As part of activities to mark the celebrations of Black History Month 2025, SEM organised a residential weekend for 20 women from the Sheffield & District African Caribbean Community (SADACCA), to Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland National Park.

SEM’s CEO, Dr Maxwell Ayamba BEM explained that the visit to Hadrian’s Wall including the Roman Vindolanda and Museum was of historical importance to the women due to the history of the Black presence in the landscape.

He noted that celebrations of Black History Month should take into account the historical presence of people of African ancestry in Britain and their contributions. Dr Ayamba pointed out that in recent times, there has been a drive to decolonise museums in order to position them as spaces of belonging of shared heritage, and that is because museums house archeological artefacts and histories of past civilisations.

It was therefore against this backdrop that such a visit to Hadrian’s Wall which was strengthened by Britain’s African Roman Emperor, Severus Septimius and the African legionnaires stationed at the Roman Vindolanda is considered important in the lives of the women to experience this extraordinary history.

Dr Ayamba noted that although some of the women might have heard about Hadrian’s Wall, but have not had the opportunity to visit. For example, filming of the BBC series ‘Black and British: A Forgotten History’ in 2016, a consultant to the series pointed to the BBC team archeological evidence of African soldiers stationed at the fort of Aballava on Hadrian’s Wall.

Thanks to the Northumberland National Park, its Volunteer Rangers took the women on a guided historical walk to Hadrian’s Wall built in AD122 and a ride on bus AD122 around the villages.

On the Sunday, the group visited the Roman Vindolanda to see the ruins of the Roman settlement where the African legionnaires were also stationed, later visiting the Vindolanda Museum. The women saw the plaque of Britain’s African Roman Emperor, Severus Septimius on grounds of the ruins. This shared cultural heritage of the English landscape and people of Africa heritage was the more reason why this trip was organised by SEM to enable the women as part of activities to commemorate Black History Month to experience this forgotten history as some of them are part of the Windrush Generation aged over 60 -90 years and have lived in England for decades but with little knowledge or visited Hadrian’s Wall or the Vindolanda Museum and Roman Ruins to learn about its history.

Supported by SEM’s Activities & Operations Manager Maxine Greaves MBE, SME’s CEO, Maxwell Ayamba BEM, led a group of women from the Sheffield And District African Caribbean Community Association (SADACCA) on a Walk/Learn Create session at the Moorland Discovery Centre, Peak District National Park.  Although some of the women have visited the Peak District National Park prior to today’s visit, however, none have heard of or visited the Moorland Discovery Centre, an educational centre that normally provides outdoor learning activities for schools from South Yorkshire.

Today’s visit faciliated by Destinations Arts, was therefore a great opportunity to learn about the outdoor learning sessions that take place at the Centre and history of the Longshaw Estates, which once upon a time belong to the Duke of Ruthland but now property of the National Trust.

The women were welcomed to the Centre by Melany Holmes, Visitor Experience Officer with the National Trust and Megan Carrol, Senior Visitor Experience Officer of the Peak District National Park Authority, who talked about why the Centre was created and the types of outdoor learning activities offered to schools across South Yorkshire.

As one of the women later remarked, “Although I have live in Sheffield all my life and often visit Peak Park for walks, little did I know this place existed, I will be bringing my grandchildren here as there’s a lot to learn about nature”. Another women asked if there was any volunteering opportunity at the Centre as she would love to volunteer”.

The visit was part of Walking Arts Project 2025 which is an Arts Council England funded project.