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Recordiad sain / Audio recording: Peter Cyril
Oral history recording with Peter Cyril, born in St Lucia in the Caribbean. Recorded as part of Race Council Cymru’s Windrush Cymru Heritage Project.
“It was new to me, to work in snow and everything. Gosh, go to work in the morning, and it’s cold.”
Peter Cyril was born and grew up in St Lucia in the Caribbean and came to Britain aged 21. He worked on the railways most of his life.
“I was one of two cousins living with my grandparents.”
“Growing up was ok, I had my grandparents. My grandmother was still alive, 103…”
“I remember the journey, it was ok, I had a boy [I was] looking after, he was 14 and I was 21. That was 1961.”
“I went to do printing and that’s where I stayed. From printing, I went to a big office in Newcastle, Voice Printing, before I came here.”
“I was young, all over the playing in cricket, football… When I came over here, I tried to get into a club, in the YMCA, but they wouldn’t have me in there.”
“The main thing for coming over here was for work… I got a job on the railways because that was the only place they allowed me to work…”
“I wanted to go to college for a day a week. He [ the boss] said he cannot allow me the time off. And I needed the money, I had no help, so I just went back to work.”
“When I came over I was British, but they won’t admit it… they hate you deep…”
“It’s like falling in a pot and you can’t get out of it… Been here over forty odd years.”
“It’s important that people should know our history, to know about us, about what happened to us. They should learn the languages because we speak a lot of patois and English. It’s very important for them to know.”