A SUCCESSFUL travel writer in Canada, Pam Hobbs knows exactly when she developed both her passion for writing and her love of travel – it was when she was evacuated to Derbyshire.

In June 1940, at the age of 10, Pam was uprooted from her council house home in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, along with her 11-year-old sister, Iris.

Pam, who describes her experiences in her book, Don't Forget To Write, recalls evacuation day: "I was upset walking to the school with my father because Mum couldn't bring herself to come with us.

"I was a nervous kid to start with so it was probably more traumatic for me, but once we were on the train to Derbyshire I think I felt more excited than anything. It never occurred to me that anyone would be unkind to us, or not want us. I came from a big, loving, boisterous family and thought everyone else did."

Luckily for Pam and Iris, unlike many evacuees, they were never ill-treated.

"A lot of children were worse off," she recalls. "I had a letter from a woman who said her foster sister, who shared her bed, pinched her all night. I didn't have anything like that."

In fact, Pam has many fond memories of her time in Derbyshire and fell in love with her new surroundings.

"I had never been further than London so knew nothing of beautiful countryside and farm animals."

Pam lived in several homes in Derbyshire but her happiest time was in Kirk Langley with a couple she called Uncle Fred and Aunty Min. There, Pam and Iris enjoyed playing with the couple's niece, Sylvia Dean, who lived in nearby Dalbury Lees.

Sylvia, now Sylvia Sherlock, was astonished to discover that she was mentioned in a book about the war and, through the publisher, her grandson managed to put her in touch with Pam.

Sylvia, 81, who now lives in Spondon, remembers Pam and Iris arriving in the village. She says: "I was a bit put out at first because my aunty and uncle, who never had children, had always spoiled me. But we blended well and soon we were like sisters.

"We used to tuck our dresses in our knickers and go and paddle in the brook – we'd always come back really dirty. I also remember dancing in the bedroom. We were pretty giggly."

It was in Derbyshire that Pam developed a skill that she would later turn into a career.

She says: "I learned to write while there, sending long, long letters to my mum, describing everything from the wild flowers to walks in the woods and the fresh foods that grew in abundance. It was very insensitive of me since she spent her days queuing for food."

Nevertheless, Pam's letters were well received at home and she was soon called upon to provide news of other evacuees from Leigh-on-Sea, whose hastily scribbled notes left their parents wanting more.

The evacuation experience had a lasting effect on Pam.

"Away from my family I grew strong, mentally and physically. I became ambitious and it gave me very itchy feet. By the time I had written all those long letters home, I knew I wanted to be a writer."

Pam's dream came true in the late 1960s when, living in Canada with her husband and three young daughters, she wrote an article about their travels across the country in a Volkswagen Camper. She submitted her story to the Canadian national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, and eventually became a regular.

Pam returned to Derbyshire in 1985 to write a feature about the Peak District and, realising she was close to Chapel-en-le-Frith, one of her homes during the war, she revisited all her Derbyshire billets.

She says: "In Kirk Langley, which I loved, I walked the route I took to school and it was the farmyard smells and wild flowers that brought memories flooding back."

Her sisters – Pam was one of seven girls – have long been urging her to write a book about the war but it wasn't until two years ago that Pam took the plunge.

"The time seemed right," she says. "The 70th anniversary was coming up and my husband offered to research a lot of the war's events. When he handed me this big folder filled with facts, I knew I could write the book.

"A real bonus has been the number of letters and e-mails I have received from former evacuees who tell me they didn't recall their experiences until they read the book – which caused them to laugh and cry and think a lot. It seems to have opened the floodgates for many."

DON'T FORGET TO WRITE

BY: Pam Hobbs.

PUBLISHER: Ebury Press (paperback).

PRICE: £6.99.