Traveller youth take the reins as crowds visit Appleby Horse Fair

Irish Times

08-06-2025

From nowhere the atmosphere shifted from serene to slightly edgy.
It was a sunny Friday at the Appleby Horse Fair and there had been a collision on the Flashing Lane, a stretch outside the Cumbrian village where
Travellers
show-off and 'flash' horses for sale by running them at speed up and down the lane.
One man had run his horse and cart into the back of another – a yellow cart – and broken its wheels. A row brewed. A crowd gawked as the angry owner of the yellow cart demanded compensation from the other man, who denied blame.
'Queensbury rules,' said an observer, as tempers threatened to flare. A third man, a Traveller like the others, stepped in. He ushered them towards a nearby field, telling the yellow cart owner: 'You're a big man. We'll sort it out.'
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The crowd of mostly younger men, excited at the possibility of a scrap, flowed behind and formed a ring around them. The protagonist trio – the cart owners and their impromptu mediator – disappeared behind a camper van. Minutes later they emerged arm-in-arm like old friends. Clearly a deal was struck.
Irish Travellers watching on were heard to make phone calls telling others all was solved. Calm resumed. The crowd went back to the flashing in the lane, where horses hurtled beneath the dappled sunlight streaming in between the leaves above.
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Appleby fair: Horses are walked through the town centre. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA
A procession of carts go through Appleby village. Photograph: Mark Paul
This all took place under the noses of Cumbria police, who stayed well back from the field to let those involved sort it out themselves. It illustrated the unique and sometimes flexible approach of authorities to managing the Appleby Horse Fair.
The event finishes this week. It attracts 10,000 Travellers and Romany Gypsies from
Ireland
,
Britain
and further afield to this small town in bucolic northwest England over several days at the beginning of each June. An estimated 20-30,000 other visitors also attended in recent days, but the atmosphere was led by Traveller culture.
There was no central organisation in overall control when The Irish Times visited over the weekend. Billy Welch, the Shera Rom – Head Gypsy – of the Romani community organised toilets and other facilities in fields on Fair Hill outside the village. But much of the rest operated autonomously. Two bars were set up in an adjacent field, where Traveller men gambled on tossed coins late into the evening.
The cacophonous Appleby fair, a mixture of stalls, camping and equine-related activities, is billed as the largest gathering of Travellers in Europe. It is a mainstay of the community, which remains one of the most disadvantaged in the UK as it is in Ireland.
People washing horses in river Eden during the Appleby Horse Fair. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire
British census statistics show Travellers in Britain face the same social problems as their kin across the Irish Sea: lower education, poorer health, higher deprivation. They also experience discrimination.
The 250-year old fair an annual demonstration of pride, an unabashed display of Traveller and Gypsy culture, especially by its youth. They lead the ancient tradition of riding horses bareback into the river Eden in the town centre to wash the animals before and after they are flashed and possibly traded.
Some in Britain have always viewed the fair with a critical eye. Leading up to this year's event, English tabloids were filled with stories of Irish Travellers and Romany Gypsies 'descending' on Cumbria, bringing an alleged crime wave. Locals, coverage said, had 'battened down the hatches'.
Police reported about 30 arrests in the week or so leading up to the event last Thursday. Last year's fair recorded about 450 police 'incidents' in total, roughly comparable to a typical music festival of the same size.
People attending the Appleby Horse Fair. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
Dozens of officers were around Appleby town at the weekend, more on the outskirts. Some used automatic number plate recognition technology to check vehicles against police records. Police said they might deploy facial recognition technology in future.
'If Cumbria Police can use it to identify criminality and troublemakers and keep them away from the fair, then I would support it,' said Welch.
The fair attracts the attention animal rights groups, concerned over the welfare of horses. Many Travellers whom The Irish Times spoke to argued these concerns were overplayed.
A traditional horse-drawn caravan makes its way to the annual Appleby Horse Fair. Photograph:The RSPCA looks on as people go by in horse-drawn carriage during the Appleby Horse Fair. Photograph: Owen Humphreys
Liam Hamilton, an English-born Traveller of Irish descent from Doncaster, who caught a lift with The Irish Times to Fair Hill on Saturday, said the majority of Travellers knew not to over-whip horses. He was also critical of what he saw as excessive policing.
An RSPCA inspector near Flashing Lane on Friday evening said just four horses had been seized by that stage of this year's event. In 2007, one horse infamously drowned in deep water while being washed in the Eden. In more recent years, a few horses died from overwork.
A group of Dublin men at the fair, non-Travellers who said they kept horses in their working class communities including Coolock and Finglas, said welfare standards had improved in recent years. They welcomed the strong RSPCA presence.
One horse was seized late on Thursday evening. Three crestfallen young Irish Traveller boys were seen walking to a police barrier pulling an empty cart. 'Where is the horse?' asked an officer. They said the RSPCA seized it to treat an injured eye. Another horse headbutted it, they said, and they couldn't get it back.
People riding horses in water during the Appleby Horse Fair. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
A family in their traditional horse-drawn caravan make their way to the Appleby Horse Fair. Photograph:Away from the equine areas, many retail stalls were manned by Romany immigrants from eastern Europe, as well as native Rominchal from Britain. One Roma man, who did not want to be named, was doing a roaring trade selling water pistols. Asked where he was from, he replied 'Galway' in a half-Irish accent.
'The Irish Travellers, they don't consider us Irish,' he said. 'But that's where I grew up.'
British tabloids ran stories in recent years of alcohol-fuelled fighting between gangs at the fair. After Thursday, most pubs were shut in Appleby last weekend, along with the majority of shops. There were few locals around; many houses looked deserted. The Irish Times witnessed no real trouble over several days.
A person in a horse-drawn carriage during the Appleby Horse Fair. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
Religious organisations were prominent at the fair. Irish Travellers and their English kin are mostly Catholic, while some Romany are Protestants and evangelicals.
'Apostle' Des Pilling, a plasterer from Wigan, was on the bridge promoting his vision of religion for CLMI Street Evangelists UK. Most Irish Travellers were Catholic, he said, and needed to be 'born again' to reach heaven. Many passing Travellers just smiled at him.
Another man, who did not want to be identified, spoke to The Irish Times at the Catholic Traveller Renewal stand on Fair Hill. He said it was easier to be a Traveller in Britain than Ireland.: 'Even a man with no ar*e in his trousers in Ireland will come up and call you a k****er. But not here.'
People in horse-drawn carriages during the Appleby Horse Fair. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
People racing in a horse-drawn carriage during the Appleby Horse Fair. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
He had a perfect Irish Traveller accent, but was born and raised in London and lived there all his life. 'Your accent comes from who you mix with,' he said.
Yet most talk in Appleby was not of accents or trouble or discrimination. It was simply of horses, especially among excited young people.
Some of the most striking images of the weekend were of Traveller teenagers – girls as well as boys – riding huge horses bareback into the Eden and down the Flashing Lane.
Lucy Smith, a young Traveller from Morecambe, with her horse Comanche at the Flashing Lane at the Appleby Horse Fair. Photograph: Mark Paul
Lucy Smith, an English-born young Traveller from Morecambe, but who once lived in Ireland, seemed delighted to be told that she seemed like one of the best riders on the lane.
She appeared to handle her horse, Comanche, with ease riding without a saddle: 'He's really a driving horse [for carts]. But I just love riding him here.'
Then she took off down the lane, through the dust and crowds.