Reunion for wartime evacuees after 70 years

Aug 4 2011 by Carmella de Lucia, Chester Chronicle

Reunion for wartime evacuees after 70 years

A MALPAS woman shared an emotional reunion with her wartime college friends 70 years after they were evacuated from London.

Sheenagh Bradbury, 86, of Chapel Rise, still recognised her four friends when they met up for a reunion lunch at Iscoyd Park, Whitchurch, despite decades having passed since they were last together.

Best friends Sheenagh, Marguerite McGuire, Eleanor Roscoe, Catherine Fisher and Sonia Vanular, all in their late 80s and early 90s, were ex-students at St Godric’s Secretarial College in Hampstead and, in 1941, were the first evacuees at Iscoyd before the park was requisitioned for use as a hospital for the US military.

They learned general office skills, how to conduct themselves in the proper manner, and held regular dance socials in the common room.

And for the reunion they were given a celebratory lunch by Iscoyd’s owners, the Godsal family, who now run the stately home as a wedding venue.

Mrs Bradbury, who has lived in Malpas since 1948, said she was ‘very excited’ to see her old friends again.

“It was such a lovely, exciting day; everybody seemed to just pick up where we left off 70 years ago.

“We recognised each other instantly and it’s amazing how we remembered so many various things we all did back then.”

She added: “We used to have lots of laughs at Iscoyd so it was lovely to reminisce.

“We’re all exhausted now! The time went by so quickly because we were all talking so much. We had lunch and then a tour of Iscoyd Park. Of course it’s very different now to how it was then but they have made it so beautiful.”

Three members of the group have now returned homes across the UK, apart from Sonia, who is making the most of her time in Cheshire before she goes back to her home in France.

“I have been taking Sonia on days out to different places around the area so it has been an exhausting few days,” said Sheenagh.

“I don’t think we will have another reunion because travelling is not easy at our age and we live so far away, but it was a lovely occasion.”

Owner Philip Godsal added: “I was delighted to welcome the five college friends for the anniversary reunion.

“I think it is fascinating for them all and I hope they all thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

“Some of them made a huge effort to attend but I am sure they found the trip worth their while.”