Evacuee Story
by Fred Golby
Writing of local history, it is pleasant to receive letters, not only from this country, but from all over the world. In 1994 I received a letter of fourteen pages from Mrs Paddy Jones (nee Roberts), of Bognor Regis, describing how she spent the war years evacuated to Duston from 1939, when she was only eight years old. The pages describe her love for village life, all the people that she met in those years, and how she eventually returned to London.
She vividly describes the London red bus stopping on Main Road, Duston, billeting the London children into their foster homes. Luckily Paddy's grandparents lived at 211 Main Road, Duston, where she remained during the war years. Later her father came and commuted each day to London. She describes the little school in Port Road (Duston County Primary School) as the 'evacuee school'; it was half a day for local children and half a day for evacuees.
Here are some of the names she mentions from her school days: Mrs Hollis, Mr Talmage, the district nurse of Ryeland Road - and friends the Ashleys, Pauline Wright, the Jepson boys Stan and Morris, the Rednalls, the Bidwells, the Harrisons, Kathleen Thurley (her deputy Guide captain) and John, Ruth Pettit (the clergyman's daughter), and Mr Handscombe.
Dick Coleman of Port Road farmed Weggs Farm, and his two sisters kept the Hare & Hounds pub. One day she watched with horror as Mr Coleman killed two pigs in his yard, but accepted it as part of country life. She used to go rose hipping with the school; the rose hips were distributed with concentrated orange juice for toddlers. She also remembers gleaning after harvest for her uncle's fowls.
Paddy remembers many happy hours joining in shows and parties at the Institute (now the village hall). She also remembers going into Mr Faulkner's bake house for one of his delicious currant buns, Mr Law and Ron in their paper shop, helping Mr and Mrs Danford in their beautiful garden to collect freshly laid eggs, and Mr Mabbut in his gaiters in his tiny cottage along Port Road. This is only a small part of her wonderful recollections of people and friends in Duston's wartime years.
This article was kindly donated by Fred Golby, local historian. To learn more about the history of Duston, see Fred's book A History of Old Duston & Old St James.