When people ask me where I’m from and hear “Cambridge'', the reactions are mostly along the lines of, “Oooo, you’re posh”. It is normal, expected even, to make such assumptions, however, in my experience, these stereotypes are not strictly true. Yes, we have fancy buildings and expensive universities. It is even correct to say we home a good few of the most wealthy people in the country. However, we are also just like any other city.
Our streets home the homeless, the majority of our people are struggling with poverty and our council are not always the most responsive. One of our best hidden secrets is the prominent community of Travellers who have inhabited the area for many hundreds of years. Originally Roma, Travellers, Gypsies, would travel to Cambridgeshire county in order to help with the farm labour, picking fruit, vegetables etc.
Travellers were originally attracted to the centre of Cambridge for a number of different reasons, one of which being the yearly Midsummer Fair. For the past 800 years it has been a tradition for the large Traveller community to gather and socialise at the fair. In the past the fair provided an opportunity for the young members to meet potential suitors, however now all are dressed in their finery, grandparents to young toddlers. Being well known for their glamour, it is truly a spectacular sight as they walk down the main road toward the fair. The boys with their hair perfectly slicked back, and Polo shirts tucked in. The girls provide a whole new level of glamour, hair immaculately pinned and waved, a colourful array of clothing all finished off with the highest pair of heels imaginable. I stare in awe at how they manage to walk at all. Often one of the busiest nights in town, a visit to Wetherspoons definitely proves a lively affair. I have had many experiences with the local Traveller community. Most notably during my first job at a little golf course in the centre of Cambridge (yes, there is a lovely little nine whole golf course in the dead centre of Cambridge!). On hot summer days, the Golf course proved popular with the young boys of the Traveller community.
My favourite memory of the Golf course is a recent one, however. During the summer of the “Great Pandemic of 2020”, I was staying in a Camper-van situated in the car-park of the Golf course. One early afternoon, I was sitting reading in the humid heat of the van when I heard a clip clopping sound, gradually getting louder and louder. I stuck my head out of the door just in time to see two simple horse drawn carriages pulling into the car-park. One driven by a middle-aged man and the other by a young teen. I was aware that the car park was soon going to be locked up for the night, so I walked down to have a chat. The cheerful group informed me they have been riding for a little while and needed to give the horses a little rest bite. I am always so fascinated at how many different communities, religions and ethnicities Cambridge attracts.
