MALCOLM Metcalf first visited Oxfordshire as a five-year-old evacuee in 1939 with his twin brother Trevor, and the pair returned every year since to remember the war years.

But on Thursday Mr Metcalf, 82, made the trip to Dry Sandford near Abingdon alone for the first time to honour his brother's dying wish for him to go back to the place that made the pair "blissfully happy".

This visit was not an ordinary one, however, with Malcolm stopping off as part of an epic bus journey, which will see him use 60 buses to visit 33 counties in 29 days, to raise money to build a hospice in his hometown of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

Mr Metcalf, who never married, said it was an honour to return to the village that gave him and his brother some of the most enjoyable days of his life, as part of the fundraising mission.

He said: "I was evacuated out of Cheltenham at the beginning of World War Two and my brother and I went to live with my uncle in the village, where we stayed throughout the war.

"My time there gave me some of the best days of my life and I spent most of it running around the woods with Trevor, feeling as free as a bird.

"Dry Sandford will always have a very special place in my heart because I have such fond childhood memories there."

As part of their yearly visits, Malcolm and Trevor would take a nostalgic walk around the village, visiting their favourite spots and reminiscing about their days at Dry Sandford Primary School.

This aspect of the trip was no different, with Malcolm popping into the school in Lashford Lane to talk to the children about what it was like to be a pupil at the school during the war years.

He said: "It's so lovely to have been invited to go into the school to talk to the students about my time there.

"Although it's strange coming back by myself for the first time since my brother's death in November I don't feel sad at all, because really he's still with me and it's what he said he wanted me to do."

Mr Metcalf said he was not nervous about his bus journey, which will take him across the UK, having already travelled across 52 countries in his lifetime, including making his way to Australia via land.

Instead, the pensioner - who has previously worked as a dental mechanic and in an ironmonger's - said he was excited to raise as much money as possible to build the East Coast Hospice in Great Yarmouth.

He said: "There is currently no hospice where I live and so I think it is important I help to raise some money to complete the building of one.

"I've almost raised £2,500 with my bus journey so far but I hope to raise much more by May 1, when I complete the challenge.

"Trevor will be with me the whole way."

To sponsor Mr Metcalf visit mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/malcolmmetcalf