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Thanks to our wartime hosts

3/ 9/2008

EMOTIONS were in overdrive when former evacuees thanked Glossop folk for giving them a home during WW2.

The Lowestoft Evacuee Commitee, led by Chris Brooks, 64, presented a porcelain plaque and books to the Henry Street Heritage Centre.

He said: "We met up with another Lowestoft evacuee who stayed behind — he got a job in Glossop.  A couple who now live in Southport came along: a Glossop boy who had married a Lowestoft evacuee girl!"

Locals took in uprooted children — and even babies — out of the goodness of their hearts.

"My work is a tribute to the people that looked after us, without whom the evacuation would not have worked," Chris said. "The Lowestoft teachers too need a mention. They had to come with us to stay in work — the schools back home all shut down."

Former Lowestoft ‘vaccie’ Geoffrey Durrant, 73, said: "It was a revelation, I was overwhelmed. It was something I had looked forward to. I haven’t been back since 1940.

"I’d had contact with Glossop people. It was nice to come up and be able to put faces to names."

Geoffrey’s highlight of the trip last week was a poem reading at the Heritage Centre.

"It showed the people of Glossop we really needed to thank them," he said. "We visited Zion School and I saw my old school room. Nothing much had changed. The only disappointing thing was that after I met my old friend, Sam Fielding, the group went off to the Heritage Centre and when we got back, Sam had gone. I would have liked to have had a drink and meal with him."

He added: "I would do it again, I really do hope they run another trip."