The Cottage Smallholder


stumbling self sufficiency in a small space

Runaway

gypsy caravanWhen my Mother was a child she would spend the last day of the long summer holidays beside her garden gate. This was well out of sight of the adults in her house. She had a small suitcase beside her on the wall and a massive plan.

When the gypsies drove by she would join them and run away.

They never came.

So my mother’s education continued uninterrupted and when she gave birth to me there must have been a whiff of that plan woven into my genes.

The only thing that I have ever really wanted is a traditional gypsy caravan. I saw and explored them as a child. I always asked to hop on board. Not to run away but just to have a good sniff about. At eight years old I marvelled over the use of space. Drawers could turn into beds and back to drawers again. The gypsies were always indulgent, mysterious and kind.

Nowadays these caravans are rare. Sometimes I venture onto eBay and check out the gypsy caravan listings. They are pricey, especially as we’d need a crane to lift it into the garden. If I had one it would be the perfect bolt hole.

I pass this one every day on the drive to my present job in Essex and dream indulgently until the road sign informs me that I should be taking a sharp right at the crossroads.


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4 Comments

  1. I would love a gypsy caravan they are being built in U K somwhere i saw in a garden magazine.

  2. Fiona Nevile

    Hi Heather

    No. They are quite expensive in the U.K.

    But I do dream about getting one or even a Shepherd’s hut.

    • julie taylor

      hi my name is julie i have a love for wagons i hve lived in a load mostly built myself my children were brought up in them most of the time to thier discust building one is as eaasy or dificult as you would like it to be its great fun and if you make a mistake you can start again never let money get in the way of your dreams love and encouragement to you keep in touch if you like and tell me how you are getting onx

  3. Heather Bartlett

    I too would love to have a gypsy wagon. I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time! Did you ever get yours?

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