About the 'Through our eyes' project
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'Watford - Through our eyes' is a group photography and creative writing project, looking at historical and present day Watford.
Bengali Brides
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By Louise Kosinska
Crossing
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By Lydia Maria Julien
Home Dreaming
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By Carol Wong
Lingo Flipper
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By Nela Milic
Comments
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Selected from the Comments Book in John Lewis
Latest news
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Find out what's been happening with the Watford Junction project. Recent updates include news of events commemorating the abolition of slavery and a trip to the Drawing Inspiration awards ceremony.
Daddy's Sleeping
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By Lennie Varvaridies
Pillow talk
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By Bridget West
Licence to a New Life
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By Jolanta Jagiello
Watford Junction
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By Hilary Sleiman
Busy Bees
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By Joseph Silcott
My Father's Dreams
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By Charlene Belgrave
Out of South Africa
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By Carol Ballard
Across Seven Seas
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By Merete Krohn
Buttons and Pills
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By Melanie Wagner
Mr Mark Kwame
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By Benjamin Oppong-Danquah
The Way to a Dream
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By Mari Terauchi
Beyond
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By Akiyo Yamamoto
Links
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Links to the websites of partners, contributors and sponsors
Cyril 'Sammy' Chung
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Sammy's father was Chinese and his mother English. He played for Watford between 1957 and 1965.
Watford African Caribbean Association
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WACA aims to meet the educational, social and cultural needs of the African and Caribbean community of Watford and surrounding areas.
Burials
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The burials of two black men are recorded in Watford parish records.
Cassiobury Estate records
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Estate records from the 18th century list 'Doney the Black' among the servants.
Militia lists
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The militia lists from 1782-86 record the name of George Doney, a servant at Cassiobury, who was captured in Gambia as a child.
Baptisms
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These records show the baptisms of three black servants in the 18th century.
High life below stairs
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An engraving of servants at Cassiobury from 1774, perhaps offering satirical comment on their masters' behaviour.
Contact us
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How to get in touch with the editors of this website
Photo gallery: designs for an exhibition
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A selection of models illustrating students' ideas for a museum display on the theme of the Watford Junction project.
About Dream Landings
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Sweet dreams were on display at John Lewis in October 2006, at an exhibition of decorated pillowcases on the theme of the dreams and aspirations of people arriving in Britain.
Turner's different view
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A painting by Turner shows a black servant who is well-dressed and evidently enjoys high status among his workmates.
A Buxton family album
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Photos of the boxing brothers and of their father Claude
Retracing my father's footsteps
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Allan Buxton describes a trip back to his father's birthplace in Antigua
An interview with Allan Buxton
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Allan remembers the successes of the Buxton brothers and reflects on growing up in Watford
Add your story to this site
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You can upload words and photos to this website instantly and easily. Find out how.
Saris: a photo gallery
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These saris belonged to Poonam White's mother. Some are saris she used to wear at work; others are dress saris for special occasions.
A story of diversity
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We draw together the strands of Watford's diverse history that are presented on this website.
To England for the first time
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Soon after Iris Lusack's 18th birthday, her family decided that she should leave Sierra Leone for England.
From survival to participation
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Enid Saunders' poem describes how people came from the Caribbean in response to the 'Motherland's call for workers'.
About this project
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This website is one of many Watford Junction projects and events which are celebrating the town's diversity.
What was it like for you?
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The students talk about their inspirations for designs, and the challenges and satisfactions of the project.
Rap, dance and film project
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Our rap, dance and film project explored the story of peoples' journey to Watford. It included three days of workshops with young people at Playschemes.
Hard work and achievement
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Poonam describes how her parents came from India and worked hard all their lives to establish themselves in England.
Take us safely across the skies
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Veronica Petrie remembers how she travelled from Jamaica and adapted to life in England in the 1960s.
John Barnes
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A national icon, John Barnes became known as the 'jewel' unearthed by Graham Taylor.
Luther Blissett
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Luther Blissett set a string of goal scoring records both for the club and among black players in English football.
'Henry' Roy Brown
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One of the few black professionals of his day, 'Henry' Roy Brown played for Watford from 1953-1957.
The Cother brothers
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The first black players in Watford FC were the Cother brothers, who began playing with the team in 1898.
The lure of Watford
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What attracted people to Watford? From its origins as a one-street market town, we trace why people came to live here.
Roads
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The Romans gave Watford its first road. The town has been battling to keep traffic flowing ever since.
Railway
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The opening of the London to Birmingham railway in 1837 heralded a new age. Watford was transformed from small country market town to a satellite of London.
Canal
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The Grand Union canal was built to link London to the Midlands. The journey from Watford to London took around a day.
Stagecoaches
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A journey to London by stagecoach took 4 hours. The coaches carried everything, from mail to corpses...
Captured in Gambia
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A gravestone in St Mary's churchyard tells the story of one of Cassiobury's black servants.
At the edge of the canvas
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Artists routinely positioned blacks at the edge of the canvas. This painting of Cassiobury Park is an example.