Barry Hughes lived on Bankfield Road, Kirkstall. He was very near the Power Station. This was a German target and Barry and his brother were evacuated from their home when the war was only a day or two old.

His father worked in the Clothing trade as a Steam Presser, and therefore he was not called up. His mother also worked in the Clothing trade as a trouser maker.

Barry was only five years old when the war broke out and his brother was eight. They both went to the same school on Kirkstall Road, it is still there today. One day they went to school and there was a fleet of buses waiting to take the children to a safer area.

All Barry had was a tin of Corned Beef and a packet of biscuits in a carried bag. He was given a little badge with his name and age on and he was placed on the bus with his brother. He had no idea of what was happening and became upset. It was evacuation day for the children of Kirkstall School, all the parents had been forewarned, but Barry and the other children had no idea at all.

The buses took them to Otley, where they were to live throughout the war. The cost of evacuation was paid by the Government and was not privately funded.

Otley is a very old town, the other side of the Chevin. It is set in the open countryside, quite different from Kirkstall not far from the city centre.

When they arrived at Otley, Barry was crying and a lady named Mrs. Midgley took pity on him. She decided to take in Barry and his brother instead of the other two boys she had been offered, as they were not brothers and could be split up and sent to different homes. Mr. and Mrs. Midgley lived at No. 4 Somerville Terrace, Otley, and not far away from their house there was a Smallholding which they owned privately.

In 1939 Mr. Midgley was 61 years of age. He was a retired Police Sergeant, Mrs. Midgley was 50 years of age and was a retired School Teacher, so you can imagine that life for the children was a little strict!

Barry’s first meal at the Midgeley's was prepared by Mr. Midgeley and consisted of bread and marmalade. Barry nudged his brother and said "I hate marmalade” but much to his horror he discovered that Mr. Midgley had made his own marmalade and there was stacks of it!! When they had settled down, Barry started to go to school. Gas masks were issued there but were never used. The Air Raid Sirens went quite frequently and under the cellar steps was the safest place in the house.

The bombs that fell were very few and in 1940 some were dropped on the Chevin, a hill very near Otley, Barry remembers that his Sunday afternoon walk used to be going to see the bomb holes, but unfortunately the whereabouts of them are unknown today, although it is said that they were dropped somewhere near "The Royalty" Pub.

The Smallholding was quite extensive, covering just about 3 acres, it held:-

Hens,

Ducks,

a Cow,

Pigs and other small livestock.

There were several hen/duck houses and the hens produced enough eggs for them to be collected and put on rations. Swapping or selling the eggs to friends was illegal. Barry, for the first time had a pet of his own, it was a duck and any eggs it laid were strictly his own. When the duck was laying, she would lay one egg every day, so he could let his mother have half a dozen per week. Barry's mother paid an agreed price and Mrs. Midgley made him save this money up in National Savings Certificates.

The cow produced little milk, and, therefore, it was not collected like the eggs. This gave the Midgley's extra milk, other than the milk rations claimed in the shops. It came in quite useful, as they could make butter and other dairy products and still have enough milk for every day use, that is, to drink, in baking and so on.

Because there was no television in those days, evenings used to be occupied by the butter making. For hours they would shake the rectangular container up and down, side to side, getting into a rhythm. After they had finished they would end up with some home made butter and aching arms.

One pig a year could be, and was, slaughtered and the meat was for the private use of the Midgley's. This, plus the eggs, milk and any other products that the smallholding produced made the Midgeley's quite a bit better off than the average war-time family.

Barry's mother used to come down on Saturday afternoons to see her sons, and they used to visit her for a couple of days during the school holidays.

Birthdays were celebrated with a tin of fruit - extremely rare during the war, and a cake was made mainly with carrot because fresh fruit was just as rare as tinned fruit.

Sweets were few and tasted disgusting!! The rations allowed four ounces and consisted of boiled sweets, aniseed balls, gob stoppers, but very little chocolate.

Because Mr. Hughes was a Leeds Rate Payer Barry had to go to a Leeds High School when he had left the schools in Otley. Hw was sent to Leeds Boys Modern, which is now called Lawnswood, but this happened right at the end of the war.

In 1961, Mr. Midgley fell ill and Barry and his brother were sent home for six weeks. When in Kirkstall, if the Air Raid Sirens went then Barry would either go under the dining room table or go into a neighbours shelter underground.

When Barry returned to Otley and became old enough, he was allowed to milk the cow. He would sit there and the cats would gather round in a semicircle, every now and then Barry would squirt them with milk and he became an expert at doing it!! Milking the cow was a difficult job and the cow often became awkward and kicked over the bucket, but Barry used to half fill one bucket and pour it into another so as to prevent the cow knocking it all over and wasting the milk.

When the war ended, Berry decided to stay in Otley, but his brother went back to live in Kirkstall and insisted that Barry had been given away !!!!!