A pair of 'gypsies' have charmed a Bristol community through friendliness, humour - and a shared love of animals.
Marc, 58, and nephew Luke, self-described Romani gypsies, have spent their lives travelling around Britain in horse-drawn wagons.
They arrived in Mina Road Park, St Werburgh’s, at the weekend and quickly forged a bond with curious residents.
Marc told Bristol Live: “We’ve been astonished by how much the local community love us.”
When they stopped in the park on Sunday (May 19) , Marc and Luke - who would not reveal their surnames - intended to stay for a single night, along with their five horses, four dogs and poultry.
However, the next morning, a horse lost a shoe - and the group have been waiting for a farrier since then.
But that stroke of misfortune has developed into something of a blessing for Marc, Luke and a number of residents.
‘Healer’ Tuckere, who lives around the corner from the park, said the gypsies’ presence has been “amazing”.
The 60-year-old said: “They’ve made so many people happy. There’s been lots and lots of parents bringing their kids over, just to see the baby chicks and the horses.
“In the few days they’ve been here, they’ve been an asset - they’ve been no harm at all. When they leave you wouldn’t know they’d been here.”
Marc and Luke - who does not know his date of birth, but is believed to be in his early 30s - regard themselves as having grown up “everywhere”.
Each with their own home-on-wheels, their reliance on horsepower means they avoid motorways and dual carriageways when on the move - but they nevertheless encounter difficulties on the roads from time to time, Marc explained.
“It’s 90 per cent good,” he said. “But there’s a small amount of people who get p****d off or infuriated because maybe they’ve got to go home to their nagging wife or their microwave supper and they have to get back.
“But we do maybe create a bit of a backdrop. We can be 100 feet long with horses and everything so I can understand why people get p****d off - but we do pull over.”
Upon their arrival at most destinations, according to Marc, the local population is generally welcoming.
“The way we are, because we’re horse-drawn, in most places we have a good reception and the kids come and see our horses and our chickens - these children in cities have never seen horses before.”
Another key to Marc and Luke’s success in mixing with residents is that the pair take tidiness very seriously.
Marc explained that he feels frustrated whenever somebody regards him as being the same as messier travelling people, such as those who set up camp in Weston-super-Mare recently.
Asked to describe his opinion of other travelling groups, he said: “I feel akin to them but I get p****d off when they leave the s**t and the rubbish around and give us a bad reputation.”
As a way of emphasising the importance of cleaning up, Marc told an alarming anecdote.
“I woke up one morning and saw a broken wine bottle in my mare’s ass,” he said, explaining that his horse had rolled onto the object on a patch of grass.
“I had a veterinary surgeon come and it cost £1,500 to get it removed from her.”
Such unexpected challenges only serve to add to the difficulties of an already testing lifestyle, one which Marc funds by selling handmade objects and fortune-telling.
“It’s hard travelling these days - there’s not anywhere to stay,” said Marc.
“It’s hard to find places to feed your horses grass and water but, as life has progressed, with more and more buildings being produced, now and again they create more spaces and all of a sudden they’ve got green space in the middle, like St Werburgh's.”
And so - while moments of doubt pop up - Marc and Luke have no plans to shift to what they call a “settled life”.
At the moment, though, they cannot travel anywhere far.
“We’ll stay until we’ve got a farrier to put on Harley’s shoe,” said Marc, giving an admission that will prompt one or two leaps of joy.
St Werburgh’s resident Emma Badman, 40, was among those who was delighted to make new friends this week.
“I had a fear of horses, but now it’s gone,” she said, nodding towards Marc, Luke and their animal companions.
