Half a century ago, Commonwealth citizens from the West Indies arrived in England on board a ship. Many settled in Bradford and reporter Olufunmi Majekodunmi talked to them about their lives in the City and how they now consider themselves to be true Bradfordians.

Fifty years ago, the SS Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks, carrying 430 Caribbeans.

For the new arrivals it was hailed as a fresh start to a new life.

They had heard that England was paved with gold and that there were opportunities for all.

For many, the reality was far different. They suffered racial abuse and had to fight physically - at times - to achieve equal rights.

Forty two years ago, Egbert Wright arrived in Bradford after being encouraged to come by his aunt, who had come to Britain some years earlier.

The 31-year-old arrived alone but managed to secure his first job - as a maintenance man with British Rail.

"I didn't know what to expect until we arrived. Someone had told me that the streets of England were paved with gold.

"If they were, I didn't see it. It just was not what many of us expected," he said.

"The first thing you noticed were the houses with their little chimneys and smoke pouring out. They looked like factories. Back home, you only saw factories with chimneys.''

Mr Wright, now aged 73, said he suffered a torrent of verbal abuse. Taunts like 'black monkey', 'black cat' and 'How do you know when you need to wash?' were dished out by fellow workers.

But comments from one of them stopped after he fought back. "He called me a black monkey and I told him I know that when God created the world he did not just do so with one colour.''

The father of seven said he had to learn to be brave.

"I truly believe that he who knows better, does better. We as West Indians and as parents know the treatment of our ancestors who were brought from Africa to Jamaica. What they had to go through and what we experienced will be different to what our children have to cope with. But we cannot hate people for it, we have to deal with it," he said.

He now spends his time running the Federation of the Elderly at the Gulberg Community Resource Centre, in Little Horton. "It is a good place to bring the community together. Where we can sit and talk about out experiences," he said.

But he would ultimately like to go back to Jamaica. "It would be hard to leave the children, but I suppose I did the same when I left my country all those years ago," he said.

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