Gloucester family working to keep their Romany history alive

• Report by Ken Goodwin

A Gloucester woman wants to keep her family's Romany heritage alive. Kelly Horsley says she would love to write a book - aided by a vast collection of photographs, videos and stories - of her family history, going back several generations.

"It would be a dream to get my family's history down in a book so the other people out in the community can see our history and learn about our Romany ways," Kelly said.

"And also I started a family tree on Ancestry and it's growing and growing. I've gone down different lines because I've got Romany on both sides through both of my grandparents."

Kelly says that, although she is now settled in a house, she can remember being taken on the road as a child to various farms and orchards where her extended family would go fruit picking.

She took us to the plum orchard near Evesham where she last picked fruit with her family in 1988.

Kelly's mother Lynn says the seasonal work is a tradition that has all but died out now, along with the Romany way of life, but she can remember picking with her mother and grandmother, and says it was a healthy, outdoor life.

Life on the road was steeped in tradition, one of which would be to burn people's belongings when they died, to mark their passing. This was much easier when the wagons were made of wood but the family still burned Lynn's mother's caravan.

"That was my mum's wishes. A lot of people don't do it now but my mum was old-fashioned and that was her wish and we kept her wish," Lynn said.

"It's very sad, very emotional to see it but that's her wish and that's what we did."

Kelly says it has been fascinating collecting old photographs of her relatives through the ages - here are just a few of them:

Kelly is also making sure her son keeps hold of his heritage and is even tutoring him in some of the old Romany words. She takes deep pride in her history.

Kelly said, "Oh very proud yes very proud, I feel a bit tearful now. My roots are there, you know, I'll never forget who I am."

Kelly and her mother Lynn are determined the old ways will never be forgotten.