My mother Sanchia (Sandy) Maud Neal was born on 21 December 1928 to parents Joseph & Maud in West Ham, East London. The eldest of five children, Sandy did not always fit comfortably alongside her siblings and spent a large majority of her life aspiring to greater things. She loved the theatre, art, her friends, and family – as a Grandmother she was doting and as a mother your biggest supporter! …
She told a story from her childhood that always fascinated me. A story of wartime evacuation to the countryside, where she lived with two artists in a grand house. … She was given tap-dancing lessons and learned to enjoy the finer things in life — a world apart from East London. After the war she went to the Royal Portrait Gallery (we think that is where she went) and saw a painting of herself … called ‘The Evacuee’.
For many years, I had mistakenly presumed that she was evacuated to Cumbria, and my searching failed to find any notable hints. Last year, as the first Covid-19 lockdown began, the pace of life slowed down and offered the opportunity to start my search again.
Click here, and then on the image, to hear my tale of discovery …
[The text of the audio also appeared in the April 2021 "AVSFHG Newsletter" №52]