One of the extraordinary sights you may encounter in the Yorkshire Dales during June is a traditional horse-drawn caravan. Many of the traveller community still wend their way to the horse fair in Westmoreland using this mode of transport. It is slower and often leads to long tail-backs of cars along the narrow winding lanes. 

The fair has been held in the village of Appleby for centuries and attracts thousands of people. It is the biggest Gipsy Fair in Europe. Some believe its origin stems from a royal charter granted by James II of England in 1685 for secret services rendered to the Crown. The charter did not make statute and so this story provide insufficient evidence for a legal right to hold the fair, however there is an easement of prescription that may provide legal entitlement. 

The fair originally took place outside the village, just outside of the borough boundary on the common land at the crossroads of Long Marton Road near Gallows Hill. Its purpose has evolved from selling livestock into a meeting up place for the Gipsy, Romany and traveller community, who would renew friendships and trade horses. 

Members of this community travel long distances to meet in the same way that other communities across the world have done throughout history. One traveller I talked to described it as “one big family meeting”. I was struck by the way many travellers seemed to know each other. Men would joke with boys about when they would start to ride. Teenagers boys would brag about how fast their horses were in the way that teenagers in our wider society talked about their cars. Teenage girls, who were just coming of age would be dressed so glamorously you might be mistaken thinking that you were at a prestigious fashion show. Their aim, I was told was “to get the attention of the of the lads” and they certainly did that! 

The fair is not a living museum, nor is it simply a place to have fun. The business of buying or selling horses is still a core purpose but you will miss it unless you venture right out of the village up into the surrounding hills. It is there where the hard dealing goes on and hundreds or even thousands of pounds change hands.