The main reason for a lot of Carlisle people moving south was economic - there was very little work after the war. In Rugby, Warks. (where my family moved to) there were a number of large factories being built and being near to Coventry there was a lot of rebuilding going on after the war, when a large portion of the city was blitzed! In my family's case, my parent's cousins arrived to help in the engineering works and the word soon spread "back home" that there was good, reasonably cheap housing and plenty of employment, so other parts of the family "de-camped" to the Midlands. They must have felt like outsiders to the indiginous population of the Midlands, because of thier Border accents. So many families had to tear up their "roots" that they formed the Cumberland Society and met together regularly, as a means of keeping in touch with news from back home, and also keeping alive family and cultural traditions. It wasn't easy to leave everything behind, but there were few prospects for staying in Carlisle. Even forty or fifty years later, Carlisle is still considered "home" by my elderly aunt, and although I was the first member of the family born in Warwickshire, I can get quite nostalgic looking at old family photos. When I visit Carlisle I make a point of visiting the places where members of the family owned businesses and lived and imagining what their lives were like. Sue Harding --------------------------------- It's Samaritans' Week. Help Samaritans help others. Call 08709 000032 to give or donate online now at http://www.samaritans.org/support/donations.shtm