A former Scottish hotel worker who came to the city in the 1950s from Barbados under a government scheme to offer jobs to Barbadians returned to Stirling to reconnect with old colleagues.
Muriel Best arrived in Stirling in 1955 and worked in Allan Park Hotel. Her return visit is part of a short documentary. Like hundreds of other Barbadians, Muriel took up the position and made many friends in the city during her time there.
In 1955, Iain Macleod, the Minister of Labour in Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden’s Conservative government, managed a scheme sponsored by the British Hotels and Restaurants Association and the Barbados Government. Through this scheme, some 200 workers from the nation were brought to the UK for jobs in hotels and restaurants.
Muriel and Lottie Bynoe were just two women recruited to work in Stirling. Lottie and the majority were employed at the King’s Hotel, while Muriel worked as a chambermaid at the Allan Park Hotel.
Both women eventually left to travel south to Sheffield for jobs with larger wages—a move that Muriel regretted. Unfortunately, she was unable to return to work in Stirling. As she approaches her 90s, Sheffield Memory Hub and the Dementia Trust support her to make her dream come true.
A strong Christian, she has been invited to attend the ‘Friendship Group’ at Allan Park Church whilst in the city. An active dementia advocate, Muriel will join the Town Break Dementia Support Group and will co-facilitate a session with Carl Case of Cultural Appropriate Resources, who will join her on the trip and share the historical and contemporary links between Scotland and her homeland, including heritage, geography, commerce, culture, and peoples.
While in Stirling, Muriel enrolled in English and shorthand classes. On her afternoons off, she and Lottie would often catch the bus to Edinburgh, a journey she plans to make again—this time by train.
Carl said ahead of the visit, “One of the things that she is looking forward to the most is making contact with anyone who can remember Lottie and herself and people who were employed or connected to both the Allan Park and Royal Hotels during the 1950s and 60s so that they can sit down together and reminisce at Allan Park.”
