‘I dance the young people off the floor!’: joy and pain from the Windrush generation – in pictures

From combatting racist skinheads to fixing railway lines, these photographs and stories reflect the enduring, positive impact Windrush arrivals had on the UK

Main image: ‘I’d see the sun and rush out … but it was really cold!’ … Daisy Aymer arrived in the UK in 1962

Thu 19 Jun 2025 08.00 CEST

Birdy Stamp

Windrush Untold Stories is a photography and audio project that honours the legacy of the Windrush generation and their descendants and celebrates their enduring impact on British society.Birdy came to the UK from Jamaica in 1961. She worked in a sweet factory and a tin factory before working as a cleaner at the Old Bailey, often starting at 4am. Birdy loves music and is known in Brixton as ‘The Dancing Granny’. She says: ‘I like reggae music and old-time music. I dance the young people off the floor.’ Windrush Untold Stories is in Windrush Square, Brixton from 22 June until 10 July