A milestone visit: staying in Swansea in 1902 (Ep 3)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor loved Wales, considering the Welsh people “the least prejudiced among white peoples”. In December 1902, he travelled to Morriston in Swansea with his pregnant wife Jessie and their young son Hiawatha to judge the local eisteddfod, or Welsh arts festival, and conduct Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.In this episode, Chamion and Laura retrace Coleridge-Taylor’s train journey from London Paddington to Swansea in south Wales. They find out how rail companies promoted the coastline as a new tourist destination, consider the multicultural communities forming in Wales as it powered the world with coal and discover the hospitality shown to Coleridge-Taylor’s family from the community around the Morriston Tabernacle, where he appeared. They also reflect on the Coleridge-Taylors’ experiences as an interracial family and their own family connections to Wales.Episode 3 was recorded on location at Paddington, on the train and in Swansea. Many thanks to the contributors to this episode: Oliver Betts, Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE, Rebecca Eversley-Dawes, Caroline Bressey, Huw Tregelles-Williams, David Gwyn, David Morgans, Marcus Caballero, Carole Morgans and Christopher Goddard. And thank you to Great Western Railways’ Customer and Community Improvement Fund for generously supporting this series.Tracks of a Trailblazer is an audio project from The Mixed Museum. It was researched, written, produced and presented by Dr Chamion Caballero and Laura Smith. Audio production was by Front Ear Podcasts.Series artwork was by Kinga Markus.Series art design was by Jim McCormick.Original music was by Rob Manning.To access a full transcript of this episode and see archive imagery of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and the places he visited, head over to our interactive map at https://trailblazer.mixedmuseum.org.uk/