I have started something haven't I. Well I think the best thing is to put the record straight. This is the truth then.
Stradlings review is not as bad as I remembered it. However the thing I find unforgivable even after twenty years is the personal attack on my integrity. The idea that I was exploiting my friendship with Bill house and his family is not only incorrect but also offensive, and unnecessary. Lets face it, Stradling behaved like a gobshite, and I hope somebody told him to his face. (I never ran into the man, which is probably lucky for him)
The main point is, that Stradling was only a small part of my decision to retire. He caught me at an all time low. At that time I was suffering from atrocious health and ended up in Hospital for several months. The result was that I lost my house, and just escaped bankruptcy. My union Equity gave me a hardship payment that paid the deposit so we could rent a small two up two down house in East Lancashire. My parents were still alive and they bought me a caravan God Bless them. Mally and I lived half in and half out of the house. I earned a living by sign writing and painting trinkets (Roses and Castles etc) and selling them at Horse fairs and steam Rallies. We were camping around the country,(we buried or disposed of all our rubbish by the way) and fell in with a travelling family called Mic and Susie Darling and their kids. I recorded Mics songs and the tapes sold in hundreds. Incidentally I was not bothered weather we were travellers, Tinkers,mumpers or anything else. We were just surviving. I played songs with Mic in pubs and in the street. We can be seen on a film of Stowe Horse fair singing the Romany Rye together, and later on travelled to Appleby and Lee Gap fairs.
At Lee Gap I helped the late Gypsy Strongman Johnny Eagle with his act, wrapping him in chains to help with his escape act, and trying (and failing) to bend the iron bar.
In 1995 I bought my first Wagon for £1900 and tried to paint it up. I sold it at a profit and hand built another. I sold that and eventually moved to a static Caravan on a site in Thornton Lancashire. After five or six years we were forced off the site by racists who attacked my wife for being a 'Gyppo' spat at my Grandchildren and set dogs on us when we were working outside. I managed to buy a detached bungalow, and started my business in earnest, making a living entirely from wagons. I was good at it and at I now employ three people, and I am far from destitute.
I never was and never will be a scholar. I understand Gypsies and Wagons, Horses and Dogs. I can play and sing most music fairly well. On the Folk scene when I was younger I felt intimidated by the teachers and social workers(and Stradlings) I met, which made me aggressive and a bit pushy, and I think I may have upset more than a few people.
Stradling hit a nerve, but it's time to let it go. So that's why I offered my recordings to anybody who wants them for free. I don't have anything to prove any more. I think I've said more than enough about myself so I'll finish by saying thanks again for all the supportive comments, and if you want to contact me I'm at Radio Lancashire every Sunday night.
Kushti Bok
Nick