Percy Hanniford

The life story of Percival Hanniford who Swapped the Sunshine of Jamaica for a Life in the Valleys of South Wales

In November, Gareth Derry, Transport for Wales Safety Operations Team was given the privilege to interview Percival Hanniford, following an initial talk that he had with about moving from the Caribbean to the Valleys of South Wales and gaining employment on the railways. This was done as part of Black History Month. For Mr Hanniford, who is now 91 years old, coming to Britain was a brave step to take and here he tells about how it happened, how his life and that of his family changed, he recalls many stories about his life on the railways and the friends that he made..

Percival Hanniford: In 1958/59, there was a programme on our local radio in Jamaica every Sunday afternoon, saying, “If you want to come to Britain, listen each week to this programme and we will tell you all about the country.” They did just this, telling us not only the good things but also the bad things but highlighting the fact that there were lots of jobs available in Britain as it recovered from the War. My wife and I used to listen every week and, at that time I had a job but shortly afterwards, the Company went out of business. I was looking for alternative employment when I turned to my wife and said, “That sounds like a good opportunity”, but she did not think we could afford it.

PH: My wife had two brothers living in England, so I asked her to write to them asking for their view on the situation. She did this and they wrote back and said, “Come if you want to but it’s not a bed of roses!” So, having discussed it over and over, I took up the offer and we came to Britain in 1961/62, eventually settling in Cardiff. We could not afford to bring our four children with us, so we left them with our parents. I did not find work at once but my brother in law said to take the local paper – The Echo – for three pence and look through the jobs. Eventually, by the end of 1962 I saw an advertisement for a job with British Rail as a Guard – I thought that this must be as a soldier guard! It was my sister in law who explained that this meant a job on the railway!

PH: As I said, it was in 1961/62 when we arrived and 1962 was that extremely hard winter. I did not like the weather – it was so cold and such a change from the hot climate in the Caribbean! Remember that it was 1962, the year of the very cold weather and heavy snow. The River Taff froze so solid that you could walk across it. British Rail shut down and engines were abandoned where they stopped, is some cases for up to two days! Despite it not being as easy to get a job as we had been led to believe, never then or at any time in my career on the railway did I ever encounter any racism. At that time there were people from many different nations who had moved to Britain after the War to get employment. It was a rough time.

PH: When we arrived in Britain, I was told that I would have a great opportunity if I joined British Rail. The main thing was not to get into trouble and to keep my head down. For the whole of my career with British Rail, that is exactly what I did. I had a long and happy career and gradually, in stages we were able to bring our four children over - at first one, then a second and finally the last two - and to become a family once more, now living in Cardiff. One of my brothers in law was living in Cardiff and that is why we settled there.

PH: I had never worked with trains in Jamaica and so this was something new for me. I was invited along for an interview with a gentleman – I do not remember his name – and after we had been though his questions, he said to me,: “You’re quite intelligent, you can write and everything about you is what we are looking for, so I will Pass You and you will be sent to our depot in Newtown.”

So, there I was. For the first two weeks, I was put through a tough training programme in the Newtown training school, learning routes, signals, and railway regulations before being sent out by British Rail to towns and cities all over the country. At the end of the two weeks, we went down to the Newtown depot for on the job training. At the end of this time, I was passed out as a Guard and given my pack, which contained my Railway Appendix, red and green flags, a lamp and, finally, several detonators in case of any blockages on the line! In our training group, there was another man from the West Indies and two from Pakistan and, to this day, we still regularly correspond – when we made friends, we made friends for life!

PH: I had now been passed out to be a Guard but, I really did not enjoy the work and then an opportunity arose for a Shunter. To my surprise, I really loved it. I started as an UnderShunter and gradually worked up to become Head Shunter. I found that then, I was totally responsible for everything – I had to prepare trains for one end of the country to the other and, in fact not just across England but also for the Continent. It was my responsibility to check where every wagon was going and to make sure that it was in the right place at the right time. These wagons carried a wide variety of goods ranging from livestock and meat to coal and steel.

When we were not actually working, we would go back to the cabin and we all grew together as a big family. There was no bickering and, as I said, there was never a hint of racialism, we all got on just fine. We worked on shifts – 2pm to 10pm, 10pm until 6am and 6am until 2pm. We would all get to work ahead of time so that we could talk to the previous shift to see if there was anything we should know before we started work. Then, at the start of each shift we were given a big sheet with all our duties laid out on it. I loved the time when there were steam engines because they were warm – absolutely wonderful in 1962! - and the driver would call out, “Come up, Boyo! I will get you warm.” Then, we could get in with the driver and enjoy the heat from the fire. Diesels were not the same, they did not have that same glow and had only a little heater which was down by the side of the driver and, sometimes, the driver would say, “You are not coming in here!” We loved our time with the steam engines.

PH: In the later days, when we were working with diesel engines, I would be in charge of the train, with the driver. It was my responsibility to keep him out of danger until his shift was over. During the time that I was working there, we saw a lot of changes. At Newtown we had a couple of collieries that sent coal to Newtown but, once they closed, we no longer had these trains and so we were moved to Tremorfa where there were less sidings and hence a smaller workload. Here it was steel and coal; the steel was made next to us and so everything was made there. We had to make up the trains and then send them further afield

By this time, I had been made up to Head Shunter. As such, everything was my responsibility and, so, if anything happened, it was down to me. I was also responsible for the engines and the drivers.

PH: It was great fun. I still see my railway family, many of them are still around and, as I said, I was in charge of a body of men – drivers, shunters, and me! I was in charge of many of them as a Shunter. Then I was promoted again, this time to Chargeman. I found this much more difficult as I was now working indoors – I preferred to be out with the men and the

trains! Now, everyone had to come to me – I didn’t allocate the work, but I was distributing the work.

PH: I remember once, when we were shunting at Newtown and we were on morning turn, we were sitting in the cabin when the Inspector suddenly said, “Something is not right!”

All four of us rushed outside and asked, “What has happened?”

He said, “There is a train coming up from Margam and I have been told to look out for it when it comes to Cardiff.”

When the train passed through Cardiff Central, there appeared to be nothing wrong. However, when it got to Newtown, we could hear “Let me out, let me out!” and a banging on the wagon side.

One of the Shunters, named Jack, said, “There is someone in there, but it is supposed to be just a goods train.”

We stopped the train, the shouting and banging continued and so we opened the wagon door, and, to our astonishment, he said, “There’s a woman in here!”

“What are you doing in there? Where are you coming from?”

“I want to go to London! Is this London?”

We said, “You are not going any further than here! Come on, get out!

We got him out and said, “We can’t let you go.”

Across a few sidings was the station but the Inspector said, “We can’t let you go.” Someone came and collected him and that was the last we saw of him.

PH: I think, personally speaking, that everybody liked me. When I became a Supervisor, myself and my wife were going on the train and one of my old colleagues was coming out, a Guard, and he stopped and said, “Percy, Percy, where are you going?”

He said to my wife, “He may be your husband, but you do not know him. If it hadn’t had been for this man, I would not have been where I am.

When we got to the station, there was a bloke who said, “Percy, Percy, is that really you? Do you know that just last week I was talking about you and I thought you were dead! How old are you now?”

I said, “I am 91”

They have already sent me a letter to say that this year’s dinner is cancelled. Since I left British Rail, I am still with them and they are still with me. One year, I was going on the train, the Guard, who knew me, came up to me and looked at my wife. “Tickets please”

I just sat there and didn’t move

“Tickets please” this time much louder and everyone in the carriage looked to see what was going on.

I said, “I haven’t got a ticket.”

“Well you are not riding on this train.”

We used to have fun along the line.

PH: The most important thing is to make sure that you do the job correctly – if you don’t do it correctly, you haven’t got a job. It’s not a job you can play about with – it’s dangerous and its lives that are involved. That applies every time you cross that threshold. Make sure you do it to the best of your ability and happiness will come along. I started right at the bottom and I managed to work my way up, with good friends, advice, everything, and it gave me a long and happy life. Its been a long life and I am grateful to my wife for being there for me. Sometimes I would go off at 6 o’clock in the morning and not return until the same time the next day so she had to be in charge. Without her I could do nothing. The railway is everything – it widens out to be not just your immediate family, not just your work colleagues but everyone involved. We all depend upon each other. Some people come into a job and leave after a short time because they do not like it. I have tried throughout my working life to do everything to the best of my ability and to be interested in everything that I did. If I had to make the same choice all over again, I would do the same again and come out triumphant!