"BACK HOME"
CHARLIE: When I was about 7, 8 in 1953 after the coronation the Queen came to Jamaica and I was in the wolf cub pack. My granny was so proud of me to see me in my wolf cub uniform. It was a very hot day. I lived in the countryside and I came to Kingston for the first time to see the Queen. She was supposed to come about 1 o'clock and we were stood in the sun from 10 o'clock in the morning and I will always remember we were waiting and waiting. I was given a union jack to wave and when she came by we were supposed to shout God Save the Queen. It was so hot that day, my granny got some water from the man selling ice cream and she soaked it in water and tied four knots on the corners and put it on my head. When the Queen finally arrived with the Duke of Edinburgh I thought that she would come up and say " Hello sonny ". She just walked by and waved and we just said God Save the Queen, God Save the Queen, God Save the Queen ...............
It was so hot that before we went home the teacher decided to show us the seaside. By the shore I saw the Royal Yacht Britannia and said " Look Miss, look Miss how can that high boat float ?" That's how I became interested in ships. |
Charlie
Britannia
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Early post card of Crane Beach
Crane Beach 2010
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 Ernest
ERNEST: I came from St Philip, Barbados near Crane Beach. It was countryside.
I lived with my grandmother. My mum came over to England with my dad to make a better life. The plan was that when they were established they would send for me. My mum left him and basically she got stranded alone. So I stayed with my grandmother in Barbados in a safe environment. I went to school there, I had friends, I went to the beach every day. I would be going to the cane fields, building trucks, messing around with my friends, building this, building that, knocking down coconuts. My grandmother passed away and I went to live with my great aunt. She had kids of her own and I wasn't treated well. She had a preference for her own children. I would see my great aunt's children wearing new shoes and with toys. I didn't know at the time that my mother was sending the money and clothes for me. After my grandmother died I went off the rails so they wrote to my mother and said, "If you don't send for Ernest we'll put him in Dodd's." |
MARCUS: I was from Georgetown in St Vincent. There were two rivers. I lived near the small one. When you came from school in the Caribbean you just put your books down on a chair. Your door's wide open. We would go fishing in the river to pass the time. We used to chase the parrots and the pigeons. We'd never catch the parrots. You know how seagulls live in the banks and they dig a hole. The parrots, that's what they do. They would come down for food.
The school over there has more discipline. They would use a leather strap on our hands. If you were punished in school you wouldn't tell your parents because they would then punish you as well. I lived in a house. My great grandmother was alive. She lived about six miles away from us. I used to go to see her and walk the beach. It was the distance from North Kensington to Clapham Junction.
The school over there has more discipline. They would use a leather strap on our hands. If you were punished in school you wouldn't tell your parents because they would then punish you as well. I lived in a house. My great grandmother was alive. She lived about six miles away from us. I used to go to see her and walk the beach. It was the distance from North Kensington to Clapham Junction.
