Travellers!

[XmisterIS]

It's as if they actively want people to be prejudiced against them ...

They've settled in field not far away, and they are being an utter nuisance. They were turfed out of a field elsewhere and they have left it in an absolutely appalling state. It was a lovely meadow, full of wild flowers, plenty of wildlife, etc, but within three weeks, they've turned it into a quagmire, apparently there's diesel and petrol in the soil now so nothing with grow and they've left a huge amount of rubbish.

Now, they've settled on some community playing fields and tennis courts with about 40 caravans, so no-one can play football, people going there to walk their dogs are getting threatened, and people trying to play tennis are getting jeered at. About 20 of them went into the local shop and started threatening staff and customers before taking what they wanted and brazenly walking out of the shop with it. They've broken into three garages in a peaceful, leafy, quiet, pleasant, low crime-rate cul-de-sac and apart from completely destroying the garage doors, they've pretty much looted everything they've found.

And then they wonder why everyone hates them ...

 

[Archie_tect]

Wonder if they have insurance.

If they say they don't need insurance because they keep dogs, ask them if the dogs can put fires out.

 

[tyred]

Unfortunately that would be my experience too. I'm sure they're not all bad but the ones that are are the ones who stick in people's memory.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Amen to that. You need to make friends with a local HA chapter and ask them to pay a visit

Wonder if they have insurance.

If they say they don't need insurance because they keep dogs, ask them if the dogs can put fires out.

 

[gbb]

It's as if they actively want people to be prejudiced against them ...

They've settled in field not far away, and they are being an utter nuisance. They were turfed out of a field elsewhere and they have left it in an absolutely appalling state. It was a lovely meadow, full of wild flowers, plenty of wildlife, etc, but within three weeks, they've turned it into a quagmire, apparently there's diesel and petrol in the soil now so nothing with grow and they've left a huge amount of rubbish.

Now, they've settled on some community playing fields and tennis courts with about 40 caravans, so no-one can play football, people going there to walk their dogs are getting threatened, and people trying to play tennis are getting jeered at. About 20 of them went into the local shop and started threatening staff and customers before taking what they wanted and brazenly walking out of the shop with it. They've broken into three garages in a peaceful, leafy, quiet, pleasant, low crime-rate cul-de-sac and apart from completely destroying the garage doors, they've pretty much looted everything they've found.

And then they wonder why everyone hates them ...

It makes me laugh whenever i hear them on TV, someones spouting about not being treated fairly, how they want to be treated with respect etc etc. Of course there's gooduns, i come into contact with them occasionally, guys wanting scrap off the site. You can chat with them, but only when they want something. If you've nothing of interest to them or dont know them, they don't want to know, they don't want any kind of contact.

We've had a lot here in Peterborough for years but they mostly stay over the east side of the city, but lately they've had a continuous presence over my side. i think its because they're building several thousand houses about a mile away and supposedly there's going to be a batch of pitches for gypsies there. i think thats why they've come over here, to re-inforce the need for those pitches.

TBF, the ones here are'nt too untidy, they do bag their rubbish up (for the most part) and we've not had a spate of criminal activity (AFAIK)

 

[Ludwig]

What about the settled community or gorgers. Don't they leave rubbish everywhere and break into garages. The traveller way of life which goes back many centuries has been taken away by the settled community. For exmaple they cannot just park up in a laybye or on common land like they used to. It is odd how we have thousands of acres of land used for defence and vast estates owned by the landed gentry but a few travellers find it almost impossible to find half an acre of land to park up on for a few nights. If you watch Gipsy Fair on The Community Channel you will see a diffent side of the gipsy way of life.

 

[Archie_tect]

If you watch Gipsy Fair on The Community Channel you will see a diffent side of the gipsy way of life.

...or My Gypsy Wedding... where the traditions seem oddly Catholic and totally at odds with what we would think of as 'normal' modern life.

There are some very dangerous people who live the traveller life and get moved on or settle on casual ground but they probably aren't gypsies, just as there are dangerous families who get moved around in housing estates.

 

[XmisterIS]

AFAIK, there's a BIG difference between gypsies and pikeys! These guys near me are most definitely pikes. There are gypsies too, who've been round here for years, and never cause a problem. They sometimes turn up with their lorry asking for scrap metal; they're good as gold and keep themselves to themselves. It's the pikeys who are an antisocial nuisance.

 

[2PedalsTez]

Funny this thread should be started.. I had been thinking about this myself, having just witnessed a group being evicted off council property.

I have no doubt that there are many members of the travelling community that are decent people. However, I like most people will take as they find..
Setting up camp on land that is private, treating it (and anything within a close radius) with utter disrespect (leaving rubbish, animal and human waste) does not encourage the local community to welcome these people. I know that supporters will say that we must be more sympathetic to their lifestyle and culture, but they really don't help themselves do they?
One of my friends who used to manage a large out of town shop once told of the time a group of travellers 'visited' his store. It began with girls lifting their skirts and pi**ing against the entrance doors as an unwelcome distraction while the remainder of the group helped themselves to the stock. Charming.

Asking a stupid question... Where do they get their money from? They all had big caravans being towed by BMW's, Merc's and Land Rover's!

 

[2PedalsTez]

AFAIK, there's a BIG difference between gypsies and pikeys! These guys near me are most definitely pikes. There are gypsies too, who've been round here for years, and never cause a problem. They sometimes turn up with their lorry asking for scrap metal; they're good as gold and keep themselves to themselves. It's the pikeys who are an antisocial nuisance.

Valid point... one of my colleagues told me that two travellers had introduced themselves and asked if they could take the metal and light fittings that had been put outside for scrap. My colleague said yes and the guys couldn't have been more grateful

 

[asterix]

One summer I stayed in a Hampshire village when working in Soton. A whole gathering of Gypsies turned up and parked in a field next to the road. They had the traditional caravans and horses. I was told they came every year and was warned not to take photos as they didn't like it. So I didn't. Everyone seemed quite happy about the arrangement and for all anyone knew it could have been happening for centuries!

Near the local airport in France there's been an encampment on a patch of land. It's as clean and neat as the day they arrived several months ago.

 

[smokeysmoo]

We have a scrap metal skip at work that is contained within a fenced compound on our premises, and amazingly I never have to have it emptied by the skip company as the scrap pikey fairy comes most nights/weekends and does the job for them
And although I thought fairies could fly, the ones we get are even better than that, they can use a spanner and dismantle fence sections to save them having to fly over it with all the heavy metal.

GET A JOB LIKE ALL THE REST OF US HAVE TO!

 

[smokeysmoo]

My colleague said yes and the guys couldn't have been more grateful

I bet they couldn't with scrap at around £180 per tonne

 

[Dave Davenport]

Salt of the earth

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-13909240

 

[G-Zero]

Many, many years ago (30+) I put an old banger up for sale (scrap or repair) by putting a sign in the car window. A few days later a couple of gentlemen turned up at my door and asked for a test drive, which due to the low value of the car, I allowed them...


Anyway...... a few weeks later they were obviously still giving it a good test drive and in their excitement forgot to bring it back. I just happened to cycle past a council run, free holiday site, for those of no fixed abode and downwardly mobile, when I saw my old banger parked next to a caravan with a new "For Sale" sign in the window.

Not being as cautious as I am these days, I bowled straight in and demanded my car back. One of the gentlemen was in the process of cleaning a shotgun and politely suggested that I depart forthwith, waving it in my face


Old Bill laughed me out of their station, so I thought I'd gang together a few select friends and go collect the car....Needless to say, they had more sense than me and I never saw it again.

Something of that lifestyle must have rubbed off on me, as I caravanned loads in later life, but as a bona fide tourist, with a job !!