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Oral history recording with Timothy Nathaniel Hope from the Back-a-Yard project. Part 3 of 3 (AV 11795/1-3). This project collected stories from older African-Caribbean people who came to live in Newport from the 1940s onwards, including their recollections of the Caribbean and reasons for coming to the UK. The eighteen-month project was run by the South East Wales Racial Equality Council (SEWREC) and supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project ran from October 2014 to March 2016.

Errol Walton Barrow: When Barbados gained independence in 1966, Errol Walton Barrow was appointed as its first prime minister. Mr Barrow had big ideas for his small island nation and was responsible for bringing in proper sanitation and for the expansion of the airport. Timothy once encountered Errol Barrow on a beach. There was a man taking sand off the beach and the Prime Minister asked Timothy to tell him to stop.

Early days in Newport: Timothy came to Newport to join his wife-to-be who had already lived here for several years. Newport was strange at first – Timothy would walk unfamiliar streets full of people he did not know. The George Street Bridge [which crosses the River Usk] was bigger than any bridge he’d seen back home. It was the Caribbean community in Pill who helped him feel at home. Many of the men would go to a pub called the Alex and it was in that welcoming environment that Timothy met Laceta Reid [another Back-a-Yard interviewee], who is now a long-time friend. Unfortunately, like many Caribbean people, Timothy was subjected to some racist name-calling; however, he met any such remarks with dignity and refused to rise to the bait. Timothy worked in London at the Holiday Inn in Edgware for several months before coming to Newport. However, despite over 15 years experience in the trade, he struggled to find hotel work in Newport. In the end he had no choice but to work in a labouring job digging trenches for over two years. Eventually, he found work at Tesco warehouse in Magor; he was happy there and stayed for nearly thirteen years.

Playing dominoes: Timothy is a keen dominoes player and is known as ‘a hard seed’ - someone who is difficult to beat. He remembers dominoes as being a favourite sport in Barbados. It was governed by an official organisation and teams from across the island would compete for an annual cup. Timothy and his friends often played open-air dominoes right through the night and made so much noise that it was amazing that nobody called the law. In the UK, he played for a Cardiff team and would go to matches in Birmingham, Ipswich and other places. Once the dominoes match was over, the players would dance to calypso and reggae until two in the morning. Timothy and his partner Roddy would regularly drop six-love [when you win all six games] and win double points. They won several cups, including ‘best player of the year’. Timothy believes dominoes are important to Caribbean people because it brings them together socially and culturally. Players may seem like arch-enemies during a match, but they will be best friends again afterwards.