successful day out, apart from the bit where I was trying to get home and somehow ended up in Morecambe. Yep, I'm spatially dyslexic even with a sat nav! Happy days :)