From the RATHBONE, to the finale time of Ran's, and mine, of moving around the country, to a place that became the best years of MY CHfLDHOOD. THE PLACE.?

TANCWAREL FARM, in a village called BRONANT fifteen miles out side of ABERYSTWYTH, Ran and I with the rest of the evacuees, about a dozen of us arrived at BRONANT SCHOOL, there were men and women waiting for us to arrive, we were handed a bowl of COWL (leek soup,) Ran and I nearly got split up, but for the woman who changed her mind, said she would take the two of us, don't know what time it was when we left, but it was dark and a clear sky, I had never seen so many stars before, we seem to have been walking for ages when a shape of a building could be seeu against the sky line, and dogs barking in the distance, a short time later two dogs came running up waging their tails, and jumping up at the woman, at last we arrived at TANCWAREL FARM, a big wooden front door, inside a slate floor, a room with a table in the middle, on the table a paraffin lamp, sitting on the couch ,a man who looked old, wearing a greasy trilby hat, a lovely fire burning on the floor, stoked with peat, you could sce the stars if you looked up the chimney, a kettle hanging from a chain, ("Crane," the proper name.) over the fire, The woman's name was ELIZABETH MORGAN, the man on the couch was, MOSES MORGAN, (UNCLE AND NIECE) we called them AUNTY and UNCLE, the dog's names, MOTT and JUDY. Aunty put a pan of milk on the fire, cut a couple of rounds of bread, and two lumps of cheese, she poured the milk into cups, the last time we had eaten anything, was,( not including the bowl of soup.) when we change trains, and had a sandwich and a cup of tea at, SHREWSBURY.

When we finished are supper, Aunty told us to say "Good Night" to Uncle Moses which we did, he replied with a, "NOS DA (GOOD NIGHT.) The house had threc bed room's, and three rooms down stairs, the room where we had our supper, another room with a milk churn, (to make butter and cheese) also a machine to skim the fresh milk, we kept the cream, gave thc skimmed to the calves, thcse things all had to be turned by hand, we made our way to the stairease which was situated in the hall way, and started to climbed the stairs, Aunty said "No not up there" and pointed to a room in the hall way, wc entcred, there was a double bed and a chair, on the chair sat a candle on a saucer, also two or three bags of cattle Cake under the window. Wc put our pyjamas on, and climbed into bed. Aunty told uS to get out of bed, we did, she then told us to kneel down , and put our hands together she said "Now say the LORD'S PMYER And ask God to kcep your Mother and Father safc," Shc left the room, a few moments later she returned wcaring a nightdress, the candle still burning, she blew the candle out, then told me to move over, next thing she is in the middle of me and Ran. And it stayed that way, till we returned back home (To this day, I still say my Prayers).

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Next morning we were out of bed very early, Aunty and Uncle were already up, I asked Aunty were the toilet was, and told us to follow her wc went outside pass the Barn, pass the Pig Sty, down a bit of a slope to the Hen Shed, she Pointed to the ground, thc shcd was cmpty all the hen's were running around in thc field, I ask her for some paper to wipe our bum, she walked away, came back a cou plc of seconds later, she handed us a bunch of leaves then left. We did our business, and returned to the farm house, I then ask her where the tap and sink was, to get a wash, she put a tin bowl on the table, took the kettle off the cha in hanging ovcr the fire, poured the water into the bowl, It was to hot, she picked up a bucket of watcr and poured some in the bowl till it was cool cnough to get a wash, when we had finishcd, the table was cleared, a plate each of two eggs and bacon, mushrooms, and Homc Made Bread, plus a cup of chocolate made with milk, what we had for breakfast, we had every morning, some times the eggs were boiled, Our diet was eithcr chicken, rabbit, bacon, cheese and bread, all vegetables wcrc home grown evcn though we had three cows and thirty sheep, we never had any red meat, 01'

fish ,at any time, Aunty told us that Uncle, could not speak English. She then said. "Off to School now" .

So to our first day at school, the samc road wc had taken the previous night, in daylight, thc road looked different, hedges on both sidcs, fields full of shcep, cattle, and rabbit's. After walking about ten minuets we approached a farm I didn't sec the night before on the way to Tancwarel, two Brothers, Moses, and John Davics lived there. 'Ve carried on for anothcr twenty minuets, and fmally came to the School, I kncw somc of boy's by sight from the Rathbone, and two that I did know, Gcorge and Kenneth, Morton around my age, nine or ten years old they also had a younger brother, Allan he was Ronald' s agc five or six, I don't know how many evacuees there were but thc class room was divided in half. The Welsh childrcn in one half, the English in thc other. How any tcaching was ever done I wouldn't know, Wclsh spoken in onc half, and English in the other, I do rcmember rcading to the class, "Treasure Island" I think it was. There was a Wood Pigeon nest, in one of the trces in the playground, Ron and I went very early to school one morning, I climbed the tree, and took a fledgling from the nest, I stuffed it in my shirt, till the end of school time, and took it to farm. That bird was still thcre; thrce ycal's later when I lcft Tancwarel, in Nineteen Forty Four.

I know Ron wasn't at school for long, after a visit from the School Nurse. The Nurse, she was there to give the evacuees a medical chcck ovcr. Shc told the Headmaster, Ronald had Scabies, he handed me a note, written in Welsh, I was told to give it to Aunty, shc told lIle, what the note was all about. Ronald was not to attend school. Evcry night Ron and I had a Sulphur Soap Bath. In front of the fire. I wasn't long after Ron, attending that School. One day the evacuces were clearing the grass area in the school ground, and for somc reason, Kenncth Morton, and I werc knocking Seven Bells out of each other, I think it was because, both of us wanted to have thc wheelbarrow, and that

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may have well been the reason , why I was transferred to another school, I will never know, or may be it was over mc, raiding the Wood Pigeon's Nest

I ended up going to a School five miles away, to a village called, LIedrod.

I didn't know a soul there, or what part of the country the evacuees came from. Having a check OVCl· by the Nurse in Bronant, here it was the Dentist turn, even Ron had to attend, and he didn't even attend the school, I don't why we had to see the dentist we were not in any pain. We were told to sit on the bench, in the IJallway, then enter the empty class room, when your name was called, the child would enter, and the crying could be heard, after a few moments, that child would come out, and sit on the bench again, then another name would be called, and the same thing happened, as with the first one going in, this went on till three children had been through the same routine, then the first one, was the first again, but it was not the crying this time, it was the screaming, every child that went in after getting the Cocaine injection, screamed with pain including myself, I think Ron was lucky, or may be, he was to young. I wouldn ' t know if any of the local Welsh children went through the same torture, the screaming of the children could be heard in thc Playground. I think we were GUINEA PIGS. Another time when I had to sec a medical person, was when I was playing in the school yard, when I felt something between my thighs I went to the toilet and put my hand up my short pants (no underpants) and touched what felt like a piece of string, dangling from my bottom, I pulled on it, and it felt as if I had broken it, I put it in the palm of my hand, it was pure white, I showed it to the lady teacher who was in the playground, she gave me a note, to give to Aunty, also the white piece of string. Next morning Aunty took me to sce the doctor in Tregaron (about ten miles away) he looked at the white thing, said something to Aunty, I don't know what was said as it was all in Welsh , later on I found out it was a Tape Worm. He gave me some pills to take, never had any problems since.

To get to LLEDROD I had to catch the bus at Paddington, half a mile from Uronant, at eight thirty (outside the school I was barred from) that' s after walking about twenty minuets . At Lledrod the English and Welsh mixed, we learnt Welsh and they English, my bus back to Bronant was due around four pm, one day for some reason I missed it, of all days why that day, it was raining cats and dogs, thunder and lightning, I was ten years old, and five lrules to walk very little traffic so no chance of a lift, the only thing that passed me, and it was going in the opposite direction was a pOlice car, I could tell, it had a blue light on the roof. About ha lf a mile from Bronant there was a farm called " Navy Hall Farm," the biggest farmland in Brona"t. It was supposed to be haunted, accordin g to the locals. As I approached the farm, I Ran Like A Bat Out Of Hell, as if the devil was after me, and I never stopped till I reached the village store, waiting for me was Aunty, she put her arms around me and said " '",here have you been Cariad" ("Love" in

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Welsh) I told her, that I had missed the bus. She said, "you are not going to that school again" and I didn't. Ron was glad I didn't go; he was on his own all day.

Mam and Dad visited us a couple of times, one time when they came they took Ron and I to Aberystwyth, we must have gone by bus, they ran about four times a day, when we arrived, we had a meal, from there the four of us went on board a boat, with other people. After cruising for about fifteen minuets, we stopped, and everyone was given a fishing rod with bait, then we all cast our lines, everyone aboard must have caught at least a dozen Mackerel I don't know what we did with them. After the fishing episodc. Dad took us to an arcade, he must have went through a bit of cash, we never won a sausage, the chap must have felt sorry for us, and gave Dad a Tea Spoon, with Aberystwyth on the handle, we had that spoon well after the war, don't know what became of it. When we came out of the arcade it was black, no lights because of the Black Out, I haven't a clue where we stayed the night, it might have been in a B & B or a Hotel, can't think how we got back to Tancwrel,.

Every time our parents paid us a visit, Aunty would ask Sian, a girl from a farm about a mile away, to clean the house up, I don't think she cleaned up stairs, me and Ron never ventured up there it was to dark. One time Dad, Ron, and myself was in the hay lield, Mam came from somewhere off the farm, "Dickie." she said to Dad. (no one could call me that, it had to be Richard) "Do you know how many fleas I caught in the boys bed?" "No" said Dad, "How many?" "TLIirteen" she replied, "There not heat lumps our Richie has, they are Bloody Flea Bites". One time I woke up in the middle of the night with a bloody sound in my ear, that sounded like I had a Bee in it, Buzzing away like mad, trying to get ont, Aunty woke up, ask what was wrong I told her, she got out of bed came back with a cup with a drop of water in it, and poured some in my ear, the bUlzing stopped then said. " It was only a flea." When a flea did bite me, it came np like a heat lump, and it itchcd like hell, if Ron had been bitten, it was just a rcd spot, and not itchy.

Where Mum and dad stayed when they visited us is a puzzle, there wasn't any B&B, no pnbs, they must have made their way hack to Aberystwyth, can't remember how long they stayed for, I thinl< it was only a day or two, because they had to get back to work, the same could be said for Annty Olive, when she visited ns, and took me to the Pictures in Aberystwyth, to see, a Charlie Chaplin, "The Great Dictator," I can't think of anything else of her visit, and a visit from Aunties brother, who was a Vicar in Cardiff, he only stopped for the day.

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Mam must have got over the Fleas episode, she wrote to Grandma, saying Ron and I looked well, (I still have the card she sent her). The farm life was good, summer or winter, in the winter months there was very little to do, the three of us playing Dominoes, Ron, Aunty and I, in front of roaring peat fire, with a cup of hot milk, and homemade bread and cheese, the spring was different, sheep being Branded, Lambs being born, hens sitti ng on the eggs, and maybe a calf wanting milk, all the wild birds making their nest, no school, life was great, I think Ron was glad never went to school. he must have felt lonely, with .just Aunty and Moses around. Summer months, taking the sheep to the sheep dip, also the shearing of the sheep, the young lambs being castrated with a knife, then cauterised to stop the bleeding and infection. Families came from local farms, to help and cut the hay, the hay was cut in a circle, with a scythe, the men would surround the hayfield, and mcet in the centre, all the wild life in the hay would make their way nearer to the centre to be safe, so they thought, but on the last cut, they would shoot out every where, rats, and rabbits, the dogs were waiting for thcm, when it was all cut, the job now was, if it had rained and was wet, it was raked to dry out, but if it was dry, it was tied in sheaves, then arranged in threes, and standing them up to let air circle through, then next day loading the hay cart, then stacking them in thc hay shed for the winter. The summer had its bad times, if it didn ' t rain for a wcek, tlte Well would have dried up, to get water, we had to walk to the quarry, not far, ten minuets walk, it had a water hole, about four foot long, and two foot wide, and a foot in depth, Aunty, Ron, and I, took three buckets between us, Aunty two, Ron and lone, bctween us. Whcn wc arrived at the well, wc had to clear the alga off the face , underneath all this, were lizards, frogs, toads, water beetles, ncwts plus other wild life, the three buckets did not last long, I think it was two trips a day.

One thing we did look forward to was the Post Lady. Ron and I would be waiting for her, looking out of the kitchen window, we would see her coming across the fidd , she had to go to the Village first to pick up the post, then climb over styles and gatcs, before she came with our Comics, the Beano Film Fun, Dandy. Mam sent them every week. The Mortons knew about this, and when they saw the Post lady making her way to Tallewrel, they also knew what she was coming with, they would be right behind her, ten minuets later. This was every week, I never saw their parents, and I think they never ever visited them. After they had read the comics, they went back to their own farm. We had to pass the farmhouse where the Morton's lived, every time we went to the village or Chapel, and not once did we ever put a foot over their threshold, or ever speak to the occupants, and that includes Aun ty. On Sunday's we were never allowed to have the wireless on, couldn't whistle or sing, it wasn't aUowed, only in Chapel, but I did like going to Chapel, the singing was great, I didn ' t understand a word, but the Harmonizing was good to hear, and making our way back in tile autumn evening over stiles, throwing stones up in the air and watching the bats dive after them, onc Sunday evening it was raining, Aunty said it was to wet ("To Woo" as one owl said to the other) for Ron to go to chapel, so wc went without him. We didn't get to wet on arriving there, but, coming out of chapel it was throwing it down, a woman said something to Aunty, next thing I' m walking with this woman and a lad about same age as myself, and I finished up in their

house, she gave me some supper, then the lad and I went to bed, the sheets were lovely and white, and soft, I never realized how our bed was so much different, back on the farm. Next morning, after breakfast I made my way back to Tancwrel.

Moses Davis called one night, told Aunty that John (his brother) was sick. I Don't know if I was ask to go, but I joined them, and wc made our way to the farm, John was stretched out on the couch, he had the hiccups, Moses said that he had been doing that all day, Cl was beginning to understand the Welsh language better every day) Aunty said something to John, he didn't respond, he just lay there, it was very quiet, all that could be heard was the Crickets clicking away in the fire place, and John, hiccupping, John passed away in the early hours that morning. Aunty couldn't do anything, as she had to get back to milk the cows, feed the hens, and other things, Uncle wouldn't do anything to help out, Ron and I would clean the cow shed, the pig sty, and the hen shed. Aunty had another weekly job, and that was making the dough for the bread that would last all week, she would mix the nour, water, salt, and yeast, knead it in a big earthen ware bowl, cover it with a pillowslip, then leave it in front of the fire over night, next morning afte.- it had risen, it was placed in the pillowslip, slung over her shoulder, then taken to the village Bakery, and picked the loaves up the next day, four, over a foot (Twelve inches) long, I don't suppose she had that many to make before Ron and I came on the seene. In the summer evenings the three of US plus Mott and Judy, would go visiting to some farm, one farm in particular we called at, (Tancraig) had four children, one was my age, and one about Ron's age, (the other two a little older,) Ron and I sometimes use to go on our own and play with them, David was my age, he always had a bandage on his head, and the reason why, was, he had Ring Worm, so like me and Ron he never went to school, another farm we walked to wasn ' t very far from Moses and Johns farm, Fronfelen; Marie Evans; she lived on her own, she and Aunty would sit out side having a eup of tea, Ron and I plus the two dogs carried on walking, hoping to catch a rabbit or two.

One night a stranger called, at Tanewrel, said something to Aunty, she lit a hurricane lamp and they went out side, me, Ron and Moses followed them to the hay shed, the stranger threw a rope over a girder, then made his way to the pig sty, next thing we heard, was Po)·ky squealing like hell, he was getting dragged along by his back legs, the strange.· tied the back legs from the rope hanging down from the girder, and hauled him up, Porky was hanging upside down, still squealing, from his belt the man took a knife out, and slit Porky from its breast to its throat, Ron and I cried our eyes out, this was the Pig that wc knew as a piglet, and gave us rides on his back, we watched the man cut Porky in half, he carried one half to his wagon then left. Aunty poured kettles of boiling

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water over the other half, then shaved it, when this was done it was rubbed with salt, and left hanging there till the next day, then brought in and hung on a bar from the living mom ceiling, and that was our bacon for a year, and also for the Bluebottles, every time we had bacon, Aunty had to stand on a chair to cut some off. Each year she would buy a hen Turkey that had already been with a Cock Turkey, and she would lay fertile eggs, the trouble was, when she was like this, the job was finding the eggs, she laid them everywhere, the field, cow shed, barn, pig sty, we kept th e eggs till the time came when she wanted to sit on them. Aunty would put some false glazed eggs, on the noor ill the hen shed, and she would sit on these, until Aunty put the genuine ones, under, when they hatched, (about a dozen) there was a problem, some chicks would die, others became sick, Aunty would put capsules, (like the Cod Liver Oil capsules) down their throat, did that cure them? I don ' t know, but for a number of years after the war, Aunty sent a Turkey to Gloucester Place fOl' Christmas, and there weren't any fridges those days, it was still fresh, when it arrived.

One time Mam arrived on her own, the reason; she came to take us back home, I told her I didn ' t want to go home, Ron, Aunty, and I, were crying, in the end, she let me stay, and said she would be back for me, I was still crying when Ron left, I don't know how long I was after Ron, about six months I think, but I missed him. The Morton's had well gone before Ron, so I was the last one, of the evacuees. Mam came again months later ; it was just like the last time, the crying and the not wanting to go. Aunty gave me a pell and pencil set, plus the New Testament that she gave me when we first arrived at Tancwarel, I have no idea what happened to these gifts, like some other things they got lost, Ron and I were much closer to Aunty than to Moses because she looked after us, and if she went any where, we would be right behind her, if one of us got hurt she would give us a hug, and say "come here my love" (in Welsh), our mother would ncver have said that, it would be, "Don't be a cry a baby." Ron and I were Three years with Aunty, and Moses, we saw them all day, and most of the evening, Mam and Dad, about six "ours a day, bar the week ends, Saturday, after midday, Sunday, all day. No wonder we were closer to Aunty, and Uncle. The reason shc wanted me home, I was coming to the age of leaving school, fourteen. And ready for work. J cannot remember leaving Tancwarel for the last time; I was to upset thinking of never seeing Aunty, Mot or Judy, or Moses, and everything that I loved on the farm. I was being taken somewhere, where I never wanted to go. TANCWAREL WAS MY HOME.

The n ext time I saw Aunty was when I took the family on holiday there, in the nineteen sixties we stayed at Navy Hall Farm, the farm that was supposed to be haunted, the time when at the age of Ten 1 walked from L1edrod School, a five mile hike, one stormy day, twenty odd years ago. I took the family to Tanewarel, to show them where Ron and I were evacuated, Aunty was in the fiel.d, the One years a ago, where we once we reaped the hay, she had a dog with her, I gave her a hug, and I was about to kiss her on the cheek, but 1 couldn't, she had cancer of the face, she told me Moses had died , and she

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wasn't able to look after the farm, no cattle or sheep, and what hens she did have, a bunch of hippies stole them, wc never entered the farm house, the exterior hadn't changed, the cow shed was still there, the hay shed, pig sty, hen shed, they were gone, we didn ' t stay to long, I was to up set,(in fact I feci like crying now writing about it) ,we left the way we came, across the fields over the sHIes, that Aunty Ron, and I did, going to the village and Chapel, in the Nineteen Forties. My regret is I never told Aunty that I loved her for giving Ron and me a wonderful life whBe we were under her care. Ron went on holidays there a number of times, in his teens wit.h a mate, under Canvas. The last time I went to Bronant, was in Nineteen Eighty-nine, with an Evacuees Reunion, organized by a chap from Huyton, we all had to meet in the University of Aberystwyth at seven o-c\ock p m, when the wife (Ivy) and I arrived, there was quite a number of people already there, I didn't know any of them, tea and biscuits was laid on, and we were all told what was on the agenda for the week, a Parade, and going to Chapel to hear a Welsh Choir plus other things, Ivy and I made our way to the Hotel after a couple of drinks , and get ready for the next day..

Next morning we caught the bus to Bronant, (I packed up driving) on the way there I showed Ivy, Lledrod School, and told her about the day I walked from there to Bronant, five miles away, past the haunted farm, on a very stormy day. We arrived at Bronant, and was I in for a shock, what use to be a village store, with a post office, it had now become a Super Market, and on the opposite side, one time there wasn't any buildings, now there was a Petrol Station, the Blacksmith, and the Bakery had vanished, it was all very strange to mc, I went into the super market, and ask th e young girl behind the counter did she know David Jones, she said she did, I told her that my brother and I were evacuated here, In 1941, on a farm, called, "Tancwrel", she told me that a women named Williams who lived just a couple of doors away, that she and her sister and brother had evacuees when they had a farm, I thanked her, then we made our way to this Miss Williams, it was only about ten yards away. I knocked on the door and called, "Miss \Villiallls", the reply was, "Come In" (in welsh) we entered, sitting in a chair sat an old woman, the same woman, who with her other Sister and Brother, had the Morton's. I explained who I was, and about miss Morgan, and the Morton lads she didn't know what I was talking about. Then she began to tell me, that he.· brother died, and that she and her sister had to sell the farm, they took a house in the village, and that her sister had died a couple of yea rs later.

After a whBe, a woman's head poked around the door "It's only me. Oh! You have visitors?" She said, in Welsh, I told her why Ivy and I were here, about Miss Morgan and Moses. She said that she was the" Home Help", and then told me that Aunty had passed away a few years ago, she then ask me would I like to sec the Chapel, I said "yes" she handed me a key, and told me to lock the door when we left, it was only across the road, so Ivy and I made our way there, I unlocked the door and found to my surprise, it was exactly as it was when I was last there, in Nineteen Forty three, 1 cried my heart out,

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and started to re minisce, we always sat in the back Pew. I thought about the times going to Chapel and making our way back to Tancwrel, the war was a terrible thing, but to me, it didn ' t exist, I loved being evacuated, I locked the door behind us, then looked around the. Cemetery, it was small so it didn't take long to find the grave where the three Morgan's were buried, Moses, Elizabeth, and John, (Aunties Brother) they had all died in their Eighties, I was told that when Aunty died, all contents of the farm were auctioned to pay for the funeral, plus the head stone, we made our way back to the house to return the key, the home help was still there, she ask us what we were doing with the rest of the day, I said wc would go back to Aberystwyth, I asked her what was the transport like going back. "Don't worry" she said "You have plenty of time, come home with me, and have tea and a sandwich."

We did, it was ten minuets walk, on the way there, she told us her name was JANO and that she was the caretaker of the Chapel, and came to Bronant a few years back, she and her husband, John had a farm outside the village, and that John suffered with arthritis, and he couldn't do any manual work, so they gave up the farm, and moved into a Council house that had just been built, and she told me that Aunty had spoken about Ron and me, many a time, at the house she made us sandwiches and a pot of tea, while we were there, in walked David Jones, we talked about old times, he said that his younger brother who had become a Doctor had gone to live in the States, and that his sister worked in London, and now she lives there, no mention of any other member of the family. I think I was the only Evacuee who turned up in Bronant. Most of the crowd at the University must have been evacuated, in and around, Aberystwyth.

The time was getting on, I said to IVY that we had better make a move, David ask where we was going, I told him, back to our hotel, like Jano, he said the same "Don't worry, I will take you back" I told him it was a Thirty Mile round journey, it made no difference, he insisted, Jano phoned Sian and John Davis (sister and brother,) who lived at Tancraig, not far from Tanewarel, that I was at her house, {Sian was the girl who cleaned Tancwarel when ever visitors came). Jano told them we were going to the Bont, the one and only pub in the village, and to get there around nine o-dock, because she had to wait till John came home, he was visiting some friends, Ivy and I spent most of the day in Jano's. When John did turn up, Jano told him who we were, and then we all headed to the Bont, Sian and John were there already, David drank orange juice, he said he never touched any kind of alcohol, and I never put my hand in my pocket all night. We made arrangements for the next day, Jano and John told Ivy and I, that they would be taking us for a meal, I said O-k, but I had to see Tancwarcl before we went back to LlPOOL. Then left with David, our chauffeur.

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The next day we caught the same bus but got off the stop after Bronant, it was a hamlet called Paddington, it stopped outside the school, the one I was removed from, an ended up in Lledrod, we walked along the lane, the one on that very first night in Nineteen Forty, Ron and I walked with Aunty, we past the farm where the two brothers lived, Moses and John, it was now a holiday home, we turned up the a lane running along side the farmhouse, t ill we came to Ffonfelen, home of Marie Evans she knew me straight away, "Ello R ichie Bach" (Bach means Little) she told me that the tree was still there, the one that 1 hammerd a nail into when I was at Tancwarel with Ronnie Bach, she said that she missed Liza, (Aunty) and our visits, nobody ever calls now, only David, and he comes by car, otherwise it would be to far for him to walk there now. She made a pot of tea, and cheese sandwiches, we stayed for about an hour, talking of this and that, mostly about the hay season when it was a get together, with all the neighbours, we told Made that we had to go, and that we were meeting Jano later on, after hugging and kissing her we left, I left with a lump in my throat, we made our way to Tancwrel, nobody at home.

I took Ivy to show her where we use to let the sheep g.·aze, it meant climbing a bit of a hill, when we reached the top, you could see for miles, we sat on the grass for awhile then carried on, we past over the quarry and came out further down the lane, that led into the quarry the water hole was still there, where we had to go for water when the well had dried up, it was still over grown with alga. The quarry was a shock, what was once a wonderful play ground when Ron 1, and sometimes the Mortons, what was once a place full of wild life, and the dogs, Mot and Judy it was their hunting ground, it was now a dumping ground, it was full of old wagons, cars, and of all kinds of rubbish. I never thought that I would sce, anything like this, in Bronant, L /pool, and other cities yes. We walked farther along the lane till we reached David Jones farm, he was home and invited us in, then showed what changes he had made to the farm, the Grandfather Clock, still stood in the corner, I remember seeing it there when I was a child, he told me that it was over, Three Hundred Years old, we didn't stay long, he knew wc also had a date with Jano, and said that he would see us in the Bont that night, wc made our way back from the way we came, and ealled at Tancwrel. I knoc\{ed on the door, a gentleman opened it, he said his name was Trevor Jones and invited us in, it was a different house from the one Ron and I knew, hot and cold water, electricity, toilet, bathroom, modern fire place, it might have looked nice, but it wasn't Cosy and warm looking, and homely, the only thing that was oridginal, was the Pig Iron Gate, that led to the hay field, wc told him that we had an appointment with Jano and John, and they were going to take us for a meal, so we said our good bye's and made our way back to Jano ' s house

They were waiting for us in the car, I had no idea where we were going, I sat in the frollt with John, the two girls in the back, John pointed things out, like who had lived on such

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a farm, and the one he and Jano once had. We finished up out side a restaurant, Y COB CYMRErG, (THE WELSH COB), in a place called, LLANRI-IYSTUD, I said to John that I would pay for the meals, he said "Alright" at the end of the meal I went to pay the bill, the chap on the till said, " Its already been paid" I told John he shouldn't have done that, I wasn't up set, I was annoyed, he had to pay for the petrol, the wear and tear of the car, back at their house the same crowd as last night turned up, we made our way to the "BONT" I ask them what they were drinking, I gave the order to one of the staff, and told him or she, "Don't take any money from any body, only me, and I will square you up at the end of the night," at the end of the night, after having a good time, I squared the bill up, then we all went back to Jano's for supper, I took a couple photos, then I told them that Ivy and I had to leave, and get baek to the Hotel in case the door gets locked, we hugged the ones that should be hugged, and kissed the ones that do get kissed, David took us to our hotel, and wouldn't take a Penny. We had two days left, and they were spent in Aberystwyth. We have kept in touch with them all, by phone, XMAS CARDS, and to wish them, BLWYDDYN NEWYDD DA, (A HAPPY NEW YEAR)

One by one they have dwindled down, Jano's husband John died, then Marie, and Sian's Brother, John. Last Xmas Day 2006, I tried to ring Jano, no answer, the same thing happened when I tried to ring Sian and David, a eouple of days later Jano rang me, she told me that Sian had taken bad on the day before Xmas Eve, and she passed away XMAS DAY. That leaves just David left, the only one out of all the people Ron and I knew from the Forties, I only got to know Jano, from the Evaeuees Reunion, in Nineteen Eight Nine. I told Jano that we would try and get to Bronant again in the near future that was Eighteen years ago, but 1 have since told Jane that we will try our best to make it this year 2008. THAT'S MY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES, MY, HOLIDAYS, AND OF THE GREAT LIFE I HAD IN BRONANT