New exhibition celebrates Caribbean pioneers

A new exhibition featuring people who were the first in their family to leave the Caribbean and move to the UK has opened at a Birmingham gallery.

Pathfinders: Sunday Best celebrates the journeys, lives and contributions of Caribbean people, who were invited by the government to help rebuild the UK after the Second World War.

The exhibition, which runs until 15 August at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) Gallery, also includes portraits and archive material, as well as a look at the role faith and the church played in people's lives.

Norman Bailey, who created the project, said: "The point of the Pathfinders was to build a community, find the work and make it easier for those that were coming behind."

Within the Windrush generation, Pathfinders were often the first in their family or community to leave home, cross the Atlantic, and begin a new life in Britain.

Many travelled alone, finding work, securing housing and sending photographs back to family in the Caribbean.

Adassa Reid, 92, moved to England in 1961, when she was aged 27.

"I wanted to come to England, you know for a better life," she said. "We flew to London and took the train to Birmingham Snow Hill train station. It was very cold."

Reid, who received British Empire Medal (BEM) in 2021 for services to the community, had travelled to London alone before changing her mind and deciding she wanted to stay with family in Birmingham.

"I could not wait to get a job, I went on to work for the National Health Service until I retired," she added.

Reid's story is one of many that is being celebrated at this exhibition, which has been inspired by the important role that faith and the church played in the life of thousands that took on the journey from the Caribbean.

Bishop Marcel Simpson, at The Rock, New Testament Church of God, said the church had "always been central to our community".

"This was the case back home in the Caribbean and it remained the same when we got here, it was able to keep people together," he explained.

Delroy McPherson, came to England from Jamaica on Christmas Eve in 1969, at the age of 12.

His family, who took a charter flight to Birmingham, were among the first Black people to move into Marshall Street in Smethwick.

"We opened the door of the plane... coming on 24 December, it was snowing," he said.

"You just couldn't get warm, just genuinely cold."

The project, made possible through The National Lottery Heritage Fund, took about two years to collect memories and stories.

Rachel Dowling-Jones, RBSA Gallery director added: "We're so thrilled to be able to be part of this exhibition, giving the visitors to the gallery and opportunity to understand what happened during the Windrush, the legacy they created and the lives they've created here in Birmingham."

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