Gipsy way of life ‘dying’ as travellers mourn their fading culture

THE traveller way of life is “dying”, research by the Office for National Statistics has found.

A combination of crackdowns under the law and younger generations being more ambitious is leading to gipsy and traveller traditions “fading and disappearing”, according to the study.

New legislation banning unauthorised stopping has made nomadic living practices “increasingly unfeasible” in England and Wales, the ONS said, adding: “A common refrain was that this represents ‘a dying way of life’.”

Travellers are instead moving into permanent homes, saying they long for “warm showers and toilets” as enjoyed by other communities.

On transit sites managed by local authorities, the report found issues included “fly-tipped rubbish, rat infestations, the site being located near busy roads and issues with facilities, such as toilet and shower blocks being insufficient … damp and without heating”.

One male, described as a roadside traveller aged 50 to 60, told the study: “The culture like travelling around ... it’s going away now, it’s gradually just fading and fading away because they don’t want you doing it.”

The ONS interviewed 52 people with a gipsy or traveller ethnicity along with 30 central and local government officials from England and Wales.

While a close-knit family revolving around moral values and marriage remained fundamental for gypsies, a “sense of uprootedness [and] loss of belonging” is rising, the study found. “The speed with which transitions have occurred away from traditional lifestyles and practices, and towards … different values and approaches has also created strain,” the ONS said.

Some families said they had withdrawn children from school because of sex education being taught “at an inappropriately young age”.

Others have resorted to hiding their surname, accent or address for fear of being “outed” and “prejudice and hostility” harming their job prospects.

Gipsies and travellers described being “treated like scum” and “secondclass citizens”.

But the boxing champion Tyson Fury, who is a gipsy, was praised. “Tyson Fury is fighting for us, to get our name out there because everybody just thinks we are like scum,” one traveller told the ONS.

Participants in the research called for gipsy and traveller culture to be added to the education syllabus.

Billy Welch, a spokesman for the community and organiser of the Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria, said: “For every other ethnic minority and religion in this country, especially in the schools, there’s a space made for those children and an understanding of their cultural needs, their beliefs and way of life.

“But there’s nothing for gipsy and traveller people. We aren’t some new phenomenon, we’re an ancient race of people that goes back thousands of years, yet every now and again there’s a little further erosion of our culture, traditions and way of life – we haven’t done anything wrong or bothered anyone.”