Gypsy Travelers

[cal44]

This is more a question for the folks in the U.K.

I recently came across a program that comes on weekly featuring Gypsy Travelers, their life style, family's and ....stuff. For several weeks now I have watched the show, my mouth agape.

Can this be true? Is the show a put on? Frankly I don't think I have ever seen anything like this.

[Elanintheforest]

It's true! These guys are Irish travellers really, not Romany Gypsies.

You need to see the movie 'Snatch' with Brad Pitt playing a bare knuckle Irish traveller fighter. A superb film, but you may have to watch it a couple of times to understand what Brad is saying.

Plenty of clips on YouTube....lots of Anglo Saxon content.

Mark

[elansprint]

If you travelled around thieving off of others doing work for cash, paid no tax, rent or rates, car tax or insurance then you too can have a lavish living
Ian

[Chancer]

Thats outrageous

You cant go writing stuff like that, "doing work for cash", its libellous

[john.p.clegg]

How thin can one lay tarmac??

John

[simonknee]

now I have watched the show, my mouth agape.

We all like a freak show, eh? I did the same thing to Louis Theroux's Wierd Weekends (mostly from the USA) a few years ago.

Personally I think the majority of the UK (make that Europe) treat the various traveller communities like s***t and I think it's shameful.

[hatman]

My own, Elan-related, experience with this charming, colourful and generally misunderstood faction of our society as posted a while ago in a thread about engine-overheating:-

'It then transpired that locally-based 'travellers' had decided that it would be a good idea to hold a trotting race along the A3, with two sulkies running side-by-side and all the following traffic, including yours truly, held back by a rolling road block of horse boxes and white vans occupying the full width of the road plus hard shoulder so there was no getting past. And so we proceeded at c10 mph until the inevitable happened, and one of the horses, spooked by the cacophony of horns (not mine, I might add) reared up, fell on its side, still attached to the sulky and there it lay in distress, kicking its legs wildly about. This, of course, brought the carnival to an end and we were at last able to go on our way at normal speed, allowing the poor old Elan to get some much needed cooling air flow through its radiator.) '

This, by the way, was in the middle of a fine, spring weekend, with roads jam-packed with traffic; the A3 is, at the best of times, a very busy trunk road - a motorway in fact in all but classification.

[nebogipfel]

You tend to get two views, folk who have little or no contact with "travellers" tend to think they are a charming quaint ethnic minority and should be treasured.

And then there are the folk who have experience................

[simonknee]

I grew up in the Vale of Evesham in various small villages that had legal camps attached. Even as a 10 year old I was shocked and appalled at the attitude of hate that practically entire villages had towards these communities.

I am therefore in a tiny minority and had better watch my back