Darlington mayor marks the 75th anniversary of the Windrush arrival

Cllr Jan Cossins was joined by descendants of the first black people who came to Darlington by bus in 1956 and who were photographed leaving Bank Top station, suitcases in hand, to start a new life in the town.

The Windrush flag flies outside Darlington Town Hall

“For the descendants of the people on that iconic photo, this is a day of joy and happiness,” said Shaun Campbell, of the Arthur Wharlton Foundation, who helped organise the event. “It is almost like an acceptance for the first time as a community from a civic point of view.

“We have had to fight to keep our dignity. My ancestors came from Barbados, the site of Britain’s first black slave society - the most brutal, inhuman and barbaric system, and yet we have survived. We are still here, and we are in Darlington, and Darlington is our home.”

It was on June 22, 1948, that the Empire Windrush liner docked at Tilbury (above) bringing the first 500 West Indians to fill labour shortages in Britain’s war ravaged economy. It was the start of a wave of movement that lasted until 1971.

Mayor Cossins said: “I think today has brought a community together. It has made people realise that we acknowledge them and recognise what they have brought to the town with their achievements and how we love them. I am so proud of what we have done, I’m buzzing!

“But the council has never celebrated Black History Month before and we need to change that. We need to recognise the colour and diversity that everyone brings to our town.”

Mayor Jan Cossins welcomes people connected to the Windrush generation to the mayor's parlour

On Saturday (June 24, 2023), between 12 and six, the Arthur Wharton Foundation on Widdowfield Road is throwing its doors open to everyone to celebrate the Windrush anniversary with an afternoon of food and calypso – even the internationally renowned steel pan musician Dudley Nesbitt is going to be there.

The foundation is named after the first black professional footballer who started his career with Darlington FC in the 1880s. Today, work is starting on a mural on the outside of the foundation building, overlooked the denes, which is based on the photograph of the first members of the Windrush generation to arrive in Darlington.

The first of the Windrush generation arrive at Darlington's Bank Top station in June 1956. From the left: Bill Nicholson, who probably recruited the men on behalf of Darlington council, Jacob Tucker, unknown, Alfonso Webley, Mervyn White, unknown, Albert Henry, Altamont Thompson, unknown, unknown, and the man far right is believed to have driven the bus, which can be seen behind them marked "special"

They are eight Jamaican friends, who seem to have been recruited in June 1956 by Bill Nicholson, who is on the left hand side of the picture. Either at Southampton docks or in London, he sold them the virtues of the town when their services were being sought after by places like Manchester and Liverpool.

They were skilled men – Jacob Tucker, for instance, had sold his shoemaker’s business in Kingstown to fund his passage. When Alfonso Webley arrived in Darlington, his French polishing skills got him a job at Binns.

But really the council needed men to work on the buses. In fact, the eight were probably photographed walking down Victoria Road to the bus station in Feethams where temporary accommodation was provided for them along with jobs as cleaners or conductors.

Benson Henry and Vic Tucker with the iconic photo which features their fathers arriving at Bank Top Station in June 1956

“My father, Albert Henry, was a shoemaker, but when he got here, there were that many people already making shoes, he had to take whatever job he could get to make money,” said Benson Henry. “He worked on the buses and then at Cummins.

“He stayed with the di Luca family at 19 Duke Street, as they were only ones who would take black people.” The di Lucas were Italian ice cream makers, migrants themselves, so perhaps understood the newcomers’ plight.

“Then, in the early 1960s, he got lucky on the pools and bought a house in East Mount Road,” said Benson.

As the men became established, they brought their wives over from the Caribbean and then, a few years later, their children.

Benson was brought up by his grandparents and rejoined his parents in Darlington when he was 14 in 1963.

“The only shop in Jamaica that had a chimney was a bakery and when I came to Darlington I thought what a lot of bakeries there are because every house had a chimney,” he said. “And then when the snow came, that was something else!”

The descendants of the Windrush generation all feel that their parents were offered a dream that didn’t exist, that they had to battle against racism, but there is a pride that they made it through.

“The streets were supposed to be paved with gold but when they got here, it wasn’t as advertised,” said Vic Tucker, son of Jacob. “They brought with them their colour, their culture, their music, their sports, and now their descendants are magistrates, solicitors, a champion boxer, social workers…

“There are lots of nice people in Darlington, but there are times when we are still feel made to feel like second or third class citizens, especially from the police.”

Ian Thompson’s father, Altamont, is third from the right on the picture. Altamont’s grandmother gave him the money to sail to this land of opportunity. In Darlington, he qualified to drive a bus, saved to buy a house in East Mount Road and to bring his girlfriend over – they married on Christmas Day because it was the only day he was allowed off – and then start a family.

But a woman made an accusation that Altamont had nearly run her over on a North Road zebra crossing. The bus company accepted the incident did not happen but still required Altamont to apologise to the woman or lose his job.

“Instead, he resigned and went to college to study engineering,” said Ian, a civil servant and magistrate. “I remember him saying to me that when it comes to integrity and honour, stand up for what’s right, never back down.”

With the black community in East Mount Road helping support Altamont’s seven children, he qualified and spent the rest of his career at Cummins.

The Windrush flag flies outside Darlington Town Hall

“When I was young, people would drive past us shouting obscenities,” said Ian. “Racism is still there but it is more subtle. There’s still a lot wrong, especially with the police – I have been stopped more than 25 times.

“So today has been a landmark moment, and it has been pleasing to be there, but I would like to see action rather than words. I want the council to follow it up with real action that improves the lives and communities of black and brown people in Darlington.”