Ray Wills publishes new book about Dorset Gypsy/Traveller history

Heather for Your Luck My Dear is an original and historical account of Gypsy Traveller life in Hardy’s Dorset. In Heather for Your Luck My Dear – a work of non-fiction - Ray Wills takes you on a fascinating journey through the hills of Purbeck and the market towns and villages of the county.

The Gypsy Traveller families were here for generations living in their tents, vardos, and benders within the greater Canford/Turbary common heather lands of Poole, Newtown, Branksome, Alderney, Kinson, Wareham, Christchurch, Corfe Mullen, and Bere Regis. Their many encampment communities had fancy names like Heavenly Bottom, Gallows Hill, Stoney Bottoms, and Monkeys Hump.

Many of these Gypsy travelling people were great artisans, horse traders, showmen, stall holders, swing boat builders, brick makers, potters, ironmongery workers, clay cutters, sand and gravel workers, and haulage workers. Some of these workers, such as at Newtown in Poole, were boxers who eventually became world champions and celebrities.

The book is complimented throughout with the author’s poetry, as well as photos of well-known local people and places.

From rural campfires to seaside promenades, writer Ray Wills knows a thing or two about Romani traditions.

Affectionately known as the Gypsy Poet, the 75-year-old has published several authoritative accounts of travelling life, including Where the River Bends, Gypsy Storyteller and The Gypsy Camp, as well as a study into the history of playparks, and well-received anthologies of poetry.

TT News

(Images courtesy of Ray Wills) 

All Ray Wills’ books can be purchased through Amazon: Amazon.co.uk: Ray Wills: books, biography, latest update