Yemeni immigrant workers

The Sultan's Palace in Sayun, Yemen. Photograph: Tim Smith/Tim Smith

1985: Yemeni man shovelling coal for the furnaces at George Oxley's Vulcan Foundry in the Don Valley area of Sheffield. Photograph: Tim Smith

Quaad Ali Dubwan who, like his father and grandfather, first came to the UK as a seaman in the British Merchant Navy. He spent 28 years here as a steel worker before retiring to his village in Shameer where his pension supports an extended family of over 30 people. Photograph: Tim Smith

1982: A cafe at Christmas time in the docklands area of Newport, run by a former Yemeni sailor who organised food and board for his compatriots coming and going on cargo ships. Photograph: Tim Smith

2007: Young British Yemeni women chatting at the launch of the annual Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival. Photograph: Tim Smith

2007: Young British Yemenis watching a performance by the American-Yemeni rapper Hagage AJ Masaed at the Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival. Photograph: Tim Smith

1984: Yemeni worker operating lifting gear at Thomas Clarke and Sons foundry, in the Don Valley area of Sheffield. Photograph: Tim Smith

1984: Lunch break taken in the foundry at Thomas Clarke and Sons. Photograph: Tim Smith/Tim Smith

The Old City of Sana'a, a medieval creation of densely packed houses, mosques, markets and caravanserai. Photograph: Tim Smith/Tim Smith

The town of Old Marib once controlled the passage of camal caravans on the incense route across the deserts of eastern Yemen. Photograph: Tim Smith/Tim Smith

Abdul Ila, now retired to his home in Melah in Yemen, was a merchant seaman who settled in Britian for thirty years. He worked in factories in Warringrton and Manchester, and in forges in Rotherham and Shefield. Photograph: Tim Smith