Gypsy Tales

Beneath the thunderous traffic of London’s Westway lives a community of 20 traveller families. In his book Urban Gypsies, photographer Paul Wenham-Clarke captures their unique way of life

TERRY’S CHRISTENING

‘This was a great day and I was made very welcome. I set up my gear in [baby] Terry’s home and all the relatives took turns holding him. He was wearing a specially made suit and he had an embroidered blanket with his name on. O’Donnell’s daughter, Cindy (centre), is seen here with her baby cousin Terry in her arms.’

‘When I used to pass over their heads in my car and glimpse their static caravans and trailers below in this inauspicious setting, I would wonder about their lives and their stories. It was a story I wanted to tell. Urban Gypsies was about showing the Westway travellers as they really are, not as they are portrayed on sensationalised TV shows,’ says photographer Paul Wenham-Clarke of his series of images documenting the lives of this close-knit community in west London. Since 1976, when Stable Way was first designated a travellers’ site, this corner of the Kensington and Chelsea borough has been a ‘stopping place’ for travellers. It’s now home to some 20 Irish traveller families who live under the elevated concrete artery of the Westway, one of London’s busiest roads.

Wenham-Clarke, professor of photography at Arts University Bournemouth, spent two years meeting the people who live, work and play around the A40. Sensitive to the community’s privacy, he initially photographed residents living in areas around them. Then, eight months into the project, he received a call from Pat O’Donnell – a well-respected traveller on the site. ‘We bonded over tea and biscuits,’ says Wenham-Clarke. ‘We agreed that I’d photograph them too, but on their terms.’