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Plaque celebrates Notting Hill Carnival pioneers

BBC Man in a red polo shirt holds a microphone in front of a large round blue plaque listing 70 carnival pioneersBBC
The plaque was unveiled on Friday at Westbourne Park station

Notting Hill Carnival's 60th anniversary has been celebrated with a plaque naming 70 people who helped create the west London event.

It was unveiled as a way for it to mark 70 years since London transport began recruiting staff in the Caribbean.

Located at Westbourne Park Underground station - where the carnival route starts - it includes names of costume designers, mas and steel pan players and sound system operators.

Andy Lord, London's transport commissioner, said carnival was a celebration of the Caribbean communities that had shaped the city, and that the men and women recruited in 1956 had "helped create the transport system the capital relies on today".

London Transport sent recruitment officers to the Caribbean in 1956 because it could not find enough staff to run the capital's expanding bus and Underground network, TfL said.

Those who came were employed across the network, with many staying for the rest of their working lives.

Getty Claudia Jones was also the founder of the West Indian Gazette at 250 Brixton Road, south London, picture dated 1962Getty
Claudia Jones - pictured in 1962 - was also the founder of the West Indian Gazette

Journalist Claudia Jones and community activist Rhaune Laslett are the first two names listed.

Jones, who was born in Trinidad, organised an indoor Caribbean carnival in London from 1959 until her death in 1964.

Laslett was instrumental in setting up the Notting Hill street festival that grew into the carnival.

Dr Jak Beula, chief executive of the Nubian Jak Community Trust which organised the plaque, said installing it at Westbourne Park fulfilled a dream and would give people a way to learn about the carnival's origins in Britain.

Westbourne Park sits at the northern end of the parade route and is one of the main stations used by people going to the event.

Ijeoma Fenton-Agu, who leads TfL's RACE colleague network group on carnival, said more than two million journeys were made on the transport network for the event each year.

Chris Samson, an executive manager at TfL, said his family arrived in Britain in the early 1960s and that the London Transport uniform had been a familiar sight in his home.

TfL is also running a decorated bus in Sunday's parade and showing an exhibition of artwork by its staff at Paddington station.

Notting Hill Carnival runs on 30 and 31 August, with the National Panorama steel band competition on Saturday.

TfL is advising people to travel to Paddington and walk, because stations closer to the route are expected to shut or restrict entry during the day.

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