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THE WRITER
“nonpersons”, and some experts believe around 600,000 European
Gypsies were eradicated, most gassed in Auschwitz.
There are several different groups within the travelling community.
Roma Gypsies, who originated from the Indian subcontinent around
1,000 years ago and have now spread across Europe; Irish Travellers, who
have a common language (Shelta) and are believed to have became nomadic
in the 16th or 17th century; plus new age travellers, hippies and
crusties. Some choose a nomadic life because they want to be more in
touch with nature; others to live on the edge of society without a national
insurance number or fixed address.
Yet when Gypsies and Travellers do want to settle down, there are
extra complications. More than 90% of planning applications submitted
by Gypsy families are refused, compared with 20% of non-traveller
applications. Also, Gypsies may be buying pieces of land on green belts
and have little or no knowledge of the administration system. A planning
application by a Gypsy family is always met with an extreme number of
objections by the local residents (I know this from experience). And it’s a
fact that having Gypsies in a neighbourhood lowers the price of property.
My siblings and I were born into this lifestyle, but we weren’t taught
to carve clothes pegs and sell lucky heather. We were brought up with
strict morals, values and guidelines. We don’t look or act particularly
different to anybody else. We just had a different path, and weren’t
brought up living in a house.
After completing my access course (thanks to a wonderful tutor, I got
distinctions in all the units), I did a degree with the Open University, and
that meant completely changing my way of life. Last November, at the
age of 30, I moved to Brighton to study at Brighton Journalist Works. I
live here with my boyfriend in a flat, which is bizarre and alien to me.
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