Fifteen years ago, I organised ‘Should I stay or should I go?’ while working for inspirational older folk’s charity The Dark Horse Venture. September 2005 saw Ormskirk Civic Hall filled with around 150 folk all celebrating how Ormskirk cared for hundreds of Liverpool’s young evacuees. At the time, I called it an afternoon of ‘living history’ – and it’s a topic which still resonates today as I discovered when meeting Aughton’s Malcolm Cox to hear his amazing story of how as a four-year-old from Seaforth he left home for a new life in mid Wales.

Now a chipper 85-year-old, Malcolm, of Long Lane, is best known locally in the local car business. He’s spent most of his married life in the area; sadly he lost his wife Helena last February and now lives with elder daughter Julie near Aughton Park station.

Born and bred in Seaforth, little did he know just what lay ahead that fateful weekend in September 1939 when the ‘evacuate forthwith’ order was made in Liverpool and Bootle.

His memory might be little patchy at times, but he had no trouble recalling his time in Gilwern, now in modern day Monmouthshire.

He and elder brother John took the train from Lime St.- mum Delia bid them a fond farewell -and with dad Bill at sea little did the Cox brothers know what lay ahead...
The journey took them via Hereford and it was when the pair finally arrived in Gilwern that Malcolm’s story took a sad turn as he recalled how John, diagnosed with impetigo after the train journey, was taken to hospital in Crickhowell.

“There I was a four-year-old all alone in this quiet country town.

“I lived with a Mrs. Jordan in Lion Terrace, and even though I was so young I can still remember she had a son Allan but there was never a man about the house. Whether she had had her child out of wedlock I don’t know but I was made very welcome and soon made friends in my new home!”

One of those enduring friendships was with a lad called Neville whose ex-wife in the US still keeps in touch with Malcolm every Christmas.

And it didn’t take that long for young Malcolm to adapt to Welsh life with school, chapel and the wide-open spaces Gilwern had to offer. Particular attractions included the River Usk – great for swimming in every summer – and where he’d be paid to row folk across after school.

He threw himself into local life enjoying football and cricket and returning home five years later with a ‘scouse’ Welsh accent!

“They were very happy days,” reflected Malcolm who relived them a few weeks ago when he enjoyed a short break in Hereford with his family and spent time down memory lane in Gilwern.

“It had changed an awful lot naturally, but there were still some places I remembered,” he said.

At 11, he attended Christ Church school in Waterloo before moving to the old Bootle Tech. before taking up a career in marine engineering, which was not to his liking.

After National Service in Egypt, a job with British Rail proved the making of him – and he still smiles at the memory of a free trip courtesy of BR while he was working in the ticket office at Maghull station which saw him enjoy a few weeks in the south of France, complete with a night at a casino where his winnings paid for the holiday!

Soon after, he found a new career with wheels of a different kind and worked for C.A. Britten in Liverpool. He and his new bride moved to Noel Gate, Aughton in 1959 and then to Orchard View and Malcolm then opened his Aughton car sales business in nearby Melling.

His career in the car trade ended at the former Finch’s garage on Burscough Road, now long gone, and he retired at 65 after also running a successful sideline in importing French wines.

He and Helena had three children; oldest Peter now lives in China where he is a teacher while Julie and Nicola - who have seven children - are both local.

Said Julie: “We were so pleased that dad enjoyed his short trip to where he had been evacuated. It brought back lots of happy memories for him and his family!”