Gypsy Roma Traveller Leeds
The permanent site of the Gypsy Roma Traveller Communities
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In Their Own Words
Gypsies and Travellers in their own words compiled by the Gypsy Roma Traveller Achievement Service is a fantastic read, and gives amazing insights into the lives and times of Travellers in this country.
Unfortunately this book is no longer available.
The collection of stories and personal histories in this rich volume creates a vivid picture of life within the Gypsy and Traveller communities.
Traditions Upheld Since Medieval Times
Fairground Communities
The Fairground Community, known as ‘Showpeople’, have a long tradition of working the Fairs, many of which are hundreds of years old.
Many families have winter quarters, usually yards, where they can over winter and repair the Rides and prepare for the next season.
Fairground families are constantly on the move, erecting and pulling down as they go from one site to another throughout the year. They travel in a travelling wagon. Most are comfortable and have well-equipped kitchens and bathrooms. Families stick together and follow their parents in the business.
In 1889 The Showmen’s Guild was formed and it successfully defended their interests as there was a plan to restrict the use of caravans by Parliament, which would have made their lives almost impossible. The Guild has a weekly newspaper, ‘The World’s Fair’, which keeps everyone up-to-date with new equipment, details of events and reports of fairs.
The National Fairground Archive
The National Fairground Archive (NFA) was inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Sheffield in 1994, with the support of the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain and the Fairground Association of Great Britain.
The National Fairground Archive, based at Sheffield University, is now open to the public. There is open access to 3 large rooms of resources and archive material, plus a large exhibition area.
It is a unique collection of photographic, printed, manuscript and audiovisual material covering all aspects of the culture of travelling showpeople, their organisation as a community, their social history and everyday life; and the artifacts and machinery of fairgrounds.
The NFA collections are continuing to grow: there are now over 80,000 images in the photographic collection, in addition to audio and video material, journals and magazines, and nearly 3,000 monographs. The collection also includes a unique body of fairground ephemera (programmes, handbills, posters, charters and proclamations, plans and drawings).
The NFA represents an important part of the cultural heritage of the nation. It is a primary resource of rich potential for research at every level; it provides a new and exciting source of teaching material for primary and secondary education, and provides access to a wealth of popular cultural history both for the Fairground enthusiast and for the public at large.
For more information please visit their website.
Circus travellers
Circus Life
An article taken from the second issue of the Travellers Post published by the Gypsy Roma Traveller Achievement Service, details life as a circus Traveller.
The Ghost Show
Ruby Pester has written to inform us of an artists project about the birth of cinema on Scotland's showgrounds and the lives of Travelling Showpeople in the East End of Glasgow. Visit www.ghostshow.org to find out more.
Further reading on Showpeople
All the Fun of the Fair
Established in 1997, this is a site for UK Travelling Showmen & Funfair Fans.
Roll Up, Roll Up
By Valda Eagle, the Ringmistress. An article on living in the fair taken from the second issue of the Travellers Post published by the Gypsy Roma Traveller Achievement Service.
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