Listen to Irene Gwynne...

"Well it got me out of London which was what I...I was ready to fly the nest really you know. My mother was a bit possessive but she did let me go in the end and I found it was a marvellous experience, I loved it.

It had its ups and downs but, what did I learn? I don't know...hard work, that's for a start. Well, we worked hard and we played hard, you know. Met some lovely people, I mean I've still got friends now that I probably would never, well, I wouldn't ever have met them would I, if I hadn't come down here?

Well, it was a great life...you mixed with everybody and anybody. Well, I'm glad that I did make the break to be honest, and also bringing up my children when I look at London now I'm glad I had the opportunity to bring up my children in this sort of atmosphere.

Because when I've been back and seen how my friends live afraid to let their children, when they were a bit younger, mind, when they were afraid to let their children out of their sight and so therefore I think my children had a much better start in their life because they had freedom. They were allowed to be children longer than if they had been brought up in town.

When I was brought up in London it was so much different. You did have your freedom then, you had your little communities the same. So much has changed, in the war. Everybody had changed anyway, everybody had moved about, I don't think things could [go back], no, I don't think so.

I did not want too go back, no. I mean, I went back because it was the only place I could go, to family. I was hoping to, eventually, get out again. Go and do something else you know. If I hadn't met my husband then, probably I would have done, I'd have travelled somewhere else. Because, no, I didn't want to go back to town. Once you've had the freedom of the country and the country ways are so much different to town, you know.

Not that I didn't enjoy my childhood, it was lovely. I've got no regrets in town but of the two I think the country ways are much much better.

And I think now, how did I go and do that? You know, I was 17 and left, you travel all this way and you know, I mean Wales was a foreign country to us. I had a niece and she said do they all sit...she said where are you going and I said well, I'm going to Wales, so she said do they all wear those big hats? And do they sit spinning? So I said no [laughter]!

She was really convinced, that was the stereotype of the Welsh person, a Welsh woman, really...and spinning, by the door...

Funnily enough that niece of mine, when I was living in Trefecar she used to spend all her summer holidays with me. Beryl, remember? And she loved it, and I used to say you see, you don't see any women spinning and nobody in the funny hats, I don't wear a funny hat! And she loved it down here, I mean she's married with grandchildren now but she often says when I speak to her on the phone she used to love her six weeks in the country. So I gave her the taste of a country life.

No, its completely different but I've never regretted a minute. Some of my happiest years of my life were down in the Land Army. Despite the hard work and the blisters and everything and being shouted at when you did something wrong [laughs].

Even Major D'Winton once called me a so and so...who's that so and so fool. We were doing something with sheep you know, and you know how stupid they are and one got away and I went to go for it and I missed it and landed in a puddle and of course once that got away all the other sheep started to go and he said who's that so and so fool that let that, you know. Ooh I could have hit him, I was so cross [laughs]!

But it was a great life and I think it made me what I am today I suppose, all those experiences do don't they?"

Interview with Irene Gwynne