Gypsy
Travellers have a long history in Britain and modern Gypsy culture
is the product of many influences but its roots
reach back as far as ninth century India.
Hop
picking near Maidstone
Kent has historically
had a high population of Gypsy Travellers because the fruit and vegetable farms
in the Garden of England needed a large mobile workforce, providing Travellers
with an ideal way of making a living.
In horse drawn days the extended family would
travel and work together following a seasonal pattern of work on the county's
farms. In winter time they would pull on to one of the traditional stopping places
on the edges of towns.
In the years after the second world war the work gradually dried up and increasing
legislation made stopping places harder to find. Eventually most Gypsies had to
give up the travelling life and settle down.
In modern times Gypsy Travellers are having to
adapt an ancient culture which was developed and sustained through travelling
into a sedentary existence.
That it has survived this far is testimony to the tenacity of the Romany people
and there is little doubt that it will be around for a long time yet.
The
history of Gypsy Travellers in Britain
