A Walk Down Memory Lane

A Walk Down
Memory Lane
A collection of writing and reminiscence
of memories and musings
Compiled and edited by D
E Baruch
A Walk Down
Memory Lane
The collection of writing and reminiscence project was
funded by:
Wolverhampton City Libraries
And
ABCD Partnership
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A Walk Down
Memory Lane
Contents
Acknowledgements
Blakenhall Caribbean Seniors and Friends Group
Introduction
Blakenhall Caribbean Seniors and Friends Group
‘We Left Home’
Why We Came
England Has Been Kind to Me
Day Out at Bantock House
Housing Johnny’s Story
First Impressions
‘The First Snow’
Working In Wolverhampton
Church and Socialising Church
Socialising
Sayings
Our Philosophy
Reflections
‘When I Close My Eyes’
Blakenhall Caribbean Seniors and Friends Group
Photo Gallery
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8
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Acknowledgements
Blakenhall Caribbean Seniors and Friends Group
Special Thanks to:
Dorothy Baruch - Poet/Writer and Workshop Leader
Bantock House Museum
Dave Finchett –Photographer
Libraries Without Walls project is Funded by the ABCD Partnership
and Wolverhampton Libraries and Information Service
For more information about the project contact:
Tina Campbell: Library Link Worker
All Saints Learning Hub, All Saints Road, Wolverhampton. WV1 1EL.
Email - [email protected]
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Blakenhall Caribbean Seniors and Friends
Group
Compilation of stories, proverbs, memories and reflections
Introduction
The writings in this collection tell the stories of Blakenhall Seniors and
Friends Group. They are memories of arriving in Wolverhampton
between early 1950s and late 1960s. Sometimes a story takes the
individual back to childhood at which time he/she talks about
growing up, especially in Jamaica. When this happens the story is
included in the collection. The group also talked about proverbs or
adages that they remember and how over the years they now
understand their meanings. These have been included in the hope
that they will not be forgotten.
The stories and memories are not historical facts but individual’s
memories and stories; there is no verification of facts or alteration of
inconsistencies. The group provided its own editing by reaffirming
ideas and stories until they all agreed or were all satisfied with a
story or proverb. The collection is written in their words or is based
on the words and expressions they provided. The writings follow the
format in which the stories are told.
Members of the group told their stories to writer and poet D E Baruch
over three days. They told of their fears, concerns, surprises, and the
process of adjusting to a new, cold and sometimes unfriendly
country. The memories are sometimes painful and sad but overall
there have been happy times.
The work follows their arrival to the present. Everyone present over
the three days willingly contributed on the understanding that some
things would not be recorded.
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Blakenhall Caribbean Seniors and
Friends Group
The Blakenhall Caribbean Seniors and Friends Group started in June
2004. Prior to this there was the Blakenhall and St. Peter’s Group.
That group ran for seventeen years. When it was disbanded this new
was formed.
Some of the people who
attended that group are now a
part of the Blakenhall Group.
Ivan Maxwell is one of the
original members.
The group aims to provide
recreational, social, cultural
and educational activities for
the elderly and housebound
African Caribbean residents
who live in and around the
area.
‘After the work they allow us to have tea’
The Chairman, Tony Bunsie adds that ‘above all, the central objective
is to get the Caribbean community involved in its own destiny’.
There are over 20 members in the group and it is constantly growing.
They recruit new members through advertisement in the local and
electronic media, through word-of-mouth and at social events that
they hold. They are on the internet so people can always find out
about them. They meet every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Some of their activities are Sewing, Crafts and socialising. They
frequently run courses and usually have qualified teachers to teach
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Blakenhall Caribbean Seniors and
Friends Group
the lessons. In November
two
lectures
will
be
offering courses in Cake
Decorating and Fashion
and Design.
Tony was emphatic that
everyone, irrespective of
age or race is welcome to
attend the group.
‘The men behind the ladies’
‘That is why we are called Seniors and Friends’.
A sample of Ruby’s work’
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We Left Home’
Poem by D.E. Baruch
We left home for the Mother Land
Enoch came, saying
We need aid.
The posters beckoned
“Come to England Work in the mines
We need drivers for the buses
And nurses for the sick”.
We left our homes for the Mother Land
Children pulling at our skirts
Knowing we would be gone
Five years we said
Then we’ll be back
Things will be better then
No need to cry,
Mama not going to stay long,
Just to help the Mother Land.
We left our homes for the Mother Land
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We Left Home’
Poem by D.E. Baruch
“Land of Plenty”
Frost and snow.
“Land of Plenty”
Go back, you black!
Land of Plenty
You took our jobs
Land of Plenty
Forty long years…
Still seeking the Mother Land.
We Left Home was written by D E Baruch
using the words of the Blakenhall Group.
‘I came because my mother said it would be
good for me to go to England.
I came in 1955 and I have always lived in
Blakenhall. We moved about three times but
always in the same area.’
Lena Woodstock
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‘Why We came’
By Tony Bunsie
I came in 1958. I
was only ten
years old. My parents were already here and I yearned to
be with them.
I went to Dudley Road School. It isn’t a school anymore. I
was the only black boy at the school. ‘I had a terrible time
at school’. I was teased because I was black and they saw
me as someone different. The other children asked stupid
questions like ‘how did you manage living in trees? It was
just silly’.
Sometimes I had problems understanding the teachers and
the other children. It was Wolverhampton and part of the
Black Country that spoke in a different way. When I didn’t
understand what the teachers said they thought I was
dumb but it was just the way they spoke. They were not
very
helpful. When I went to college things were different. The
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‘Why We came’
By Tony Bunsie
lecturers
cturers treated you like an equal. When you asked
questions they answered. They treated you with respect,
like you were a person.
Things got better and now I feel more British than
Jamaican because I have spent most of my life in this
country.
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Why We came’
By Daisy Streete
In 1961 I came to my husband. That was
my reason for coming to England. I left
six children behind and it was heart
breaking. We had no plans about how
long we would stay.
As soon as I got here I went to work. My
first job was at Parkfield Hospital. It was
the TB hospital. It isn’t there
anymore. I didn’t work there for long
because I fell pregnant and my husband
didn’t like me working there with me
being pregnant. After having the baby I
didn’t go back there but it was sad
because the Matron liked me and
recommended that I became an
Ambulance driver. I didn’t tell her I was
pregnant until it was time for me to take
my medical. Then I had to tell her.
After that I went to work at the Women’s
Hospital at West Park. It is now West
Park
Hospital.
‘Living in England was hard. Living
condition was hard but things are better
now’.
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England Has Been Kind to Me
By Ivan Maxwell
When I came to England
in 1955 I was forty years
old. I lived at Penn Road
with a friend. We came
together on the ship. I
only worked for twenty
five years and for all of
those years I worked at
British Rails. In my
twenty five years there, I was never sick and I was never
late. They gave me an award for that. I made £7 1shilling
a week. ‘In those days things was cheap and a little bit of
money went a long way. Sixpence could buy you almost a
whole cow’s liver’.
In 1960 I trust (credited) my house. I can’t say I buy it
because I didn’t pay for it cash’. In was in Whitmore Reans
and that is where most of the children were born. When it
got too small, there were nine of us living there, social
services said we had to buy a bigger house or get a Council
house. I told them I was too old to buy another house so
the Council gave us a six bed roomed house.
England has been kind to me.
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Day Out at Bantock House
Tina welcoming the Group’
We enjoyed the tour.
This is our first visit because
we didn’t know such a
beautiful house was right on
our doorstep.
I am sure we will visit it again
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Day Out at Bantock House
We listened to Helen who
was our guide for the
morning.
Bantock House is a lovely
house with a beautiful
garden but
Being on television is even
better
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‘Housing’
Johnny’s Story
I came here in 1956. We travelled for twenty
one days on the ship. It cost £75 on the ship
and £85 on the plane. The ship landed in
Portsmouth and I headed straight for
Wolverhampton.
At first the whites wouldn’t rent to us so when
you found a place lots of us stayed there. I
shared a room with five other people. We rent
our beds for £1 2shillings and 6pence a week.
People worked shifts so when one set was at
work in the day another set would be sleeping
and each of us paid for the rented bed. When two of us shared the
same bed, we still paid separately, the same £1 2s 6p.
In 1960 I got married and moved to a room. Just one room for me
and my wife. We had no bathroom and the toilet was outside. In the
winter you could see the icicle hanging from the water cistern. When
I just came the men told me that sometimes it was so cold that when
you tried to pee it would freeze before it hit the toilet. I have never
seen that but I know that you wouldn’t go unless you really had to.
It was so cold. We went to the public baths to get a bath. We paid
half a crown to use the baths.
The only way for us survive with the housing situation was to buy
our own houses. We drop pardner and when the money came in one
of us would buy a house and move out of the room we shared.
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‘Housing’
First Impressions
When We First Saw the Houses
The houses in Jamaica were single-floor dwellings surrounded by
open areas for gardening. Usually the front area had a flower garden
and at the rear there would be a vegetable garden with lots of fruit
trees. People who lived in the country had wide open spaces,
England was a shock to the new arrivals.
What I Saw
Coming into town I saw the
factories
Low and even they lined the
streets
I was certain of work
In this my new home
What lovely factories my
companions stated
They are coolie barracks,
Ready for the workers.
Army barracks said another
They’ve just finished a war
In this our new home
Some sweet lady in her hobble
skirt
Minced her way to the door
You are all wrong
They are factories with lovely net
curtains
In this our new home.
All was out done when the
elderly statesman spoke
I see a single house each side of
the street
So I know there’ll be plenty
For those who will work
In this our new home
Back where I come from
Only the rich can afford
Such grand houses.
The people have much
I’m sure they will share
In this our new home
But they were all wrong
The barracks, the factories
Was to be our new home.
For they were the houses
And few were landlords
In this our new home
‘What I Saw’ written by D E Baruch using the
words of those attending the Group
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First Impressions
The First Snow by D E Baruch
Oh it was so beautiful!
And someone answered,
But it was so cold.
The dark places were covered in
white
And someone replied,
But the fog soon followed.
Oh it was horrible!
I hated wearing that big heavy coat
And the big winter boots.
But the night was beautiful
All covered in white.
I thought it was good
I went straight back to bed
But my husband woke me up.
It is morning, we must leave for work.
Nobody works when it snows,
At home, we don’t work in the rain
Then it was not so good.
I went to work and I soon learned to cope.
The day that I came no sun shone.
The First Snow’ was written be DE Baruch using the words of those
who attend the Group.
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Working In Wolverhampton
By Emiline Fannell
In Jamaica I was a dressmaker but when I
came to my husband in 1957 I worked for a
short time at Clarke's Brothers Paint Shop.
Leaving my three children behind was
devastating but I only intended spending two
years here and my husband said he’d spend
three. I have lived in this country for forty
eight years.
I worked for twenty one years as a nurse at
Burton Road Hospital in Dudley. That hospital
is no longer there.
Shortly after I came here I got pregnant and
gave birth to twins. I disliked living in rooms
so shortly after having the babies we bought
our home. It wasn’t very easy buying a home
then, because whites didn’t like having blacks
living beside them. Our neighbours were white
and they weren’t very kind especially to the
children.
The saddest thing for me was watching my
children play in cramped spaces. In Jamaica
there was always space to play and places to
roam.
Though some people weren’t accepting or
friendly to us the police were always kind and
helpful.
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Working In Wolverhampton
By Girley James
I came to my partner in December 1960 and we were married
early the next year.
I didn’t go out to work because we owned a grocery store. My
husband has always been self-employed.
After the children grew up I went back to college and trained as
a Social Care Worker. That became my occupation until I
retired.
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Church and Socialising
Church
Most of the churches were not
welcoming to us. If we went to one of
these churches we would be
encouraged not to come back or when
we went back the following Sunday, the
seats were taken, reserved for others
or peoples names would be placed on
them.
Most of the churches we have today
started in someone’s front room.
Later on we rent school halls.
Many of our children were christened
or baptised by Pastor Brown when he
held Sunday services at Old Hall
Street School which he rented for
Sunday services.
Today our churches are still growing
and we are welcomed into all churches.
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Church and Socialising
Church
When we went to the pub we stayed in one corner and the whites
stayed in another. We never mixed. We worked together and got on
well at work but after work if they saw us on the streets or in the
pubs they wouldn’t speak to us.
We didn’t have much time for socialising but when there was a
wedding we would all be there. We didn’t wait for an invitation. If
someone heard there was a wedding he would find out where the
party would be held and everybody would turn up. It didn’t take long
to full a house when someone got married. Weddings was the most
important social event that we held.
Not long after coming here we realised that if we wanted
entertainment we had to provide it for ourselves. Soon almost
everyone owned a Blaupunkt Radiogram. This was the beginning of
our Blues parties. They were called Blues parties in honour of the
Blaupunkt Radiogram. No one organised a party. It was understood
that on a Saturday evening back home music would be playing while
the men had a few drinks and played dominoes.
We missed home. To ease the homesickness someone would play a
few records on his radiogram while he had a drink and that was all it
took to have a room full of people. They had a drink and listened to
the music or danced if they felt like it. That was the Blues party and
how we entertained ourselves.
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Sayings
Nuh cut yu cloth before yu measure it.
‘Never cut your cloth before you measure it’.
Be sure of what you are doing before you start.
One-one cocoa full basket.
If you put a little away, you will eventually have enough
Nuh put all yu egg in a one basket.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Always have a backup plan.
A nuh fi de want a tongue why cow nuh talk.
It’s not for the want of a tongue why cows do not speak.
It’s not everything you see or hear you should repeat.
Nuh count yu chicken before dem hatch.
Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.
Wait for the result before you use it.
A man never know de use a ‘im behind ‘till boil bruck out pon it.
A man never knows the use of his behind until he gets a boil on it.
You never realise the value of something until you’ve lost it.
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Sayings
Dawg with to much yard go a bed widout dinner
Dog with too many homes goes to bed without dinner
If you have too many homes you will go hungry
Eberyday bucket da go a well one de bottom mus drop out
Everyday the bucket is taken to the well, one day its bottom will fall out
The more chances you take the more likely it is that you will get
caught
A nuh de same dey leaf drop inna water-battam it rotten
It’s not the same day that a leaf falls into the water that it rots.
Whatever you do it will eventually catch up with you
Hard ears pickney dead a sun hot
Hard ears child will die in the hot sun.
Disobedient children will get into trouble
Yu have to tek de ruff wid de smooth
You have to take the rough with the smooth
Learn to take the bad times as well as the good times
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Our Philosophy
We Want the Young Ones to Remember….
Use all opportunity offered to you.
Lena Woodstock
Get an education. Behave yourselves. Esperanza Smith
Make use of everything. Emiline
Fannell
Education. Education. Education!
Tony Bunsie
Don’t run with gangs, there is a
better way. Johnny McKenzie
To achieve you must work hard at it because Rome
wasn’t built in a day. Merdel Faulkner
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Reflections
When we first came to England most of us came directly to
Wolverhampton. We came with the intention of spending five years,
then we’d go home. All of us that are here today have lived in
Wolverhampton between forty and fifty years. We have lived here
longer than we have lived in Jamaica.
It was hard when we first came. The weather and the people were
cold. We missed our homes, our loved ones, our children and fresh
fruits and vegetables.
We had our children here and those we left behind we sent for them.
Over the years we have given much to the country and we have seen
some big changes
The weather is better. The people are more accepting of us. Our
children get a good education and better opportunities than we had.
Even the houses are better, they have central heating. We don’t
need paraffin heaters anymore. We have proper bathrooms, no need
to rely on our basins and pails or tin bathtubs when we need a wash.
The place looks a lot better especially here in Blakenhall where they
have pulled down some of the buildings that were unattractive. So
much is going on. Wolverhampton is not a bad place to live.
Our children and grandchildren are here and we know this place
better than we know Jamaica. We call both countries our home.
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When I Close My Eyes
Poem by D E Baruch
When I close my eyes
Lay me in this country
My soul will not be here
And I will not need this frame
So when I close my eyes
Lay me quickly down to sleep
When I close my eyes
Lay me close to loved ones
Who have gone before
In this place I have made my home
Remember when I close my eyes
Do not place me on a plane
For that home I will not know
Lay me quickly here to rest
In this place I call my home
‘When I Close My Eyes is written by D E Baruch based on the words and
certainty of the group that when they die they wish to be buried in England.
Girley has the final say on the matter:
‘If they take our bodies to Jamaica our duppies won’t be free to
walk about. Them don’t know Jamaica well enough, but if they bury
us in England the duppies know Blakenhall and can walk free.’
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Blakenhall Caribbean Seniors and Friends Group
Photo Gallery
Enjoying the work and having a good yarn’
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Blakenhall Caribbean Seniors and Friends Group
Photo Gallery
‘Tina wanted to join the group so she bribed the group with
Tea and biscuits’.
Esperanza
loves
been a part
of the group.
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