Thank yourself Nigel (as they say in Clare)
Please don't stop for me - Nick - I opened this thread to get an overview - for myself included
Yes - I would like to hear mor about English Travellers - while I met a lot of Scots and Irish ones, my experiences with the English was somewhat limited (though not totally ignorant)
We worked in London, which tended to be a bit of a melting-pot with quite a lot of inter-marriage
The only time we did anything with English Travellers was through Mikeen (above) who was an activist for Travellers rights in teh East End - we helped where we could (and were wanted)
The only family we came really close to was that of Ned Riley and Lucy (previously Smith)
Ned and Mikeen once had a caravan bulding company in the South West of Ireland and helped establish the first horse-drawn holiday company - mainly for rich Yanks
Ned and Mikeen were both skilled craftsmen - wheel and harness makers - Lucy was a lovely, extremely humorous lady who had us choking with laughter one night when she described the problems they had when the police or Council moved them on
Like many English Travellers, she had a magnificent collection of china ornaments so when they had to move it usually took them a day to carefully wrap everything up so it didn't get damaged - Ned, typical of Irish Travellers, didn't go in for such things   
Both Ned and Mikeen were skilled horsemen from their youth
I don't know if you are aware, but London had a weekly horse-fair in Southall, West London - it has a large Asian population
The sale ran into over 100 horses per week - everything from blood racers to donkeys destined for the glue factory
It was fascinating to go with Ned and Mikeen and hear them discuss the merits of the stock on sale

Must go - a local history lecture to attend (pre-Christian Clere - would you believe - can't wait !!!!!!!!
Tomorrow
Jim