Appleby Horse Fair: A photo-essay by Brian Morgan

The centre-spread of our last edition of the Travellers’ Times Magazine featured the work of Doctoral researcher, writer, and photographer Brian Morgan. They were part of his forthcoming book 'Looking for Appleby Fair' an event which, for Brian, embodies almost every aspect of Gypsy and Traveller culture.  In a unique approach, he sets out to find - amid the Fair's modern-day sights and sounds - evidence of a Gypsy and Traveller past made present through a love of horses, the campfire, the coming together of family and friends, and above all an implacable belief in their right to 'be there'.

The book brings together beautiful and evocative photographs, present-day narrative accounts, and historic records, as he searches for a link between Appleby past and Appleby present. Brian's account of his first experience of Appleby is both funny and moving, the latter more so, as he reflects upon his kindredness with the Gypsy Story and that of his own battles through serious illness and loss.   

“I was a lost soul, but I took comfort discovering that all lost souls are travellers of sorts'”, says Brian.   

Once completed, Brian says that he hopes his findings might better inform those debates concerning the future of Appleby Horse Fair, an event which many non-Gypsies regard at best a mere facsimile of a questionable romantic past and at worst symbolic only of a volatile and archaic culture that has no place in the British 'mainstream'.

”This book was never intended as rigorous academic research,” adds Brian. “Rather, I'm trying to bring together both compelling imagery and a compelling narrative of sufficient strength to be of use in the debate about the future of ‘Appleby'. It's very clear to me that Appleby is important, not just as a unique cultural event, but as a living metaphor for the power of the Gypsy message. It is a message that deserves to be heard, especially during these much-troubled times when borders and walls are seen as solutions and cultures are being driven ever further apart increasingly fuelled as they are by an irrational fear of 'the other'.   

 “All of our futures are bound inexorably to the past and there are few histories more infused with lessons about how we can better guard against prejudice and fear than those which make up the chapters of the Gypsy story of which Appleby is a very important part.”

The cancellation of last year's Appleby Horse Fair prevented the completion of Brian's book, but with the help of the all-important bridge to the Gypsy Traveller Community provided by Bill Lloyd, he hopes to finish this year.

 Brian Morgan can be reached through us here at the Travellers’ Times.

Travellers’ Times

(All photographs (c) Brian Morgan Fine Art)