News

Shajeev speaks about his childhood, particularly schooling and how his school was an example of a colonial legacy. He had a fantastic time and considers it a very important part of his identity. University and his studies were dipped into next, along with discussions...

  Mark speaks about his family many of whom hail from Burma (now Myanmar) as well as recent explorations of heritage that have revealed a connection to France. His father was Anglo-Indian and with Portuguese heritage too. He believes his paternal grandmother was...

Rachael describes her childhood growing up in Hemel Hempstead, playing in the fields, the daughter of a Romany father and a White British middle class mother whose marriage crossed the social divide. She spoke of her father’s and her own psychic abilities and how her...

Stephen tells the fascinating story of his father Mervyn who was the founder of Ilfracombe Museum and also its first public library. Mervyn was an intrepid adventurer. He was originally from London but liked Ilfracombe and had family connections in the town.  After...

Cherif was born in Algeria in the 1970s. He reminisces about his early life there by the sea, ‘hanging out on the beaches’, then how school got stressful at the age of 11. At 16 the civil war started. He used to play handball to take his mind of things. He went to...

  Ann talks about her father Thornton Thomas, who was a sporting hero in Ilfracombe, a footballer, who was told that ‘he would never be chosen for a first league team, not because he couldn’t play but because he was black’. Thornton was born in London and it’s...

Karen discusses growing up in South Africa ‘in a very, very special part of the world across the road from a very beautiful beach. The Cape, where I came from, has a Mediterranean climate. It absolutely was a beautiful place to live and grow up.’ She grew up in...