| Description | Charles Parker talks with an unidentified man.
Track 1: They talk about his family: his father was a boxer. He talks about his father hitting him and one of his brothers. He says that a Romany is master of his household and 'gives his children a hiding' if they don't do as they're told, 2.54 mins
Track 2: He says he cannot be forceful with his father. He says that his mother's family were not Romanies and they it took some time for them to accept his father, 1.24 mins
Track 3: He says that there isn't anything a Romany can't snare, and talks about people he knows who can snare pike and deer. He says that Romany people don't use gin traps or hooks and lines. He talks about snaring partridges and pheasants and using catapults - his father was very good with a catapult. He describes snaring pike with a long pole, 3.55 mins
Track 4: Charles Parker asks about the resource of the true Romany: he talks about the way they improvise and describes a lathe made out of bicycle parts for making wooden bowls and making a drill similar to a bow, 1.43 mins
Track 5: He says that all the Romanies have left Cambridge and that 'travellers' and 'gypsies' will not work in the same field and gypsies do not like being called 'diddakoi', but a traveller would not mind being called a gypsy and he thinks this is 'a racial thing'. He talks about being called 'gyppo' at school because he had friends who were 'gypsies', 2.15 mins
Track 6: He says that the Romanies always have a trade and rely on their wits and this is the difference between them and the travellers. He says that some people go round looking like travellers and doing the same jobs, but do a shoddy job, 2.24 mins
Track 7: He says that some travellers can speak Romany. He talks about gypsy numbers dwindling and says that they have mixed with travellers, 1.42 mins
Track 8: Silence, 1.02 mins
Track 9: Charles Parker asks about traveller funerals: he describes the funeral of a traveller in Cambridge and says that they spend a lot of money on funerals and the 'do' afterwards. He says that travellers do not speak ill of the dead, 1.35 mins
Track 10: He talks about loyalty within families and describes how his brother looked after him when his wife was in hospital, 2.14 mins
Track 11: He talks about getting mushrooms and his brothers giving him fish or rabbits, 0.59 mins
Track 12: He says that he is proud of being from a 'gypsy' family and talks about the fantasy image of 'gypsies'.He says it hasn't made any difference to his work, 2.03 mins
Track 13: He says that people should not be repressed because they want to move and there should be sites provided for 'gypsies'. He says he does not understand why travellers are moved on if they do not cause any trouble. He compares prejudice against 'gypsies' to prejudice against Jews, 3.34 mins
Track 14: He says that travellers should organize themselves and demand rights to live. He argues that many minority groups are closely knit and they should not be persecuted because they will not organize, 1.34 mins
Track 15: He talks about travellers hoarding scrap and says that this is exactly the same as factories or shops keeping stock, 1.16 mins
Track 16: He talks about prejudice against travellers and says that government should legislate and stop persecution, 2.02 mins
Track 17: He talks about the toilets in caravan resorts, which are dirty. He says that if travellers were given washing facilities they would use them, 1.18 mins
Charles Parker talks to a group of men.
Track 18: A man says that travelling people are no more untidy or dirty than any other people, 1.35 mins
Track 19: They talk about travellers' family relationships and say they do not know how they are related. He says that travellers marry young, 2.01 mins
Track 20: A man talks about travellers loving the freedom of moving around, they earn good money and work hard. He says that fruit picking will always be done by hand, 1.31 mins
Charles Parker talks to Mr Lee.
Track 21: Charles Parker asks him when he started travelling - he says he has travelled all his life and his father and mother before him. He says that he is a Lee but he does not call himself a gypsy because he does not lead the gypsy life - he stays on one site instead of travelling, 2.26 mins
Track 22: He talks about serving in the First World War and the army finding out that he couldn't read or write, so he 'couldn't get higher' he was always a private, 1.57 mins
Track 23: Charles Parker asks what he did after the War: he went back to Sussex and he started travelling. He says he didn't want to live on his own in a house, so he started travelling with a horse and wagon in 1920, 1.47 mins
Track 24: They talk about travelling in 1920: he said he 'travelled all over the place' finding a job where he could picking fruit and hops. He says that travellers only work in the summertime and he gets the old age pension now. He says that they save money in the summer for the winter, 1.53 mins
Track 25: He says he married soon after 1920 and his wife was a Lee. They had five children who are all travellers. He says he had to get rid of the horses when he came on the site two years ago because there is no grazing. Charles Parker asks about changes in travelling: he says there used to be clean places to stop, not like the site he lives on now, 2.20 mins
Charles Parker talks to a boy of 16, probably Bill Lee.
Track 26: He talks about the site - he says that it is filthy and should not be allowed and travellers are not able to keep themselves clean. He says the site should be bigger and each caravan should have its own toilet, 1.52 mins
Track 27: Charles Parker asks about his mother, who has a house in Great Chart. He says that he was born while his mother was 'away hopping'. He says that his mother goes away to work and he still travels with his aunt and uncle and he can't settle down. He says his mother has settled down so that the children can go to school. They talk about going to school in Ashford - he didn't get on well because the people didn't like him. He says he cannot read or write because he had no time to go to school, 2.43 mins
Track 28: Charles Parker asks whether he mixes with teenagers in Ashford. He talks about how he spends his leisure time. They talk about the barbed wire fence around the site, 1.57 mins
Track 29: He says that the Council hasn't put the right people on the site and says that the Warden should come and check the site and send people off if it isn't clean. They talk about rent for the site and discuss why it's difficult for 'gypsies' and travellers to get together and clean the site. He says that 'gypsies' and travellers call each other dirty. He talks about making tents by the side of the road, 3.03 mins
Track 30: He says he wants to get back on the road because stopping at a site is worse than stopping by the side of the road. He says he has to go away and do his work - he takes his trailer with him. He talks about the mud and water on the site and says the site should be tarmacked, 2.57 mins
Track 31: Charles Parker asks him whether would take a factory job: he says he wouldn't because the taxes are too much and you get a better living by the side of the road selling scrap. He talks about 'seeing more life' when he travels. He says that young women don't interest him and he doesn't want to spend money on women, 2.19 mins
Track 32: He talks about the Council taking money and not giving enough back, 2.03 mins
Total: 1.06.37 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF549C0333580 |