Funding news! Our new project exploring the train travels of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Throughout his career, the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) journeyed extensively across Britain by train, conducting concerts and judging music competitions. His travels took him not only to major cities but also to many small towns, where he was often the only person of Black heritage other passengers and audiences had ever encountered.

Thanks to GWR’s Community Fund, The Mixed Museum is launching an exciting project exploring Coleridge-Taylor’s journey across the GWR network. Working again with Kinga Markus, our Artist in Residence, to bring Coleridge-Taylor’s historic travels to life, we’ll be mapping and reflecting on Coleridge-Taylor’s journeys, and sharing our discoveries through a series of audio outputs.

Coleridge-Taylor arriving at Brighton station as imagined by Kinga Marcus.  © Kinga Markus.

Image: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor at Brighton station, as imagined by our Artist in Residence Kinga Markus for our 'A Tremendous Ovation' exhibition and film.

Tracks of a Trailblazer: our new project supported by GWR's Community Fund

Following the success of our work exploring Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Brighton connection, we are delighted to announce that we have been awarded another grant to continue exploring the life of the acclaimed composer.

At the start of this year, we released the film, A Tremendous Ovation, and an accompanying micro-exhibition, using animation by our Artist in Residence, Kinga Markus, and archive photography and music to tell the story of Coleridge-Taylor’s visit to the seaside town in August 1908.

Now, The Mixed Museum (TMM) has been awarded a £21,500 grant from Great Western Railway (GWR)’s Community Fund for a new rail heritage project - Tracks of a Trailblazer - exploring the Black mixed race composer’s life and connection to the rail network.

Photograph of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor posting at his piano with the Hiawatha Wedding Feast score clearly visible. Image licensed from Alamy.
Coleridge-Taylor in front of his piano with the Hiawatha Wedding Feast score on display. Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

Throughout his career, Coleridge-Taylor (1875 -1912) was an unusually active rail traveller, journeying extensively across Britain to oversee rehearsals, conduct concerts and judge music competitions. His travels took him not only to major cities but also to many small towns, where he was often the only person of Black heritage other passengers and audiences had ever encountered.

Born in Holborn, London, Coleridge-Taylor was the son of Daniel Taylor, a Sierra Leonean doctor, and Alice Holmans, a white Englishwoman. He would go on to receive great acclaim as one of Britain’s greatest composers, in part due to his Song of Hiawatha cantatas which were hugely popular with music audiences in the first half of the twentieth century.

TMM’s new project, Tracks of a Trailblazer, will use audio storytelling to present our original research mapping the composer’s journeys and experiences across the GWR network, with a focus on key stations and surrounding areas that Coleridge-Taylor visited.

In addition to presenting reflections on the research found by the TMM team, our audio stories will include interviews with experts on Black history, as well as rail and music history. The audio stories will be housed in a dedicated digital space on TMM’s website, which will include artistic impressions from our Artist in Residence. There will also be a creative community workshop based on the research.

Map of the GWR network
GWR network map, showing the stations and locations we'll be exploring as part of our 'Tracks of a Trailblazer' project.

Uncovering the travels of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Laura Smith, freelance Editorial Director of The Mixed Museum, said: “We’re so excited to have secured funding to explore this little-known aspect of Coleridge-Taylor’s history. Rail travel was such a key part of Coleridge-Taylor’s daily life. It connected him with directly with audiences and musicians around Britain, and even played a role in the overwork that led to his death from pneumonia in 1912.

“We hope our project mapping will really bring to life how Coleridge-Taylor might have experienced early 20th century rail travel as a man of colour. We also hope our project will create new connections between Black history, rail heritage, and music history in Edwardian Britain, as well as support our ongoing creative work with artists and communities.”

The funding comes from the GWR’s Customer and Community Improvement Fund, which was launched in February 2024 to support small and medium rail projects, including those that celebrate and educate on GWR rail heritage.

Tom Pierpoint, GWR’s Business Development Director, says: “The Customer and Community Improvement Fund is a fantastic opportunity for us to invest in our communities in projects that really make a difference at a local level. We’re delighted to support this initiative.”

GWR operates trains in South Wales, the West Country, the Cotswolds, across southern England and into London.

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