History

At the solstice, on the longest day of the year, I traced long lines across the Atlantic archipelago From Stroud to Africa, from Africa to Barbados, And from Barbados to Stroud railway station.   I visited Risée Chaderton-Charles’ exhibition: Caribbean Atlantean at Stroud Valley Arts, A multi-layered fusion of art and archive A ‘visual voyage’ to commemorate Those kidnapped Africans who chose death in the carmine deep Rather than enslavement in the plantations. I exchanged emails and ideas with Risée, Before discussing with Jo Leahy at SVA How we could artistically collaborate On presenting the history of our railways. And when I got home, I dug out my notebooks: The 1835 Prospectus for the Cheltenham & Great Western Union Railway: ‘Cheltenham and its Vicinity, embracing not only a large resident population, but also a constantly varying population of Visitors, to a great extent.’   Cheltenham and its spa attractions: Home to so many enslavers and visited by so many too; The records show how many were ‘compensated’ in 1834 – But those records do not always tell the whole story: Charles F. Sage became chairman of the Cheltenham & Great Western Union Railway, A member of the plantocracy, he briefly owned Bennett’s estate in Barbados, Married Frances Gibbes and they had three children there, Before selling the estate four years before abolition; Apart from the railway, he also became a partner in the Great Western Cotton Company; He didn’t die anonymously pursued by sharks in the wake, But lived to a ripe old age and left a fortune. Reimagining how...