Home Front Recall -
Evacuees Reunion
25th November 2005
More photos
from the day click here>>>
And it snowed.......On the 25th November
The Sleeping Giant Foundation, with sponsorship from
The Big Lottery Fund, hosted an Evacuees Reunion at
the Abercrave Miners' Welfare Hall. Thankfully all the
people who had long distances to travel arrived on the
Thursday as on Friday morning we were greeted by the
sight of our valley covered in a blanket of snow. This
did not seem to daunt the 90 plus guests who came from
as far afield as Birmingham, Liverpool, London, Southampton
and Canada, for the Home Front Recall - Evacuees Reunion.
If anything the snow made the day more special with
the sunlight sparkling and the sky an alpine blue.
During the latter half
of WWII many children from the bigger cities such as
London, Birmingham, Southampton and Swansea, were evacuated
to the communities of the upper Swansea valley to keep
them safe from German bombings. These children, many
as young as 3 years old, were separated from their parents
and transported to South Wales where they were welcomed
into homes and the community. Many children found the
time spent in the valley a magical one and some never
did return to their parents. Others still have close
ties to the valley and have either returned at a later
date or visit regularly. 'It was a very close-knit community,'
said Bill Don from Liverpool, ' what I found was so
nice about here was the people and the kindness of them.
That was really great.' Bill and his wife Alice celebrated
their 50th wedding anniversary this year. They met whilst
Bill was posted to Sennybridge for National Service
and Alice was living as an evacuee in Abercrave.
More
photos from the day click here>>
The day was full of
old friends meeting and reminiscing about past times.
The hall was decked out with bunting and flags and many
old photos and school records were on display to jog
the memory. Exhibitions were by The Sleeping Giant Foundation
Oral History Project and Theatr
na n'Og. Thanks to South
Wales Borderers Museum for the loan of many artefacts
which contributed to the wonderful atmosphere. Lunch
was provided by Pilgrims
Tearooms of Brecon and the evening buffet by Occasions
Catering, Ystradgynlais.
After lunch, guests
were treated to entertainment by Simone and Gloria,
who in period dress sang songs from the era. Reverend
Alun Brookfield acted as a superb MC making sure that
everyone's story was heard. Although the big band The
Merlinaires couldn't make it because of the snow, Brian
and Caroline, a dance demonstration duo, arrived in
the nick of time and entertained us in the afternoon
and evening with dances from the period. Those that
braved the freezing conditions returned for the evening
entertainment dressed in the spirit of the occasion
and a Christmas quiz got everyone in the mood for the
forthcoming festive season.
But the most moving
parts of the day were the stories and memories that
all the guests brought with them, the re-unions, the
feats of hardship and of love. This is what we were
celebrating, that after all that they had experienced,
these are some of the most grateful, humorous, generous
and warm hearted people that you can meet.
Thanks to all who worked
so hard to make this day the success it was despite
the adverse weather conditions, especially to Maureen
Mountford, Carol Morley and Bill Toye for decorating,
cleaning, and acting as a taxi service, Iwan, Sian-Angharad,
Tristian and Eleanor for filming at short notice and
Beryl (MU) and Iris (WI). But special thanks go to Christine
Thomas who provided the energy and enthusiasm in contacting
the evacuees and pulling the whole thing together and
Cynthia Mullan who was the inspiration and the driving
force behind the project.
There will be a DVD
of the day available shortly which is being produced
in collabotation between The Sleeping Giant Foundation
Media Studio and students from the Department of Film
and Media at the University of Wales Lampeter.
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Abercraf in the snow
Guests being entertained
over lunch
Simone singing songs
from the era
Evening party
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