The Romany horse fair at Appleby is the largest and most important in the history of travellers’ gatherings in England, dating back to 1685, when James II granted a charter granting the right to hold one there, on a site ‘near to the River Eden’. Since that time, in the month of June, travellers have converged on Appleby, not just from England, but from Scotland, Wales and Ireland too. They gather in caravans and vardos on Fair Hill, to celebrate their history, music, folklore and family relationships, but most importantly to trade and barter in livestock.

The relationship with the townspeople of Appleby has always been ambiguous. On the one hand the travellers are welcomed for the commercial revenue they bring, on the other they are regarded as some sort of alien invasion. The meeting grounds between settled and nomadic cultures have often provided points of friction, but contemporary materialism seems to heighten the sense of dislocation. The love of hunting, the closeness to nature, the breeding of horses and dogs also form part of a rich tradition that seems increasingly alienated from mainstream culture.--Dave Thomas

Dave Thomas (1940-2012) was educated at Glasgow School of Art and then took an MA in Film studies at the University of Sunderland. Inspired by the French and Italian "New Wave" cinema, he took up photography.

Working as a freelance in Glasgow, he began teaching photography at Leeds College of Art, in 1968 which sponsored his work documenting social issues in Yorkshire and the north of England.

He is best known for his documentation of the annual gathering in the North of England of travellers and others involved in horse culture, which he shot at the fairs that took place in 1969 and 1970. photos His documentation of the Blue Circle cement works can be seen here

Gathering around the vision of Murray Martin, Amber film & photography collective came to the North East of England in 1969 to ‘collect documents of working class culture.’

The group made films. Founder member Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen took photographs. Other photographers were drawn into the work, including Chris Killip, Chris Steele Perkins and Nick Hedges. No Newcastle venue was prepared to show documentary at the time, so in 1977 [the collective] opened Side Gallery.

The Side Gallery at Newcastle Upon Tynewill reopen in Fall 2016 following a three-year restoration. Info

EDITOR'S NOTE: This listing was inadvertently omitted from The DART Board:

Thursday, January 28

Robert Frank: Books and Films, 1947–2016, 6-8 pm. Tisch School of the Arts / New York University Department of Photography and Imaging, with a conversation with Robert Frank and Gerhard Steidl. NYU | Tisch School of the Arts, 721 Broadway, 8th Floor, NY, NY. Info  CV19.BOOK.PHOTO