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Summary of interview with Gloria Byer, 2016Redbridge Museum & Heritage CentreGloria Byer was born on 6 January 1941 in ing to Britain“In the West Indies there was not a lot of jobs. So someone came and started recruiting people to work on London Transport.”Lester [Gloria’s then fiancé] left Barbados in 1954 with his brother and arrived in 1955. He wrote back to Gloria’s parents to ask if they could be married. “The passage was arranged for me to come down. I left Barbados in June 1956, I arrived in July. It was two weeks passage on the ship.” Before she left Barbados, she booked a ticket from a travel agent in Bridgetown. “[I] had to think of where to get the money because there wasn’t loans or anything like that. My stepfather and my husband’s father chipped in and paid my fare. And my husband paid back my dad. $200 dollars which worked out at about ?50 for the two weeks sailing and the cabin.” “I remember the first ship I came on was a French ship. It wasn’t big, looking at it now it was most like a yacht, a beautiful ship. It was me and a friend of mine. She was coming down to do nursing.”Gloria and her friend shared a cabin for two which was not top class but still considered high bracket as it was not steerage. “Steerage was cheaper, with people all together. It was bunk beds one over the other.” “If you paid more you could have a cabin, between one, two or four people sharing. You had someone to look after you [a steward].”The ship didn’t come straight to Britain. “I can’t remember where we landed, but then we [were] transported by train and then a ferry to Southampton.”In 1957, Gloria went back to Barbados while her husband was doing National Service with the British Army. She returned to England in 1959. “The second time I came was [on] a bigger ship. The ship went to other islands, to Jamaica and then Barbados. The first one was [carrying just over] 100 people, a very small ship. They call it a cruise ship.” People on board would say “We are coming to the mother country, we are coming to England.” What was your impression of England before you moved?“You see these little chimneys. And think, what funny houses. You think that house is on fire...”What was the food like on both of the boats?“The first one was French and the second one the SS Surriento which was Italian. Whatever country the ship belonged to, you had their food. But it was loads of food you know. There was a dining hall. It was set. You had breakfast, lunch, supper and in the evening you would improvise with hot tea and whatever you wanted.”Some people on board the ship brought along a coal pot which was used for cooking food in the West Indies. “They were made out of clay or some of them were iron. They were round, and underneath the ash would drop down, and they had a grid. Your saucepans or pot would go on top of that. [You would use] wood or coal to heat it. Some of the people [in steerage] brought their coal pots with them and actually cooked what they wanted on the boats. A lot of them brought food along like yams. But when the captain found out he stopped it. Because it would be dangerous [as there were] children running about and things like that.” What did you bring with you on your first journey?Gloria knew England was cold so she had to get material to make into clothes. “Flannelette was the thing. We had flannelette nighties and petticoats. Trousers were not worn in those days… We didn’t know anything about jumpers or cardigans. Your boyfriend or your husband would meet you at the station, with the appropriate things depending on what time of year it was. If it’s winter they obviously met you with a coat, if it’s summer a light shawl for your shoulders. And then when you got here you had to accumulate whatever you could. And mostly when you come here you start wearing your socks!” [laughs]She didn’t bring any photographs with her from Barbados. “To get photographs taken you had to go into town. Like you had to do to get your passport pictures done.”For more information or to book a schools education session at Redbridge Museum, please email redbridge.museum@.uk or call 020 8708 2317.Copyright ? 2016-2020 Redbridge Museum & Heritage Centre. Material may not be reproduced or distributed without permission. ................
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