Why are there so many people of African/Caribbean descent living in Brixton (South London)?
The people who came over in the late 1940s, after being invited here by London Transport and other large employers, found it very hard to get rooms to rent, like the rest of us South Londoners, all living in one or two rooms with shared facilities. The most hospitable landlords were in places such as Brixton (my old stamping ground), Notting Hill etc, and once one young chap had found a job and settled in a bit, he recommended the place to others. We all gradually got rehoused onto the big estates built in the 1950s, and the children of the West Indians went to school with us, and Africans gradually moved in as well. At one point, I was close neighbours to, and friends with: Irish, French, Italian, Polish, Jamaican, Nigerian and Sierra Leonian. You will also find large populations from outside Britain in port areas of big cities such as Cardiff and Liverpool.
