SEPTEMBER 1939 – Britain is at war with Germany, and in Liverpool, where heavy bombing is expected, it is decided to evacuate as many children as possible.

Kenneth Alan Mann was just six years old when he was taken from his father, Percival, who was in the fire brigade and needed to stay to protect people and property after the expected air raids, and mother, Mabel, who would stay with her husband.

So Kenneth found himself on a train, racing through strange countryside to an unknown destination somewhere in Wales.

He had never been out of Liverpool before, and never seen such country views, or mountains.

Eventually the train stopped, and he was led, with a dozen other children, into a hall where some local villagers had gathered, ordered by the billeting officer, to take in an evacuee if they had a spare bedroom.

The children were then ‘chosen’ by their hosts-to-be, and taken home.

Many of these children would go back to Liverpool after a couple of weeks, some because they didn’t feel wanted, some because they found the change too much to cope with, and some merely because they were homesick.

Kenneth was very fortunate.

“Together with another boy, John Jones, he was chosen by Betty Evans of Gogerddan House, Ynyslas, who proved to be a very kind lady who looked after those two boys as though they were her own,” he recalls.

Kenneth stayed there for about two years until his mother, now with a new-born son, came to Wales to stay.

Now a family of four, they were forced to find alternative accommodation, and were eventually placed in a cottage in Talybont.

Kenneth went to Ysgol Talybont school, where most of the lessons were in Welsh, and very quickly learned the language.

A couple of years later he attended Aberystwyth School.

In July this year, Kenneth, now 85, decided it was time he returned to Wales to see if he could find the house he lived in and the schools he attended.

In September 1941, Kenneth’s mother took a photo of him sitting on a bench with two lovely old gentlemen in the village square in Talybont.

Decades later, when he drove through Talybont, he was astonished to see that there was still a bench in exactly the same place, and the building behind him, now completely renovated, was still there.

He then drove to Ynyslas looking for Gogerddan House with its huge allotment he still remembered.

But he was in for a shock.

A large portion of the land had been sold off and was now a Garden Centre.

But to his surprise, right next door, hidden behind overgrown shrubbery and trees, and obviously abandoned, stood the house he had so many fond memories of.

The return trip turned out to be much better than expected. Everyone Kenneth spoke to was thrilled to hear about his experiences in Wales during the war.

He would like to thank all the wonderful people he met, including teachers at Talybont and Aberystwyth schools; Helen Palmer, the county archivist at Aberystwyth; Mrs Pinfold of Ynyslas and Gareth Pritchard, proprietor of the White Lion at Talybont.

His only regret was in not finding Betty Evans’ daughter, Mary, or anyone who remembered him all those years ago.

What could have been a very frightening and bad experience being evacuated, turned out to be a very pleasant time, which he never forgot, and his return visit brought back so many good memories.

Do you have memories or old photos to share? If so, write to Julie McNicholls Vale at Timewatch, Cambrian News, 7 Aberystwyth Science Park, SY23 3AH or email her at [email protected]