Escaping the Nazis, settling in Preston and being ahead of the air fryer craze - the life of Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines

Escaping from the clutches of the gas chambers aged just three - Lady Milena has reflected on her life as an adopted Prestonian ever since.

From being an early pioneer of beating the cost of living crisis with efficient electric cookers, to meeting her husband George who went on the design Preston Bus Station then life has been varied for the 95-year-old who is now an MBE.

Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines was one of the 'Winton children' who were put on trains out of the Czech Republic just days before the Second World War broke out.

An estimated 15,000 or more Czech-Slovak children died in the Holocaust and in the latest episode of The Parched Pea Podcast as it returns for a second series Lady Milena speaks to John 'Gilly' Gillmore about what she can remember of that time and moving messages her family have left her.

She recalls her early days in England, moving from place-to-place before the family settled in Preston with her mother working at the former Preston Infirmary in Watling Street Road.

Films have been made since about the Winton children - the 669 of them who made the escape thanks to Nicholas Winton and their story was made possible by Esther Ranzen

Lady Milena chats with Gilly about seeing both herself on the silver screen in The Power of Good and then the Sir Anthony Hopkins adaptation One Life in 2024 about Sir Nicholas 'Nicky' Winton.

Talk in the episode, the first in the second series of the podcast lifting the lid on all things Preston and its people, then turns to her connection with Preston Bus Station.

Lady Milena takes us back to when it opened and how despite efforts to make it an 'airport-style' experience it was frustratingly vandalised within a few short months.

The building, now grade-II listed, was designed by Building Design Partnership (BDP) of which her husband George was co-founder and a key part of the team involved in the Brutalist icon.

It's not just architecture where the Grenfell-Baines name has had an impact, she was ahead of her time and ahead of the air fryer craze with the introduction of the Remoska pan which became a Lakeland best-seller.

A small electric-powered pan it meant it was cheaper to cook than by turning on the oven and Lady Milena worked with the Lakeland catalogue to bring it to the UK where it became a must-have.

The Parched Pea Podcast is a collaboration between Blog Preston, Lancashire Post and Central Radio with Gilly exploring the people and places which make the city tick and will be available on Spotify, Apple and all other major podcast apps via Podfollow with new episodes being released each other Wednesday starting on Wednesday 9 April.

The podcast has been supported by Cosy Homes in Lancashire, who work to keep homes in Preston and beyond warm and energy efficient.