It's been Appleby Horse Fair this weekend & around 10,000 to 15,000 English, Welsh, Scottish & Irish gypsies & travellers meet to buy & sell horses.
Of course this attracts a very large number of ordinary visitors to watch the proceedings.
Horses for sale are ridden into the River Eden bareback to be washed ready for selling.
They are trotted up & down the 'flashing lane' so that prospective buyers can see them in action.
This is Allan a friend of ours who is not a gypsy but goes every year in his gypsy caravan.
Three good things:
1. Poldark started again last night!
2. Just finishing a great book called Florence Grace, a Richard & Judy best seller. I have enjoyed it. I am pushing to get it finished as I have the new David Baldacci book The Fix to read & I only have it for a short while from Borrow Box.
3. Beryl brought me a plant from the market this morning!
What a lovely warm face he has and no doubt a great story teller.
I do like the reading comments you share and hope some time I'll become more of a reader! I love reading for work but crash out if I try reading in bed!!!😄
I expect Allan lives by himself though it would be nice to know he had a friendship to enjoy in his caravan. Great shot with his pipe and his crinkly eyes!
I didn't know they had these Fairs in Britain! Read about them in places like Slovenia etc!
@maggiemae no he has a family & his wife is the friend that I met but went on the wrong day! Their son is my Godson, lots of grandchildren too! I think he just looks the part. He was a gamekeeper before he retired.
Love this portrait Pat - he has a lovely face and I like the caravan backdrop giving it more character - fav. I have just finished Florence Grace too - I enjoyed it a lot but not as much as Amy Snow which is the first book by the same author I think and a bit better (if you haven't read it). I am about to start watching the first series of Poldark which is now available on Netflix. I missed it all on tv and regretted it when I saw clips of the scything..... :-)
@jesperani no I haven't read Amy Snow nut was thinking I will get it after I've read The Fix, thanks for the tip! Enjoy Poldark, the only fault I found was I couldn't always hear what they say, subtitle time!
Lovely portrait, I would love a gypsy caravan in my garden. Always had a fantasy with gypsies ever since I was a child. Mum used to read Francis Cornford's poem to my sister and I when we were children.
I think I was the gypsy and Anita the princess. I became the traveller and she stayed put in Manchester. http://sallujaan.tripod.com/stories/tpatg.htm
I do like the reading comments you share and hope some time I'll become more of a reader! I love reading for work but crash out if I try reading in bed!!!😄
I didn't know they had these Fairs in Britain! Read about them in places like Slovenia etc!
I think I was the gypsy and Anita the princess. I became the traveller and she stayed put in Manchester. http://sallujaan.tripod.com/stories/tpatg.htm