“I climatise here and I make here my home.”
Laceta Reid was born in Manchester in Jamaica in May of 1931.
“I remember a train disaster not far from where we were living [in Jamaica], August 1957, they called it the ‘Kendal Crash’. It was an excursion from Kingston to Montego Bay.”
“They took the bodies out and put them under a cotton tree, in the open space there for people to come… It was hard, it was terrible. I never see anything like that before.”
“I left for Britain shortly after… the journey was long, 23 days…The ship was called the SS Montserrat – it wasn’t a pleasant journey; I took sick on there…”
“It was sunny when we landed in Britain. I was surprised. It was September. The way we grow up listen to what the elders had said, and the way the talk, it was like the sun didn’t shine in Britain.”
“The two kids were born, a boy and a girl, and I was trying to get work, but no one would rent a place with kids. To be Jamaican is funny…”
“I left the candle factory and got a job in a paraffin work, we make paraffin heaters. Wages went up to £18… Quite a few Black people working there… there were Arabs, Pakistani, loads, all nations.”
“I am a country lad and it was just right for me. It was quiet, no hustling and bustling like London, so I just decide after a while to settle down. 1962 I come down.”
“Try to be nice to all and you’ll find your way around. Try and learn a trade – that would be the best part of your life coming up.
“Rwyf wedi cynefino yma a gwneud fy nghartref yma.”
Ganed Laceta Reid ym Manchester, Jamaica ym mis Mai 1931.
“Rwy’n cofio trychineb trên yn digwydd heb fod ymhell o lle’r oedden ni’n byw [yn Jamaica], Awst 1957, y ‘Kendal Crash’ oedden nhw’n ei alw. Taith o Kingston i Fae Montego oedd hi.”
“Fe aethon nhw â’r cyrff allan a’u rhoi dan goeden gotwm, yn yr awyr agored i bobl ddod yno... roedd yn anodd, roedd yn ofnadwy. Welais i erioed mo’r fath beth o’r blaen.”
“Fe wnes i adael a dod i Brydain yn fuan wedyn... roedd y siwrne’n un hir, 23 o ddiwrnodau... enw’r llong oedd yr SS Montserrat – doedd hi ddim yn fordaith braf; fues i’n sâl ar y llong...”
“Roedd hi’n heulog pan gyrhaeddon ni Brydain. Roeddwn i’n synnu. Mis Medi oedd hi. Y ffordd roedden ni wedi clywed gan yr hynafiaid wrth inni dyfu i fyny, fuasech chi ddim yn meddwl bod yr haul yn tywynnu ym Mhrydain.”
“Ganed ein dau blentyn, bachgen a merch, ac roeddwn i’n ceisio cael gwaith, ond doedd neb yn fodlon rhentu lle gyda phlant. Mae’n beth rhyfedd bod yn Jamaicaidd...”
“Fe adawais i’r ffatri ganhwyllau a chael swydd mewn gwaith paraffin, roedden ni’n gwneud gwresogyddion paraffin. Aeth y cyflog i fyny i £18... roedd cryn dipyn o bobl Dduon yn gweithio yno... roedd yno Arabiaid, Pacistaniaid, llwyth o bobl, cenhedloedd o bob math.”
“Bachgen cefn gwlad wyf i, ac roedd yn gweddu’n iawn i mi. Roedd hi’n ddistaw, dim rhyw brysurdeb fel Llundain, felly mi benderfynais i setlo ar ôl sbel. Yn 1962, ddois i yma.”
“Ceisiwch fod yn neis gyda phawb ac fe ddowch o hyd i’ch ffordd o gwmpas. Ceisiwch ddysgu crefft – dyna’r rhan gorau o’ch bywyd ar y gorwel.”