On Saturday 18 May 2024, The Hockey Museum (THM) hosted a reunion event for one of the best men’s invitation clubs of their era – the London Indians Hockey Club (formed in 1958 and competing until 2004).
Soon after joining THM as a Trustee, Tochi Panesar circulated a note to the Board about London Indians HC, one of his former hockey teams. In this paper it was stated that the London Indians’ history had sadly been lost following the passing away of their founder and president Jimmy James.
History of London Indians Hockey Club | The Hockey Museum
However, there was good news! Tim Walmsley, Jimmy’s nephew and a former student of THM Treasurer Mike Barford had delivered four boxes of abundant London Indians’ heritage to THM several years earlier. This included tour photograph albums, pennants, a large London Indians flag, ties and other records – very well organised and kept immaculately by the late Jimmy.
Tochi thoroughly enjoyed browsing through the rich material that brought back many wonderful memories! So much so that he decided to arrange a reunion at THM to share these great memories with other past members of London Indians HC.
London Indians HC at Crystal Palace (ought to have been Lord’s Cricket Ground), 25 March 1979.
Back row, left to right: Garry Singh Grewal, Harvinder Singh Sibia, Shahid Khan, Ravinder Singh Laly, Iqbal Singh Khullar, Paul Cottam, Mohan Singh Kalsi, Badar Butt, Tarlochan Singh Panesar, Manjit Singh Flora, Alan Mayo.
Front row, left to right: Barjinder David, Parminder Singh Kalsi, Satish Dosaj, Jinder Singh Panesar, Jimmy James, Imtiaz Shiek, Balwant Singh Siani, Mac Ganesh.
The London Indians HC flag on display at The Hockey Museum. It previously flew at the club’s 21st (1979) anniversary tournament and their 25th anniversary tour to the Far East and Australia (1983). It featured regularly behind the London Indian’s goal, even if that did mean having to take it down and move it to the other end of the pitch at half time!
One strand of THM’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiative is the bringing out of ‘hidden histories’ from the collection to ensure diverse representation of hockey participants across the Museum’s storytelling and project work. Our EDI Action Plan also includes identifying opportunities to work with the hockey community to collect around representational gaps. Sometimes the intensity of THM’s collecting activity means that fascinating heritage collections and stories can be inadvertently overlooked; documented and safely stored but obscured by the need to keep on top of what is arriving through the doors next. That had been the case with the London Indians material until Tochi’s intervention. This material and reunion event is a strong example of THM’s renewed efforts to elevate and share some of its ‘hidden histories’.
The event was jointly hosted by our Curator Shane and Tochi. 25 people attended which included players, wives and children, and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Players included past England and Great Britain internationals. There was great enthusiasm for the heritage items on display, with players and their families delighting in memorable matches, dinners and familiar faces borne out by this material. Their gratitude was demonstrated by nearly £400 of donations in support of THM and offers of additional heritage material for the collection.
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Members of the London Indians reunite for a joyful evening at The Hockey Museum.
Some of the heritage material brought out of store especially for the event.
Club or group visits to The Hockey Museum
THM is keen to encourage other clubs to arrange visits of their own to experience the inspirational history and heritage of our sport, the valuable preservation work of the museum, and/or take a trip down memory lane. These visits can be arranged to fall outside of our public open days with displays tailored to reflect the history of a club, team or relevant individuals.
If you are interested, please make contact through our website: Contact Us | The Hockey Museum
London Indians Testimonials
“It was good to catch up with old players and their wives. The Museum is very interesting and I found some photos I did not know existed! Many thanks to Tochi for organising such an enjoyable event – it was a really nice day!” – Richenda Kullar
“It was a pleasure to attend and meet old friends. Thank you for your sterling effort, much appreciated. My thanks and best regards to Shane for looking after us so well.” – Tochi Marwaha
“Really was a fabulous get together on Saturday and my son was impressed to be amongst so many fabulous players. Looking back the Indians really was a fantastic team and I feel honoured to have been a part of the set up.” – Paul Cottam
