"Thousands of eyes have witnessed/The beauty of Appleby Fair/And the gipsys will keep it forever/Locked and sealed in their care." Ron Finch
The ancient tradition of horse-trading sees thousands of Travellers coming back year after year to Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria, for the first week in June. They've been coming here for centuries, long before James II granted the town a charter for the "purchase of and sale of all manner of goods, cattle, horses, mares, geldings" in 1685. (Some say horses have been traded here since the 13th century.)
It's by far the largest and most famous Gypsy horse fair in Europe: more than 1,000 motor-drawn caravans and 100 horse-drawn and brightly-painted wagons pitch up for a week on the 30-acre Fair Hill, just outside the town. Five thousand Travellers come from all over England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, bringing their horses, dogs, chickens, ducks, charms and trinkets in tow. Many of them begin their journeys as early as May.
Travellers rarely get the chance to travel these days, being tied by law to official sites, and Appleby is a rare opportunity for them to relive the glory days of the open road. It also provides them with an arena in which to wheel and deal their horses, caravans, crockery and cars. It's a gathering of clans, a time to meet up with relatives and friends. But most of all, Appleby is the travellers' annual binge, a holiday they have been saving up for all year. They come to drink, party and make or lose a fortune.
The real theatre begins in Fair Hill, where a kaleidoscope of colours assaults the eye from displays spread out on flimsy trestles, the sides of vans and tarpaulin sheets on the ground. Gold lady lamps with lilac shades dripping diamante tassels, pink satin-look bedspreads with lavishly-embroidered pillows and lorry-loads of crockery with horse motifs. Nine-carat gold horns of plenty, sovereign rings and chokers. And the bone china so beloved by travelling people: Crown Derby patterns in blues and reds and golds. Fortune-tellers get top-billing for the tourists and plaster their trailers with pictures of the stars who have crossed their palms.
• Appleby Horse Fair takes every year over the first week in June. For details, contact Appleby Tourist Information on +44 (0)1783 51177.
