To begin our celebrations for this year’s Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month, on the 5th of June, we held an event in our Exhibitions Space. This event showcased films alongside talks and discussion from two guest speakers: Bill Lloyd and Tom Lloyd.

Bill Lloyd is a musician and a Traveller rights activist. He is also the Secretary of the Appleby Fair Hill Committee. During the event, he spoke to the attendees about some of the history and culture relating to the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and also about the challenges that they continue to face today. Bill also shared some music which included him playing the Scottish smallpipes.

Tom Lloyd is the owner of Fell Pony Adventures, who take groups on wild camping treks with pack ponies to hidden corners of the lake District. Since taking over the Hades Hill herd of Fell ponies from his father Walter Lloyd in 1995, Tom has travelled the length of the country and back with his ponies and has spent half his life living under canvas. He is also a filmmaker and has produced and directed two award-winning films about Traveller life: the documentary Romany Rai; and a short, lyrical meditation about life on the road, Live Before You Die. These were the films that were showcased at our event.

Following the event, one attendee stated in our anonymous feedback form: “The educational, passionate, and friendly conversations between Tom and Bill, especially the consistent and diverse interludes into more personal conversations and life experiences for how the pair have related to the GRT communities.”