Nandiben Patel

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The second Indian lady to arrive in Cheltenham was Nandiben Patel. Her husband Diyarbhai Dahyabhai Patel came to Coventry, during the Second World War.
After the end of the War however he decided that he no longer wanted to remain living in England and so he decided to go back to live in India. Circumstances changed and he came back to England in 1955.

When he first arrived in Cheltenham he lived in a property in Brunswick Road with three good friends - Chimanbhai Lalabhai Patel, Jasubhai Jerambhai Patel and Diyrabhai Naranbhai Patel. They had decided to buy the house together, as a syndicate. This was the very first house in the town that was brought by Indian people.

Jasubhai had already left the property before Nandiben and her two children arrived. “We traveled by steamer boat from Bombay to England. It took around 15 days. I came with my two children Govindbhai and Hansaben to join him. ”

Mrs Nandiben remembers the weather when she arrived in England. "It was very, very cold. I have never seen anything like it, it was snowing and I had never seen snow before. I had never walked on snow before so I did fall a few times.

Diyrabhai soon also brought his own property and then called his family. Chimanbhai lived with them for a while before going his separate way too.

Mrs Nandiben's husband found employment in Dowty Rotel and carried on working there until he retired. Dowty Rotel was the only employer he worked for.

The family lived in their first property for a long time and only brought their present property when Mr Patel retired. Nandiben now lives in Cheltenham on her own, her husband having passed away a few years ago.

All three of her children - Govindbhai, Hansaben, and Pareshbhai who was born in Cheltenham - are married and live close to her so they can visit everyday.
Nandiben has never learnt how to speak English and initially relied on her husband whenever they did such things as taking the children to see the doctor. When the children were older she often relied on them for communication.

Of her earliest memories in England she recalls when the first Indian marriage took place - a Mr Jemerbhai Patel got married in the register office.

'There wasn't much Indian food when we arrived here in fact we didn't even have an Indian grocery shop. So we did rely on food that came from London, so we could buy items like flour.' Since settling in Cheltenham she has returned to India about five times or more to visit friends or family, something she says was very nice.