| Description | Charles Parker interviews Alderman Harry Watton from Birmingham, JP and Chairman of the General Purposes Committee, about his experiences with the travelling community
Track 1: recording setup 0.32 mins
Track 2: Harry Watton talks about the main areas where travellers camp, in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, and his own observations of a group of travellers camping near his home who used lorries but slept in lodging houses over the road. He discusses having to clear travellers from waste land left after the demolition of slums, and his view that it is not 'real gypsies' or 'real tinkers' who cause the trouble 3.39 mins
Track 3: he describes the rubbish left by travellers who are sorting feathers from feather beds, and the dirty conditions that they leave. He says that they stay in lodging houses where 'Irish people, Birmingham people or even Pakistanis' are living, and their lack of respect for property. He thinks it is impossible to train people to live in the settled community 1.25 mins
Track 4: he talks about the problem of dealing with the travellers who pass through Birmingham, and the difficulty in getting them to practice sanitation and hygiene. He says that many of the Irish travellers in lodging houses are illiterate and are not concerned about their children getting an education, but admits that he has not had personal contact with people from the travelling community. He talks about the concerns of Irish people who are resident in Sparkbrook about the travellers, the general housing problems in the Sparkbrook area where large houses have been given over to multi-occupation and the deterioration of the area 4.38 mins
Tracks 5-7: he discusses the appeals that local residents have made to Birmingham City Council to deal with the problem of travellers in the area and talks about the possible solutions. He thinks that the social and economic problems in the travellers countries of origin need to be dealt with and continues to talk about the responsibilities that the city council has
Track 8: he talks about previous attempts to move travellers on, including putting compulsory purchase orders on houses in Sparkbrook 1.46 mins
Track 9: he thinks that the problems in Birmingham are different to those in Hampshire or Dorset 0.27 mins
Total: 16.01 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA 2M448A0784474 |