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As one who has studied the post-war migration of and done very many indepth interviews with Windrush and West Indian ex-servicemen and women, I can say that they laid the foundation for the thousands of settlers who came afterwards. It was the ground-work done by those settlers in the ten years after 1945 that made it easier for others to set up home here. Also we should not forget that a significant number of West Indians did not return home in 1945, but were also instrumental in bringing about some changes from which later arrivals greatly benefited. I have not done any work on how high that number was, but I know many of the men’s 1940s stories. We should be grateful to them. arthur > Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:40:22 +0000 > From: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: WINDRUSH > To: [log in to unmask] > > The timing of this discussion is interesting as we at MeWe are currently putting together an integenerational food-history project. > > In our research we visited the 'Moving Here' website recommended to us by the British Museum. The site states that: > 'Popular belief suggests that the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush inspired an immediate flood of Caribbean immigrants. In fact, the travellers who arrived on the SS Windrush, and those who followed them until the middle of the 1950s, only amounted to a trickle. But several factors intensified Caribbean migration in the seven years between 1955 and 1962' > > http://www.movinghere.org.uk/ > > The site also states that 1955 marked the first signficant influx of free people from West Africa. Because of this we are considering 1955 rather than 1948 as the start date of our heritage focus. In terms of food this is an interesting time i.e. when Brixton Market transformed into what we know today. > > However we are still developing the project's scope and welcome input from BASA members on the above, and other areas. > > Stand by for a more detailed request for information. > > Ann-Marie Olufuwa > MeWe Art & Education