Arriving from Jamaica in 1952, Roy Hackett thought he would be welcome in his 'mother country'. But many lodging houses had signs saying 'No Blacks, no Irish, no dogs'.

He and his wife eventually bought a house in Easton but their neighbours were frosty at first: 'My wife would go out into the garden while our neighbours were in theirs, and they would go back inside and not come out again until she had finished.'

Roy's career was progressing. He became a foreman at St Anne's Board Mill, saved hard and bought himself a car, which broke the ice with his neighbour. With the atmosphere warming, Roy discovered, often through conversations both wives had over the garden fence, that his neighbour was teased at work because he had a black neighbour.

A turning point came when Sir Learie Constantine visited Roy's home. Roy was a respected campaigner who was very active in securing rights for minorities in the city. This brought him a visit from the former Trinidad cricketer and well-known BBC commentator.

'The press and the TV came to my house because Sir Learie came to have tea with me and now I am really somebody!' recalled Roy.

'For my neighbours, suddenly I am a man worth talking to and suddenly it is OK to be seen talking with me'

Finally accepted, Roy remembered his neighbours warned him and his wife: 'we must be careful because they had sold the house to some Welsh people and the Welsh are not to be trusted.'