Memories in Mind - ACE428.2

Caption: "This film is dedicated to my dear mother and to all the other courageous and inspirational women from the Caribbean." Woman in Jamaican dress reciting Louise Bennett’s Colonisation in Reverse (1966). Newsfilm from1950s showing immigrants arriving in Britain by boat and by plane, at work and at home. Young woman in 1950s dress reading in the park. Caption: "Transition." Connie Mark talking about coming to England from Jamaica, and wondering why her plane trip took her via Newfoundland. Caption: "Connie arrived in London with her baby daughter in 1954. She came to join her husband who was a professional cricketer." Maxine Franklin says her music teacher looked after her as her parents were dead; she travelled by boat. Caption: "Maxine came to England in 1958 after receiving a government scholarship to study piano at the Royal College of Music." Merlin Walker telling Hyacinth Thompson about going to England with a friend who helped her during the voyage. Caption: "Merlin arrived in Nottingham to join he husband in 1955. Hyacinth arrived in London to join her husband in 1957." Franklin talks around arriving in London. Caption: "‘Sorry Love’." The young woman being refused accommodation. Mark talking about not wanting to take a room that had no bath and being laughed at by the landlord for refusing it. Walker saying it was difficult to find somewhere to live. Mark describes how several people had to use one stove because the landlord wanted to save money, but that they maintained the hospitable Jamaican tradition of having a big pot of food in case someone calls unexpectedly. Woman cooking over heater. Mark explains that coal fires didn’t warm rooms very well. Caption: "Acclimatising." Young woman playing radio and reading letters from home. Walker says she was very unhappy and had to buy extra clothes because of the cold. Young woman looking through her wardrobe. Walker says she had long hair which she had to cut off because the weather damaged it. Young woman pulling hair from her brush.