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Year: 2026
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Smoke Beyond the Moor: Heathcliff’s Lost Heritage
Author’s note This expanded reimagining grew from my earlier piece, Smoke Beyond the Moor — Heathcliff. The original remains on the site as it was written. This version keeps the same premise, but gives Heathcliff more room to think, remember and discover what may have been hidden from him. This is not presented as Emily…
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“You’re Lucky – You Can Hide It”
When invisibility becomes the price of acceptance I have been told something several times in my life that has started to bother me more, rather than less, as I have got older. Sometimes it has come from professionals. Sometimes from perfectly well-meaning people. It has even come from other people who understand racism and discrimination…
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I’ve Found a Piece of Land — Can I Live on It? A Gypsy Woman’s Plain-English Guide to Planning Permission
There has been a lot of noise about the new planning rules. Depending on which newspaper or Facebook comment you read, apparently Gypsies and Travellers can now buy a field, pull on with a caravan and planning permission is almost guaranteed. I wish. Equally, I still hear Gypsy and Traveller families say: “It’s Green Belt.…
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No Monuments, No Anthem, No Book? Who Gets to Decide What Counts as Gypsy History?
I came across a quote that I haven’t been able to leave alone. its one of those that keeps swirling around in my head It is from Isabel Fonseca, whose Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey was published in the mid-1990s. She writes: “The Gypsies have no heroes. There are no myths of…
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PGT Statement on the New National Planning Policy Framework
Proud Gypsy Traveller CIC welcomes important elements of the new National Planning Policy Framework and, in particular, a greater recognition that the shortage of lawful Gypsy and Traveller accommodation cannot be solved through enforcement alone. Earlier this year, PGT responded to the NPPF consultation drawing directly on our planning advocacy, welfare reporting and work alongside…
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Running Away, Walking Off and the Marriage the State Could See
Who decided what was the “real” Gypsy way to get married? Many debates happen online about Gypsy and Traveller culture. And when they do, differences of opinion can become very strong, very quickly. I found the whole “if you use a mop to clean your floors, you’re not a real Gypsy or Traveller” debate fascinating.…
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Gypsy and Traveller History: Slavery, Persecution and Survival
I am currently working through the Proud Gypsy Traveller website, page by page, reviewing what we have written and deciding what needs updating. When I reached our original timeline, I realised how much has changed—not only in the evidence now available, but in my own ability to research it. I now know how to follow…
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Not Just a Strategy: The Courage to Make It Real
On 2 July 2026, I attended the launch of the Council of Europe Strategy for Roma and Traveller Inclusion 2026–2030, hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma at Portcullis House in Parliament. The event was chaired by Mary Foy MP, and brought together parliamentarians, Council of Europe representatives, civil society organisations,…
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The Tinker Experiment: Why Did It Happen, What Happened—and Why Should We All Know About It?
For generations, Scottish Gypsy Travellers were pushed from the road, separated from their children and placed in isolated, substandard settlements. This is not only a story about the past. Its consequences are still being lived today. By Violet Cannon, Proud Gypsy Traveller CIC A man appeared to have wandered into the exhibition almost by accident.…
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An Apology Is Just the First Step
What happens after Scotland says sorry for the Tinker Experiment? The Nackens Now and Then event took place almost exactly one year after the Scottish Government formally apologised for the policies and practices commonly referred to as the Tinker Experiment. Professor Ali Watson OBE, Director of the Third Generation Project at the University of St Andrews and…