The Black Country: A Visual History of Punjabi Immigration

Black Country Visual Arts published a digital photo archive in 2016 to spotlight Punjabi immigrants in Wolverhampton and the United Kingdom.

Named the Apna Heritage Archive since "Apna" means "ours". The archive safeguards personal photographs to ensure that these communities are represented in public collections and that their history may be accessed by people all over the globe. Below, is a peek at several images from the "Punjabi Workers" and "Desi Pubs".

Wolverhampton, with an estimated population of over 400,000 in 2021, is home to the biggest Punjabi community in the United Kingdom outside of London. Viewers are encouraged to reflect on and react to the larger history of the Punjabi community in Wolverhampton, as shown here.

The Early Migrants' Arrival

Photo courtesy: APNA HERITAGE ARCHIVE

Migrant workers from India have lived and worked in the West Midlands of the United Kingdom since the 1930s. Many industrial, textile, and service workers found work in the metropolitan boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, and Wolverhampton, known as the Black Country.

At first, the migrants were mostly men, but in the 1960s, families started moving to Wolverhampton from all over the country.

Before the arrival of the Punjabi community in Wolverhampton in the 1960s, families lived in the city's worst areas. The 1960s and 1970s were a tumultuous period for immigrants due to many anomalies and developments, most notably the passage of the Race Relations Acts (used to protect them).

Many immigrants lived in crowded, shared apartments since they had difficulty getting good jobs and were treated like industrial scraps. There were a lot of signs that said: "No Blacks, No Irish, and No Dogs" posted by landlords.

Photo courtesy: APNA HERITAGE ARCHIVE, Sarwan and Kanta Dass, with their daughter Amro, on Inkerman Street in Wolverhampton, in 1961.

 When they initially come to Wolverhampton, the vast majority of immigrants lived in Heath Town. Images like this one from the early 1960s in the Black Country show how a well-groomed Punjabi family stood out in stark contrast to their harsh new environment. Mr. Dass' family is typical of the generation of Punjabi migrants who have grown up in challenging environments and look to their families for strength and inspiration.

Photo courtesy: APNA HERITAGE ARCHIVE

Surjit Sandhu (shown above), an immigrant to Wolverhampton, entered the United Kingdom on August 15, 1965. He spent eleven and a half months in Prestwood Chest Hospital in Kinver while being treated for TB. Given his background and fluency in English, he was a natural fit for the role of interpreter for the hospital's medical staff. After Surjit left the hospital, he spent the first decade of his career working as a draughtsman before switching to engineering at a nearby foundry.

Surjit's residence was ironically made possible by the notorious Enoch Powell. Pete Griffiths, a member of parliament for neighbouring Smethwick, and Powell were both well-known for fighting mass migration. Since his aunt was Powell's secretary, he persuaded the controversial lawmaker to sign his residency paperwork. Surjit now realizes that Enoch Powell was not in his community's best interests.

The Fight Against Discrimination 

Photo courtesy: APNA HERITAGE ARCHIVE

Kanchan Jain was one of the few Indian educators in Wolverhampton when this picture was taken. Indirect discrimination in the workplace became commonplace after the Race Relations Act of 1968 was disregarded by many institutions (as seen by Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood speech), and Mrs. Jain, a teacher, experienced it first-hand in the form of bullying from her school's Headteacher.

She voiced serious concerns about her treatment and the treatment of students of colour, which created a stir among Wolverhampton council leaders who were afraid of retaliation from the city's sizable Indian population. So they found Mrs. Jain a new teaching position in Blakenhall, where she could teach with peace of mind until her retirement.

Photo courtesy: APNA HERITAGE ARCHIVE

More than six thousand Sikhs marched in the early 1960s to oppose a law that mandated Sikh bus drivers in the Black Country remove their turbans and shave their beards to operate double-decker buses. Tarsem Singh Sandhu's refusal to shave off his beard and hair, a sign of his Sikh faith, was essential in galvanizing the protest. After Tarsem was informed he would never find work wearing the turban, the matter gained international attention, and he was eventually granted the right to wear it. Few Sikhs in Wolverhampton, England, wore turbans at the time for fear of discrimination in the workplace.

Mr. Juss proudly displays his Sikh heritage by donning a turban and beard. However, he eventually followed suit and removed his turban and shaved his beard to advance in his job.

The Family and Relationship History

Photo courtesy: APNA HERITAGE ARCHIVE

Mr. Sarwan Dass, the photographer of this picture, took photos of his own family and random people on the street like a seasoned street photographer with a lot of insight. His pictures are honest and real, showing the frailty of the initial wave of immigrants.

In this photograph, he exposed a taboo shared by white and Indian communities at the time: the presence of interracial couples in Wolverhampton.

Photo courtesy: APNA HERITAGE ARCHIVE

This image, found in the Apna Archive, is one of the few that sheds light on the demographics and interactions of migrants in Wolverhampton and, as such, is of great historical significance. The photo was taken at the house of Piara and Kartar Hayre, and it shows a Jamaican woman named Myrtle holding Jaspinder, Piara.

In 1965, Myrtle joined the family after being recruited to work in Piara and Kartar's stores. During her stay there, she cared for Piara and Kartar's small children while they were at work. She moved back to Jamaica in 2006; since then, her family has made several trips there to see her.

Photo courtesy: APNA HERITAGE ARCHIVE

Punjabi migrants living in the UK often sent pictures like this to their families back in India to demonstrate their success in the West. Pictures like this helped migrants reassure loved ones in Punjab that they were doing well after making the difficult decision to go to the United Kingdom in search of economic opportunity.

Parents sometimes staged photos of their kids in front of various household items, including TVs and VCRs. The Punjabi community in the UK has a strong cultural tradition that emphasizes the importance of education and the pursuit of personal growth.

History of Punjabi Laborers in the UK 

Photo courtesy: Derek Peters 

The American-owned Goodyear facility in Wolverhampton produced high-quality racing car tires for Grand Prix racers. Gurdev Rai was the first Indian worker to be assigned to the firm.

Formula 2 champion Jackie Stewart stopped by the factory where Gurdev worked, and racing car champion Jack Brabham sent him a thank-you message. Gurdev's reputation as a hard worker and professional helped them get a position for his son Balvinder, who stayed there for 35 years until its closure in December 2017.

Photo courtesy: Punjabi Workers collection

Ravinder Kaur Chana is one of the numerous mothers of South Asian descent whose contributions to the reconstruction of the Black Country in post-war Britain have been forgotten.

After moving to the Black Country with her spouse in December 1971, she began working at a factory the following January. She made around £10 each week from her job. Ravinder worked odd jobs to support her family.

In 1989, when her third child began pre-school, she found employment as a toolbox manufacturer at Benjamin Parkes & Son Ltd in Tipton. She had a great time working there for a few years and developed lasting friendships with her co-workers.

Photo courtesy: Punjabi Workers collection

In 1960, when Surinder Singh was eight years old, he moved to the United Kingdom and settled in Sparkhill, a neighbourhood of Birmingham. He then moved to Wolverhampton. After graduating high school, he began an apprenticeship at Delta Group in Aston, Birmingham.

In 1969, he was assigned to the adjacent "Spaghetti Junction" project. When he was 19 years old, he worked on the project and was terrified by its enormity. Working with his uncle and cousins brought him some solace. In addition, they were the sole South Asians employed on the ground-breaking bypass project. Surinder's "concrete gang" job consisted mostly of hard labour, including transporting large 6-foot beams during a workday.

Photo courtesy: Anand Chhabra

The Traditional English Pubs: Desi Pubs

A Desi Pub is an English-style bar run by Indians. 'Desi' is an Indian term meaning ‘real’ or 'original.’ People of various demographics, from families to die-hard football fanatics to enthusiasts of the Bhangra genre, may be seen in these bars.

When Linton Dixon became the first Black bartender at Smethwick's New Talbot Inn in 1965, the event made front-page news. 

Photo courtesy: Punjabi Workers collection

Locals at the taverns lament the collapse of the local industrial industry. Due to its abundance of iron ore, stone, and coal, the town of Rowley Regis served as a hub for the heavy industrial sector, where many of the male residents followed in the footsteps of their forefathers by working in the same factories and operating the same machinery.

It's a generation of folks who may feel out of place in today's post-Fordist economy, but not at the bar. In the factories and pubs, all people with different backgrounds and races got to know each other.

Photo courtesy: Punjabi Workers collection

The Island Inn, the "oasis" bar of West Bromwich, has a long history of serving as a gathering place for Punjabi men who immigrated to the area for economic reasons in the 1950s and 1960s.

With freshly prepared North Indian meals, the pub's current owner Dal has modernized it, giving it a clean, professional air while fostering a joyful, active environment. There are now over 50 Indian pubs in the area.

Photo courtesy: Punjabi Workers collection

It is well-known that politicians in the 1960s spoke out against the entry of the Punjabi population in racist campaigns and speeches. Nothing like that has happened. South Asians, as a group, have done an excellent job of assimilating into mainstream society, and most of them get along well with others in the multi-ethnic city.