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by Johnnie Manckiy (Author)
The Country House at War Series follows the stories of children evacuated with their school's to stately homes throughout the United Kingdom during the dark days of the Second World War. To the surprise of many of many children, the war years found them living and attended school in some of the nation's grandest and historic homes. Even with their grand surroundings their lessons went on as normal under the gaze of ancestral portraits. Each book in the series will cover the story of a different school and the country house they were evacuated too and is based on detailed research including interviews with former evacuees. It's their memoires which helps to bring these stories to life. By writing this series of books and recording the memories of former evacuees, I hoped to preserve this important part of the history of the United Kingdom . As 2017, marks the 72 year since the end of the Second World War it became even more paramount that we work to record the memories of people who lived through the dark days of the war for future generations before they are lost forever. The first book in the series tells the story of the girls of St. Hilary's School, Edinburgh and the five years they spent at Thirlestane Castle and of the Maitland family who owned the estate. Thirlestane is open to the public today, however, most visitors are unaware of its wartime past. The stories in this book are not just based on cold historical records but also on the memories of the people who called this historic estate home during the dark days of the war. The girls of St. Hilary's spent five years at Thirlestane castle in Lauder after being evacuated from Edinburgh. The girls lived in the main part of the castle while the Earl and Countess of Lauderdale lived in a wing of their great house. During their time at Thirlestane, there were many ups and downs for the children and school staff. During their early days at Thirlestane, the girls bathed in the River Leader behind the castle while plumbing issue where being sorted out. Then there was the day one of the Maitland portraits which hung in the dining room fell and landed on one of the staff members heads!
