Smoke in the Lanes

This facsimile reprint with a foreword by Peter Ingram of this classic account of the reality of life as a Gypsy in the 1950s when Travellers lived in horse drawn wagons and stopped by the wayside in quiet country lanes wherever possible, but were often driven to 'atch' besides main highways as so many of the old stopping-places were fenced-off or built upon. This book is full of stories of life on the road and descriptions of colourful characters living for the present despite constant harassment by police and suspicious landowners. The author, Dominic Reeve, still lives the life of a Traveller but in a modern caravan pulled by a heavily chromed four wheel drive pickup. Illustrated with his wife, Beshlie's fine drawings this is an inside account of 'life on the road' and as such is of permanent value to both students and the general reader as a vivid portrayal of a vanished way of life.