June 1940 saw the arrival in Penallt of evacuees escaping the dangers of Birmingham and London. One of these, Kathleen (Kath) Price, now owns the house where she was billeted for much of the time and she has spent time in Penallt every year for the past seven decades too. Her memories of wartime Penallt are still very vivid and in 2014 she was persuaded to record them as the first chapter (Early Years”) of her autobiography.
Her story provides a fascinating insight into what life as an evacuee was like and into the houses, farms and people of Penallt 70 years ago.
She has kindly agreed to allow the village website to publish these memories and the 8 short chapters involved are linked below:-
- June 1940 – evacuation to Penallt
- Cartref and the Englands
- Penallt School and the Church
- Farming and The Bush Inn
- Monmouth and country walks
- Life at Crick Farm
- Pastor Evans and local walks
- The War ends
If anyone has relevant illustrations which could be added to the story, please contact the webmaster