


Surprisingly, Druid's Bottom is the rather grand home of Mr Evans' other sister, Dilys Gotobed, who had married the mine-owner and lived a life of luxury, until the money ran out. It might have been rather grim accommodation, except for the discovery of Hepzibah Green and the retarded Johnny Gotobed, living quietly at Druid's Bottom. Mr Evans, the grocer, is a bully, but his sister, who the children call Auntie Lou, is loving and eager to please. They find themselves living above a grocer's shop.

I'm not even sure if they count themselves lucky or unlucky in the household where they go to live. This is a story about Carrie and her brother, Nick, who are evacuated to a Welsh mining town. Some children had a marvellous time and some had a miserable time. Arriving in an unknown place, settling in with an unknown family, having to adapt to a different way of life. There were whole train-loads of children sent away like that. Just told to turn up at our schools with a packed lunch and a change of clothes, then we went to the station with our teachers. The Government sent the children out of the cities so they shouldn't be bombed. During the war - when England was at war with Germany. It's really difficult to imagine what it must have been like to be evacuated as a child during the Second World War: '.
