People who made Ipswich their home many years ago have shared how they will be celebrating Christmas – the traditions they brought with them, and those they have learned over the years.
This year marked 75 years since the HMT Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks, Essex. The passenger liner was full of British Caribbeans, who had all answered the UK’s plea for help with the country’s labour shortage in the wake of the First World War.
Many of them settled in Ipswich, making the town their new home.
Among them was Paulette Reed, who made the journey alone from Jamaica to London at just 15, in 1968. Like many, she had grown up being told that the streets of England were paved with gold. It was a shock when she stepped off their airplane into a dark, grey and bitterly cold April day.
As her father drove her back to their lodgings, she asked if the surrounding houses were factories. Paulette was confused by the smoke issuing from every chimney, for in Jamaica, there was no need to burn coal inside.
She has since adapted to British weather – but said that her cooking remains very Jamaican.
“Christmas dinner in Jamaica varied, it depended on what was in season,” she explained. “Beef, chicken, mutton, fish or goat. It depended on what you could afford. The meat would be seasoned two to three days before and kept cool. You only had turkey if you lived in Kingston.”
It was also rare to spend the day only with immediate family. Extended family and neighbours would often spend the day together, bringing their own chairs if the host did not have enough.
“The weather this time of year would be glorious,” remembered Paulette. “We would have a long table outside, and we all brought a dish.
“Then, we would go to the beach, swim and play games.”
Joyce Jacobs travelled to Ipswich from Guyana in 1960, when she was 21 years old. She, too, took some time to get used to the cold, and was mesmerised by the flakes of white falling from the sky, having never seen snow before.
She remembers houses in Guyana being cleaned from top to bottom around Christmastime, as though they were preparing to bring a newborn baby home. “We do our spring cleaning in December!” she laughed.
Christmas dinner would often include chow mein, roti and curry, and pepperpot; ox tail, lamb neck and beef marinated in spices and simmered in a pot until the meat is tender, and served with freshly baked bread rolls.
She begins soaking the fruits for her rum cake in January, so that the raisins, sultanas and prunes have been steeping for almost 12 months by Christmas.
However, she explained that her Christian faith is the most important tradition she holds dear. On Christmas Day, she will be worshipping at the Hope Church in St Margaret’s Street, where she is a regular member.
Pastor Nathan Simmonds of the Bethel Apostolic Church agrees. Pastor Simmonds became the church’s pastor in 2014, taking over from his father Bishop Martin Simmonds, who founded the church in 1960.
Bishop Simmonds arrived in Ipswich from Nevis, a small island in the Caribbean Sea, while his wife hailed from the island of Montserrat.
When the family arrived, Bishop Simmonds was the first black minister in Ipswich.
Pastor Nathan was the couple’s fourth child of seven, and the second to be born in Britain.
Growing up, the family celebrated Christmas a little differently to the children’s friends, which Pastor Nathan continued when he started his own family. He had always been taught that Christmas was about spending time with family, rather than the birth of Christ, as there is no way to know for sure when Jesus may have been born.
“We love Christmas, but we don’t celebrate like others do,” Pastor Nathan explained. He chooses not to have Christmas tree and decorations on display, and his family do not exchange gifts or cards.
If Christmas Day does not fall on a Sunday, he also does not hold a church service, instead telling his congregation to rest and spend time with their loved ones.
This year, he will spend the day with his mother, his sister, his wife and two of their five children.
“I will probably be in the kitchen while everyone else is chilling,” he laughed. Christmas dinner might include a lamb shank, perhaps with chicken or curried goat.
In the afternoon, the family like to watch films together, which, if it is up to Pastor Nathan, will be a nostalgic film such as Spartacus.
Paulette, Joyce and Pastor Nathan all share links with the Ipswich Windrush Society, whose premises can be found in the Sailmakers shopping centre.
How will you be celebrating Christmas? Tell us in the comments below
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