A BOOKLET recording wartime memories of residents of North Tawton is now available.

Written by North Tawton resident Dr Alan Parkinson, the booklet 'Wartime Memories: North Tawton Schooldays 1939-1945' documents the memories of those living in the town during the second world war.

Dr Parkinson was inspired to write the booklet after he moved to North Tawton in 2011. It is a result of a community history project part-funded by the Durant Trust, a charity based in the town designed to make grants to organisations directly benefiting the residents of North Tawton.

In the booklet's preface, Dr Parkinson says: 'There have been numerous studies, including some oral accounts, on areas directly affected by this global conflict, but less attention has been paid to communities relatively unaffected by aerial bombing and far from the central theatres of war.

'Yet small rural communities like the one highlighted here often endured a range of wartime experiences, including troop movement and training, rationing and the arrival of evacuees, while also carrying on with a semblance of normal everyday life.

'This study, therefore, is essentially the sharing of memories of both those born and bred in North Tawton as well as its surrounding area, and others who were evacuated to the district during the second world war.'

Copies cost £3.50 plus postage. They can be obtained directly from Dr Parkinson by e-mail on [email protected]">[email protected] or by calling 01837 880497.