Why a Booktrail?
1960s: What was it like to be a child of the Windrush generation?
Windrush Child
What you need to know before your trail
Leonard is shocked when he arrives with his mother in the port of Southampton. His father is a stranger to him, it’s cold and even the Jamaican food doesn’t taste the same as it did back home in Maroon Town. But his parents have brought him here to try to make a better life, so Leonard does his best not to complain, to make new friends, to do well at school – even when people hurt him with their words and with their fists.
How can a boy so far from home learn to enjoy his new life when so many things count against him?
Travel Guide
The story of the Windrush generation
70 years ago, on 21 June 1948, the former German cruise liner HMT Empire Windrush arrived in the UK at Tilbury Docks, Essex carrying passengers from the West Indies. The Windrush generation changed the political and cultural makeup of London today.
Jamaica – Maroon Town
Maroon Town is located approximately 29 kilometers, southwest of Montego Bay.
This former settlement of the Jamaican Maroons – those who fought the First Maroon War of the 1730s and the Second Maroon War of 1795–6. The Maroon Pride Banana Chips brand originated in this community.
Southampton
The city of Portsmouth is well known for its maritime heritage. The Empire Windrush arrived from Jamaica in 1948. The ship docked at Tilbury in Essex, having sailed from Australia via Jamaica. During WW2, thousands of men and women from the Caribbean had served in the armed forces, and the Empire Windrush stopped in Jamaica to collect some of them.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Windrush Child
Destination/location: Jamaica, Southampton Author/guide: Benjamin Zephaniah Departure Time: 1960s
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
