I was on the Windrush, taking the biggest gamble of my life (for love)

As one of only two surviving passengers from that first Windrush voyage, Alford Gardner, now 97, speaks to Nadine White ahead of the 75th anniversary of a momentous sailing that changed thousands of lives and left a huge legacy in British society

Alford Gardner, who arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex, speaking at his home in Leeds (Getty/PA)

Alford Gardner has been a gambler all his long life. The 97-year-old has taken a risk, whether in cards, in love – or in his future.

And so it was in 1948 when he paid £28 and stepped on board the HMT Empire Windrush, bound for England.

The 22-year-old from Kingston, Jamaica, embarked on the three-week trip with brother Gladstone and hundreds of other immigrants from various Caribbean countries, but mostly Jamaica.