Horsing around: a wild weekend at Appleby Fair
- Text by Stefy Pocket
- Photography by Stefy Pocket
One week every year, the tiny town of Appleby in Cumbria host the largest gathering of Gypsies and Travellers in Western Europe. Around 10,000 members of the travelling community pour into the Eden Valley to trade horses, party, gamble, meet friends, and even find love.
Increasingly, horses are being brought to the three-day fair for leisure rather than for trade, and the vast majority of visitors are there as part of a traditional family holiday. Hundreds of horses are seen being ridden around the town, washed in the river, groomed, and exercised (the best way of showing them off).
I’d known about the Appleby fair for years – it’s been around since 1775 – but last year was the first time I got to visit. It was amazing: there was so much going on. I was surrounded by incredible faces everywhere – young boys riding cobs around, long-haired girls wearing beautiful outfits, and men dealing horses of all shapes and sizes.
Everyone was welcoming and charming. As a photographer, I always look for permission from people I shoot, and the majority of attendees were fine with me taking their photo. That said, I did receive a few nos – I felt some people were a bit suspicious of me, which I completely understand given the ignorance and prejudice these communities have faced in the past. I would probably be sceptical of photographers too.
See more of Stefy Pocket’s work on her official website, or follow her on Instagram.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
The party starters fighting to revive Stonehenge’s Solstice Free Festival
Free the Stones! delves into the vibrant community that reignites Stonehenge’s Solstice Free Festival, a celebration suppressed for nearly four decades.
Written by: Laura Witucka
Hypnotic Scenes of 90s London Nightlife
Legendary photographer Eddie Otchere looks back at this epic chapter of the capital’s story in new photobook ‘Metalheadz, Blue Note London 1994–1996’
Written by: Miss Rosen
The White Pube: “Artists are skint, knackered and sharing the same 20 quid”
We caught up with the two art rebels to chat about their journey, playing the game that they hate, and why anarchism might be the solution to all of art’s (and the wider world’s) problems.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The Chinese youth movement ditching big cities for the coast
In ’Fissure of a Sweetdream’ photographer Jialin Yan documents the growing number of Chinese young people turning their backs on careerist grind in favour of a slower pace of life on Hainan Island.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The LGBT Travellers fundraising for survival
This Christmas, Traveller Pride are raising money to continue supporting LGBT Travellers (used inclusively) across the country through the festive season and on into next year, here’s how you can support them.
Written by: Percy Henderson
The fight to save Bristol’s radical heart
As the city’s Turbo Island comes under threat activists and community members are rallying round to try and stop the tide of gentrification.
Written by: Ruby Conway