Margaret lived in the East End of London with her mother, grandmother and aunties when at the age of five she was taken with her mother to see where her older brother Stanley had been evacuated to in Stockton Brook, Stoke-on-Trent. Whilst there, the lady living next door to Margaret’s brother told her mother that if she wanted to bring her to be safe also, she could live with her and be next door to Stan.
Margaret went back to live in London until the February of 1941, at which point she travelled with her mother again to Stockton Brook and there she stayed with her new ‘Nana Sheratt’ and her new best friend next door.
Margaret stayed on in Stockton Brook after her brother had returned to London to work on the railways, and later got a job in a shop in Hanley. She remembers her time as an evacuee happily. There was regular contact between herself and all of her relatives, and any decisions about her life and schooling were discussed in writing between her mum and ‘nana’. Margaret was taken in by all of those living in the village. She became ‘one of them’. Listen to her speaking about her relationship with her hosts in the audio clip below:-