From The Sunshine To The Snow: Remembering my friend - by Louise Garvey

I first met Tryphena on a project that a group from the African - Caribbean community participated in based at Nottingham Castle called From the sunshine to the snow. 

Our friendship developed as we worked together on the project. We discussed our journeys emigrating from the Caribbean to England. Tryphena told me she emigrated to England in 1952 age 19 years of age, whilst I was aged 16 when I emigrated in 1957. The group discussed how we felt leaving our families behind, our first experiences of the British winter, and the smoky chimneys from the endless sea of factories.

I was born in East Portland, Jamaica in village called Scotts Runn, whilst Tryphena was born in the village of Old Works. The style of dress in England was so different from our sunny homeland where we wore bright coloured fashionable clothing, compared to the dark and heavy clothing such as tweed skirts paired with loads of cardigans and jumpers to cope with the colder climate. 

Our friendship grew from that project, and many other community projects we became involved in that challenged, highlighted or portrayed black history. We became involved with many Clubs and Associations that discussed social awareness, education and most importantly for two nurses, health.

Tryphena trained as a nurse gaining registration as a Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RMN) State Registered Nurse (SRN) and working on the District as a qualified Midwife and she was also the first black Health Visitor to be trained and work in Nottingham.  Tryphena also ran a nursing home for a number of years before retiring. Like wise I also trained as a nurse gaining registration as a Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RMN) and State Registered Nurse (SRN), and worked as a nurse in the National Health Service for more than 40 years.

It makes me laugh to recall a story that Tryphena told me about her experiences of being the first black midwife to work in Devon. The Devon doctors worried that the mothers would not take to a black midwife, to which she replied “when a women is giving birth she doesn’t care about the skin colour of the midwife, she just wants to get the baby delivered” and that was that.

Like Tryphena, with our love for people, and wanting always to be active and involved helped our friendship grow stronger. We involved ourselves in a variety of health and social care voluntary organisations sharing our skills and life experiences. 

The Legacy Makers project and Sisters Against Cancer were two projects she devoted much of her time and energy to, and similarly with the Standing In This Place project. My friend Tryphena was just a lovely human being, so knowledgeable and caring. We had so many wonderful conversations, I will miss our friendship, our love for one another and our laughter.

Mrs Tryphena Anderson (front row right seated) with Mrs Louise Garvey (standing far right) at the Mapping Memories project.

Thanks to Ethel Anderson (seated front left) for providing the image.

The Roaring Whisper by Louise Garvey

Listen to Louise Garvey read a poem from her latest publication Voices from a Village, available now from our online gift shop.

Why is the sculpture called 'Standing In This Place’?

The title 'Standing In This Place' has its origins in my quest to find female ancestors. My family is deeply rooted in the Midlands and I found my working-class ancestors mainly working in the textile and coal industries.

Bramley’s hardware shop c.1900 Ilkeston, since demolished

When trying to find places and connections to my female ancestors, I often discover that no trace remains. When looking at illiterate female ancestors, it’s hard to find any information about who they were other than; they were born, they were married, they had children and they died.

Newspapers in the National Archives have been very useful to help me understand the lives of some of these women. For example, one such story I discovered about a female lacemaker, aged 19, she was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct at Weekday Cross, Nottingham. When I visit the Lace Market area of Nottingham, in particularly weekday cross, I can stand in the place where my female ancestors once stood.

Being able to stand where my ancestors once stood, was the idea behind the sculptures title. When I began working with the black-led community group Legacy Makers, I discovered the difficulties they face when tracing ancestors of African origins. The ability to discover information about their ancestors roots, the places they once stood becomes much more difficult through the mass displacement of African people during the Trans Atlantic slave trade which saw millions of Africans forcibly taken and sold into slavery.

When thinking about the sculpture that we are creating and it's intended placement in the Broad Marsh new public park, it feels a very fitting location as census data for the 18th & 19th centuries show many female textile workers living in the Broad Marsh and Narrow Marsh areas, you can clearly see many workers, immigrants and paupers all living side-by-side in close conditions.

The two women featured in the sculpture are our connection to our ancestors, we tread in their footsteps, we Stand In This Place.

Rachel Carter

Heritage Garden remembers Tom Oliver by Ethel Anderson

On the 75th anniversary of the Windrush, family members of Tom Oliver unveiled a stone dedicated to his life at the Heritage plot that bears his name on the St Anns allotments where he gardened for many years.

His niece Ethel Anderson explains “It gives me great pleasure being here with family and friends to celebrate and unveil this work of art on this plot. A stone sculpture to acknowledge, my uncle Thomas George Oliver’s contribution to the development of this Heritage Site with his original hat perched on it. Today is also a chance to highlight contributions from other Caribbeans who have migrated to this country. History and heritage are very important we learn from our past to build the future.”

The allotment is a great place to visit. Beautiful scenery, lovely volunteers and more importantly it’s good for wellbeing. There is something magical about being outdoors. I happened to visit the allotment one day and met Heritage Plot manager Joe, we talked for a while and I pitched a few thoughts and ideas how this site could be improved and create learning spaces for children and visitors using the Artifacts that can be seen around the site. Joe was encouraged by this and ask if I would like to be a volunteer; I said yes.

Ethel adds, “Theres an old saying ‘Sow a thought you reap an act, Sow an act you reap a habit, Sow a habit you reap a Character, Sow a Character you reap a destiny’. Today this is it, as we unveil the stone sculpture dedicated to Tom Oliver, developed from a thought that came out of a project by Mrs Rachel Carter Standing In This Place, who inspires conversations that lead us here.”

“Thanks to Renewal Trust for allowing the Family to use the space to do this.” Mrs Ethel Anderson, Legacy Maker

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Images curtsy of Ethel Anderson and the Oliver family

New statue will highlight connections between East Midlands cotton mills and slavery

A new statue will highlight the contributions and connections between white mill workers in the East Midlands and black enslaved women who grew the raw cotton supplies in the Americas. 

The life-size, bronze ‘Standing In This Place’ statue will be placed in Nottingham’s redeveloped Broadmarsh area in summer 2024. It will highlight themes of sorrow, strength and resilience as it portrays the historical links between East Midlands cotton mills in the late 18th to mid 19th century and the raw cotton supplies that were sourced from estates that used enslaved labour.  

Both Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire were home to cotton spinning mills in this period, feeding cotton thread into Nottingham's hosiery and lace industries. Several historical cotton mills still exist in Nottingham and there was once a huge cotton mill complex along the River Leen, although this has not survived. Broadmarsh was also once populated with textile workers and dye works   The Derwent Valley Mills in Derbyshire, meanwhile, has been designated as a world heritage site by UNESCO . Recognised as the birthplace of the modern industrial factory system, its mills became the model for factories throughout the world. 

Plans for the statue will be displayed at a new exhibition opening in Derby this weekend. The ‘Standing In This Place’ exhibition has been co-created by sculptor Rachel Carter, in partnership with the Legacy Makers community group. 

Sculptor, Rachel Carter explains: “This project began with an interest in discovering more about my female ancestors, who found themselves working in a cotton mill as children. In 2020, I met members of the Legacy Makers group, who have been researching their African ancestors that were enslaved, trafficked and forced to labour in cotton fields. Together, we have worked on the idea of a sculpture that acknowledges the undeniable connection of these histories and this exhibition feels like we are one step closer to realising our vision.” 

Isalyn Martin from the Legacy Makers group says “I believe women are essential to a thriving world. The Standing In This Place statue means so much to me as the statue symbolises Nottingham's female ancestors, both black and white, and their contribution to the wealth of the cotton industry. As a Nottingham resident, to see it it in the city will be very emotional and a joy to share with others.” 

Louise Garvey, also part of the Legacy Makers group, adds: “The sculpture and exhibition are important representations of our cultural heritage, as it is important that people know where they come from as it informs how they interact with society and the world around them and how society and the world around them interacts with them.” 

Until recently, there has been a reluctance or disinterest in explaining the East Midlands cotton industry’s links to slavery. However, in 2014, the Midlands-based Legacy Makers community group decided to explore and expose this hidden, or erased, history. They wanted to reveal how, behind each piece of spun thread, a high price had been paid in the pain and suffering of the enslaved Africans who had been forcibly trafficked to labour on cotton plantations in European colonies in the Caribbean, South America and the United States of America. Working with Dr Susanne Seymour, Deputy Director at the University of Nottingham’s Institute for the Study of Slavery, the partners addressed gaps in both the historical understanding, and public communication of, the Derbyshire cotton mills and their links to slavery. Dr Seymour has worked through the collaborative Global Cotton Connections project from 2014, to trace the raw cotton supplies that were brought to the Derwent Valley mills from around the globe and to interpret with descendant communities of colour the colonial and enslavement connections of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

Dr Seymour explains: “While the Derwent Valley mill owners have typically been regarded as opponents of slavery our team’s Global Cotton Connections research, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, has revealed just how reliant they were on supplies of raw cotton grown by enslaved people of African descent in the Americas, from Brazil and the Caribbean to the southern states of America. Women formed a vital and major part of this enslaved workforce. Our academic and community collaboration involving volunteers of African descent from the Legacy Makers group has worked to change the public interpretation of the Derwent Valley Mills’ relationship with enslavement, showing where raw cotton supplies originated from and their production through the brutal system of transatlantic enslavement.” 

The Standing In This Place exhibition is free to all visitors. It will open to the public at Derby’s Museum of Making from 14th July and it will run until 7th January 2024. 

 Press Release 10th July 2023 Nottingham University

Creative Writing

Over the course of three weekly workshops participants where guided by Lead Writer Panya Banjoko and supporting writer Deborah Tyler Bennet to create a series of poetry pieces.

We explored family members or ancestors that worked within the textile trade in the cotton mills and factories of the mid 19th century and ancestors that were enslaved as part of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

We paid an interest in exploring the deep connection between working class women living in the slums of Nottingham and enslaved women in the colonial plantations to create our poems that have been collated and edited by Panya and are now available as a printed collection of poems.

Phase 1 delivery 2022

Rachel Carter

Braiding Workshops

Over the first phase of the project, Rachel has been offering free braiding workshops to encourage the local community to create braids that will become part of the new sculpture for Nottingham.

Kumihimo - Participants had an introduction to the Japanese braiding technique of Kumihimo using a traditional wooden Marudai. During these workshops they were guided through a range of techniques and movements to produce two types of braid.

Fill Gap Braiding Kits - Over 120 Fill Gap Braiding Kits were created and posted out to Women living in Nottinghamshire. Asked to learn with Rachel via an online tutorial, the women could then select a handful of braids to return. These community braids will become part of the new sculpture.

Phase 1 delivery 2022

Rachel Carter

Kumihimo workshops with Rachel Carter

Over the first phase of the project, Rachel has been offering free braiding workshops to encourage the local community to create braids that will become part of the new sculpture for Nottingham.

Kumihimo - Participants had an introduction to the Japanese braiding technique of Kumihimo using a traditional wooden Marudai. During these workshops they were guided through a range of techniques and movements to produce two types of braid.

Phase 1 delivery

Rachel Carter

Fill Gap Braiding with the Legacy Makers and Rachel Carter

Over the first phase of the project, Rachel has been offering free braiding workshops to encourage the local community to create braids that will become part of the new sculpture for Nottingham.

Fill Gap Braiding Kits - Over 120 Fill Gap Braiding Kits were created and posted out to Women living in Nottinghamshire. Asked to learn with Rachel via an online tutorial, the women could then select a handful of braids to return. These community braids will become part of the new sculpture.

Dance & Movement - Women 50+

The local community were invited to come and join local activist and dance artist Deane McQueen in series of movement workshop sessions aimed at women over the age of 50 years of age living in and around the city of Nottingham.

During the weekly sessions they where invited to come together to imagine, watch, think, share and move together to tell the project narrative of the cotton mill workers and the enslaved cotton pickers. From this group of local women we selected two to volunteer to be the models for the new bronze sculpture where they will be immortalised in bronze as part of the new sculpture.

The dance group worked with a fantastic collective of community stitchers who created long skirts for the dancers to experience and then worked together to create historical costumes for the two models.

“I want to extend congratulations to every member of the dance group. Your significant range of interpersonal skills made you a joy to work with as a group, each contribution building into a collective work ethic. So warm and generous. The result speaks for itself. Rachel is clearly thrilled and you should be. Fantastic concept realised by fantastic women. The digital bronze statue is breathtaking! ”

— Deane McQueen

Phase 1 delivery

Rachel Carter

Mini Figures Commission

A group of ten stitchers where invited to attend a series of workshops, talks and museum visits to delve into the history of the two women represented in this project.

Each participant received two wooden mini figures and was asked to design and create an historic costume for the figures reflecting dress from the mid nineteenth century, the finished design for the two live models was designed referencing some of the historical details.

Four stitchers along with the artist, models, film makers and historians spent the day at the Steve Russell Studios in Stroud becoming part of the activity to digitally capture two live models in historic clothing.

Phase 1 delivery

Rachel Carter