BCA'37 UK - The Association for the UK Basque Children

Association Notices

News, Events & Reports

Luis Santamaria Garcia

Luis Angel Santamaria recently informed us of the sad death of his father Luis Santamaria Garcia on Thursday 4th July 2024 in Nuneaton. He was 97 years old. He was one of the niños. A private cremation was held attended only by his son and daughter. We now have details of a public funeral ceremony at the family plot in Golders Green where his remains will be buried and for which everyone will be welcome to attend. More information and funeral details can be found here ….

New to our Colonies pages:

Moorhill House, near North Stoneham

We are gradually adding to our collection of informative pages on the colonies. Explore it using our interactive map here … To date we have twelve informative pages: Aston, Brampton, Caerleon, Faringdon, Guisborough, Huddersfield, Merriot, Montrose, Moorhill, Swansea, Theydon Bois and Wickham Market. STOP PRESS 'The Oaks', Langham, Colchester has just been added to the list - see here. We're always happy to update the information, or make corrections - just contact us with the details

New plaque in Langham

The 53 children and their teachers arrived at The Oaks on June 8, 1937, where they would stay for two years. The Oaks was renamed Basque House, after the spacious garden and grounds, and the open countryside of Langham made a lasting impression on the children. A plaque dedicated to Basque child refugees in Langham has recently been put up. For more details see this article from the Colchester Gazette.

Euskara Classes

We receive occasional requests about learning the Basque language, so we are happy to inform you of this course from the London Basque Society.

New Articles

We have just uploaded two new articles - see panel on the right. The first is a report by Carmen Kilner on the exhibition Sea of Shadows, at the Instituto Cervantes Manchester. The second is a report by Rob David on the course A Welcome in the Hills featuring Basque children in Cumbria.

The Basque Child Refugees in the UK

This teaching/educational aid is a "Zine", produced by a group of undergraduate students at Leeds University in 2021, and which you can download here … The students came from different disciplines and worked under the guidance of Peter Anderson, Professor of Twentieth Century Spanish History. It is an example both of what can be produced by interested and talented students and also of a useful educational aid for schools investigating this topic. As is made clear on the introductory page this can be printed, copied and otherwise reproduced without needing further permissions.

The Guernica Children documentary on our YouTube channel

The English Version can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/LSNe_BMPhDI La versión en español puede verse aquí: https://youtu.be/CuW_BAqZcTY

'Happy and Safe': The Basque Child Refugees in Cumberland and Westmorland 1937 - 1939

by Rob David

Rob has been studying, writing about, and lecturing on the experiences of refugees in Cumbria for many years. Now he turns his focus on the Basque Children who arrived in the North West in 1937. He has had full access to the archives of the Charles and Lady Cecilia Roberts who brought into existence a colony of 100 children in Brampton near Carlisle and a satellite for 25 children at Ambleside. Rob describes the lives of the children and the impressive range of people who stepped forward to support them both financially and with care and attention …

The book is now available in our shop.

For other recently posted and older notices, click here.

Newsletter / Boletín

From the Archives

Newsletter 17, November 2012

An Account
by Adrian Bell Read the full article here …

… an article you may have missed:

The Basque Children Refugees in Hereford 1937 - A Family History by By Maria Dolores Power Read the full article here …

From Another Archive:

Niños vascos evacuados a Inglaterra Biblioteca Digital Hispánica Read the full article here …