Contributed by: Mohammed Hanif Eusoof Rawat
Photo provided by Idris, Mohammed is standing on the extreme right
Mohammed Hanif Eusoof Rawat came from Burma in December of 1961 to England. He came via Pakistan International Airways from Rangoon, Burma. He was also another person who did not rely on the Barbodhan Waqf Trust. Instead he received help from his brother who gave him money for his flight ticket. The price of the ticket was around 4-5 thousand rupees but he cannot remember exactly.
He travelled together with another Barbodhian who settled in Preston, Ismail Moosa Atcha. Together with one other person, he came by taxi from London Heathrow to Preston. The taxi cost each passenger £30. The rough weekly wage at the time was around £15 and the state provided about £3 in benefits. So in terms of cost it was very expensive.
In Preston they got off at 26 Tuition Street at another Gujerati Muslim’s house. But other Barbodhians were already living there. They included Dawood Hussain Atcha, Tahir Hussain Ghanchi, Yusuf Hussain Ghanchi and Ahmed Eusoof Patel. He stayed here free without paying for lodgings or boarding.
Two months later he went to Bradford and the main reason was that at the time the employment market in Lancashire was fairly depressed. He went to seek work in Bradford. His destination was an address you have been quoted earlier and that was 13 St. Andrews Place, Bradford 7.
It took Mohammed some 6-7 months before he eventually found employment. In the meantime he said that the social paid him £3 per week. This was sufficient to pay for rent, food and enough to save and send to India to his mother’s. He spent around 3 years in Bradford before deciding to move to Bolton in 1964.
His first address where he lived in Bolton was 22 Kent Street, which was owned by Hashim Yusuf Atcha. He also found work relatively quickly at Sap (UK) Ltd. in Farnworth. His wages for working night shift was £17. At this address he spent two years before moving to 48 Isabel Street at the home of Murhoom Dawood Ahmed Patel. He spent a further two years here before moving to his brother in laws at 35 Cross Ormrod Street, Bolton.
In 1967 Mohammed went to India to get married. In 1969 he came back to England at the same address.
In 1969 his first job after returning from India was at Alder Spinning Company in Leigh.
Eventually in 1971 Mohammed bought his first house at 60 Cross Ormrod Street for £700. He said that it was a council mortgage.
His neighbours were both white and very helpful and he encountered no problems.