Audrey Rann (Barnes) lived at Bank Cottage, Hulverstone and remembers her father’s inventiveness when it came to protecting his family: When the war came, my father had a bright idea. If he emptied the logs from the shed, he could make the shed into an air raid shelter!

He asked Mrs. Heal, who had the farm at Hulverstone, if he could cut through the hedge and bank and dig out an area in the field behind our house, big enough to accommodate the shed.

My father dug it out by himself with perhaps some help from my brother. He dismantled the shed, placed it into the hole, put it together again, filled in the sides and roof with soil, then put the turves onto the roof. From the sky it looked just like an ordinary field. The door was where father dug through the bank. We spent many nights in there when there was a warning and felt safe. Of course, we weren`t safe; if we had had a direct hit, it would have gone right through. However, it was a good idea as we were away from the house and the rest of the village.