Eve Farrant (nee Lisher), born 1917, was devoted to her two children, Colin and Lynda. She shares with us a time of great worry, in 1961, when her daughter, aged 11, went missing.

'They usually got on very well together, but on one occasion, Colin and Lynda had a disagreement. In trying to settle it I upset Lynda, who ran out of the house with no coat or shoes on, despite the fact that it was raining. I didn't worry at first, thinking she'd gone round to the play hut at the back of the house, but later I went out to the hut and she wasn't there. I made frantic calls on the telephone to my cousin, Celia, where Lynda often played with her daughter, Margaret, but she wasn't there. I then phoned Bernard who came home, although he thought I was panicking unnecessarily.

However, as it got dark he also was concerned and we phoned the Police. They took little interest and told us to phone again if she wasn't home by 10.00 p.m. However, at about 8.00 p.m. we received a phone call from Shoreham Police telling us that they had picked Lynda up going towards Beeding Cement Works. Luckily a motorist had thought it unusual that a child of her age should be running on a dangerous road with no coat or shoes on and contacted the police. We were told not to be cross with Lynda and that they were bringing her home. Later when I talked to Lynda she said she was running away but didn't know where to.'

This sounds like a typical thing a child of Lynda's age would do, but thankfully this story had a happy ending.