Evacuee rolls back the decades

Seventy four years after she lived there as an evacuee, Patricia Gorringe made a 400-mile round trip to Diggle from her home in Brighton.

Patricia was eight when she and two younger brothers left the seaside town to travel north - three of thousands of children sent away from potential German invasion zones by fearful parents.

Carrying a gas mask, a suitcase and an identity label, Patricia took her long train journey to Diggle and moved in with a family on the Sunfield estate - her home for the next four years. Her brothers were placed many miles away with families in Ripon

She said: “I’d never left the south coast before and I was only four. My parents said it would just be like going on holiday; an exciting adventure. I had good times but I missed my parents. I was made very welcome by everyone in Saddleworth though.”

On her return visit Pat visited Diggle School once again: “Memories came flooding back when I stood in the hall, and I’ll never forget local fish and chips and mushy peas, which I’d never tasted before.

“I loved the hills and the fact I didn’t hear bombs.

“When I returned to live in Brighton, when I was 12, the teachers made me speak to the whole class — because I’d acquired a Saddleworth accent.”

Patricia, a mother of three and now a sprightly 82, made her memory-provoking journey to the village with her second husband, Raymond, her stepson, Mark and his wife, Marion.

Patricia added: “I just got the urge to visit Diggle. The address had always stayed in my head. I wrote a letter to the address where I’d lived, with the hope I’d hear something.”

Though her adoptive family had moved on, 33-year householder Christine Bamforth replied.

She said: “When I first got Pat’s letter I didn’t know what to think. It was so moving. But I was delighted I had invited her to visit — she’s lovely.

“It was very emotional when we said goodbye. But I was really glad I’d invited her as it made her happy and she said this was a happy house.”