Family stories of coming to the UK

[AMemeByAnyOtherName]

Does anybody have any stories from relatives about coming to the UK from the Caribbean or Africa?

DM has told me many over the years about moving here from Grenada. One of my favourite stories is that as she was leaving, a relative who had been to England advised her to bring something warm with her. She took a thin cardigan, because she thought the cold would be perhaps a slight bit cooler than the coolest it gets where she was (about 24° I think is the lowest I've noted!). She travelled here in December she keeps saying that nothing could have prepared her for feeling as cold as she did, she had no idea it was possible. Also, she was very concerned about all the wreaths on people's doors, as she thought it meant lots of people were mourning!

She's looking forward to retiring in Grenada, too.

Family story. Mum always makes jokes about the time my uncle had just arrived to England/kentish town where they were living at the time. He went to the charity shop and bought speakers. Played lots of loud music for a few weeks and annoyed the neighbours. Everyone was constantly complaining.

One weekend when he started it again, the neighbour next played the loudest music with best sound system. My uncle never played his sound system again because it was so old and squeaky. He didn't realise until he had the next door neighbour play his.

Moral of the story. He was so embarrassed 😁

@creativecringe 😂 that's sweet, bless him. He sounds a lot like my brother!

Back fifty years or more now, my Aunt told me about when she first started working in a hospital around Stoke on Trent area.

The first day she was there she ended up in tears and another nurse asked her what was the matter?

She told her that: she was so sad because the patients kept calling her "my dog". She was even more upset when the other nurse started laughing. Until it was explained that: they were not saying "my dog" at all, it was local dialect. " My DUCK" being a local term of endearment.

I hope it is ok to post my story.

I was born in Syria, and then lived in Ghana, I had never been to the UK.
When I was about 7/8, I was coming to the UK for the first time, so my mum tried to prepare me for the weather.

She tried to explain what snow is, as I had never seen it/didn't know what it is. In the end she got ice from the freezer and said "minou, this falls from the sky!"

I remember thinking "Pull the other one, lady. No way does hard, cold stuff fall from the sky"

Still hate snow

Aw I'm loving these. @EchoCardioGran I hope she felt relieved after that!

@minou123 haha, that's pretty much how my mum felt! Did you wear a thin cardigan too, or did your family give you a coat that you didn't think you'd need?

@minou123 haha, that's pretty much how my mum felt! Did you wear a thin cardigan too, or did your family give you a coat that you didn't think you'd need? grin

My family gave me the worst coat possible. A big, huge Paddington Bear duffle coat! I hated it. I refused to wear it all the time .

AMeme Yes she worked there most of her life, and always spoke very fondly of it.
minou that's a great story. Duffle coats are a bit of a joke in our house.The night my daughter was born, it was a really cold wintery night. My husband arrived at the hospital eventually in the early hours, and was rushed into the room just before she was born.
I couldn't see his face, as he had a surgical mask on, and the hood still up on his big thick duffle coat. He wore it all winter I think!
He said he was so hot in the room, but too scared to take his coat off!

There's an initiative in Manchester to record stories before they are lost.
I enjoyed watching this on the BBC local site.
www.facebook.com/bbcmanchester/videos/a-windrush-story-from-manchester/10157858095854965/

@EchoCardioGran 🥺 oh my goodness. What a beautiful lady! This is exactly why I asked for these stories. They need to stay alive. Bless her heart.

I worked around that area for many many years @AMemeByAnyOtherName, it merges into Moss Side. The church the lady's friend was asked not to return to, was replaced by a very community minded inclusive church. Very well known thereabouts these days.
I went to a funeral there, about 25 years ago. A friend of the deceased got up and spoke. It was the first time ( and last!) I heard someone actually " speaking in tongues". It was a strange experience!

Oh wow @EchoCardioGran ! I've not heard that before IRL.

I lived in Preston for a while before moving back home to London. It was quite the experience, having had a lot more diversity surrounding me before I moved. I used to drive to Manchester to go to the Trafford Centre and also Arndale. I visited Moss Side once and I remember waiting for a bus and looking around thinking 'woah'.