MY dad was evacuated from south-east London to Weston-super-Mare in the Second World War where he saw cows for the first time and was set upon by the local boys.

In Diane Allen's latest book, Wartime in the Dales, Maggie Shaunessy and her two friends, Lizzie and Archie, are sent from their homes in Liverpool to Gargrave.

Maggie and Archie are given a home in the grand Hawith Hall, home of Lord and Lady Bradley, while Lizzie, a Catholic, is sent to the home of the parish vicar and his wife.

The evacuees, like my father, are initially picked upon by the village children, but instead of a fist fight to sort things out, as in my dad's case, Maggie and her friends come up with a much cleverer way to stop the school bully in her tracks.

The children have mixed fortunes; Archie, unloved back in Liverpool, falls on his feet in the Dales, while Maggie finds herself in an unhappy household.

Lizzie's life at the vicarage is far from what it should be, but then the friends discover a possible escape route - the Leeds and Liverpool Canal - could that be a link to their much missed families?

Diane Allen, who lives in Settle with her husband, Ronnie, worked as a grass engraver before joining a large-print publishing firm in 1990.

She now concentrates on writing full-time and is honorary president of the Romantic Novelists' Association. Her books include Daughter of the Dales, The Miner's Wife and A Precious Daughter.

Wartime in the Dales is out now and available locally and online, priced £8.99.