MICHAEL Aspel was in Abergavenny earlier this week to interview a Peterborough man who fell in love with the 'gateway to Wales' during the time of the Second World War.
Barrie Sylvester was chosen out of hundreds of other former evacuees to be one of 15 candidates who will feature in a documentary series to be screened later this year on ITV about the recollections of war time evacuees.
Despite always keeping a piece of Abergavenny forever in his heart, Barrie was unable to return here until 2005, 59 years after he first departed.
Barrie said, "When I first came back in 2005 and I walked through 'the cutting' to Llanfoist and climbed back onto the canal where I spent so many happy childhood days I could have cried, and when I visited the Mayor's parlour and was presented with a tie with the town's crest upon it, I was so proud.
"It's difficult to describe how fond I am of Abergavenny, but I like to think of myself as an adopted citizen of this lovely, lovely town."
Many of Barrie's local friends were present on the day of filming to watch as Aspel asked Barrie to recollect his personal memories of wartime Abergavenny and what it meant to him.
For more details on the story of the forthcoming documentary see next week's Chronicle.