Viewers in tears at Pride of Britain Windrush stories they call 'so upsetting'

19 October 2023 , 21:24

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Viewers in tears at Pride of Britain Windrush stories they call 'so upsetting'

Viewers have been moved to tears by stories of the Windrush generation, as Prince William, Judi Love, Trevor McDonald and more helped shed new light on the people who changed the UK.

On Thursday evening a Pride of Britain special aired on ITV 1, spotlighting the stories of the Windrush generation and their descendants. Amongst others, it told the story of pioneering cricketeer Alford Gardner, music legend Lloyd Coxsone and Guy Bailey OBE. Each tale touched on the community that has changed the UK since arriving en mass in this country after the second World War.

Brits watching at home were bowled over by the emotional viewing. One took to social media to say: “Such emotional yet uplifting stories on the ITV #windrush prog tonight. Watching it with my two young daughters and am impressed by how much they already know about it. Surely a good sign?”

Another, touching on the story of Guy Bailey who helped kickstart the Bristol Bus Boycott, a movement that changed the UK forever, said: “Guy wanted to be a Bus Driver and they wouldn't allow him because of the colour of his skin. So pleased people marched on the streets to boycott against the buses and discrimination laws came about. I cried like Judi”.

Alford Gardner meeting the Prince of Wales at his home in Leeds, West Yorkshire (PA)

A third person added: "What a beautiful way to put it from Guy Bailey in #Windrush Pride of Britain tonight on ITV News on those old racist comments, 'my heart moans to hear it.'" and another viewer said they found it "so upsetting". They said: "I’m watching the Windrush Pride of Britain and I find it so upsetting to watch these beautiful, immaculately turned out, young people coming here with such hope."

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The show didn't shy away from showing the dark side of what the Windrush generation faced when coming to the UK - in the form of vile racism. #Windrush trended on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter as viewers were moved by the stories.

During the show, Prince William had a touching message for one of the last living Brits who came across to the UK on HMS Windrush - the ship for which a generation is named. The future King made a surprise visit to Windrush cricket pioneer 97-year-old Alford Gardner, marking 75 years since the ship that changed British history and docked in Tilbury.

Judi Love meets Guy Bailey - the man who sparked the Bristol bus boycott

The Windrush veteran seemed over the moon when Prince William knocked on the door, laughing as he shook his hand and invited him into his home, wearing his Caribbean Cricket Club top. Alford said “this is something special” as he seemed emotional at the royals visit, before joking “where’s it [the time] gone” when asked about his 75 years in the UK.

William asked how the journey was to which Alford laughed he spent the trip gambling, coming over as a 22-year-old man. He made the trip with his brother, who both served in the RAF during WWII. This came after their father served in WWI. The two shared a touching conversation in Alford’s Leeds home, about his father and serving their country. Later on in the show, William surprised Alford, who he called a “local hero”. He took him to Headingley, the home of Yorkshire cricket.

There he was cheered by the Prince, school children, his family and friends and cricketing legends alike to celebrate all he gave to his community and country. During it Prince William thanked Alford and all of the Windrush generation. “75 years and I wouldn’t change a day of it … we’ve had a brilliant time,” Alford said.

Music legend Lloyd Coxsone forever changed the UK music culture (ITV)

Another part of the show touched on Guy Bailey OBE, a now 78-year-old who changed the course of Britain’s history after he arrived aged 16. “My father decided I could come to England because I could get a better education. I was very excited,” he said. Guy became a welfare officer, something his niece, Jackie, said, was very needed for their community. But before that, he had tried to become a bus driver - but was refused on the basis of the colour of his skin. Chatting to Judi Love, he described what happened in 1963. “I wanted to be a bus driver,” Guy said. He responded to the ad in the local paper and was invited to an interview.

At reception, he described how a young lady told the manager ‘your appointment for 2 o’clock is here, but he’s black’. Guy recalled how the manager said, ‘tell him we have no more vacancies’. The moving documentary showed footage of racist Brits, saying “coloured people” would cause “trouble” if allowed to be bus drivers and that they wouldn’t like to “work with them at night” because of “something about them” - reinforcing long held racial stereotypes.

Guy could be seen with tears in his eyes as one white man said black people were ‘ignorant’, but they could put up with the white ignorant people. “I shed tears inside, it’s hard to live with” Guy said, watching the footage back. There were no anti-discrimination laws at the time, so what happened to Guy was legal, but the local community took a stand.

“Word got around very quickly” Guy said, and what followed was the Bristol Bus Boycott. This was a successful movement that changed the course of the country’s history, and introduced the first anti-discrimination law. People refused to use the buses, and pay for them, organising their own transport instead, catching the attention of politicians, and forcing their hand. “The fight is not over, we need the younger people to continue, be there for the ones that come after you,” Guy said.

Kieren Williams