Appleby Horse Fair Brings Thousands to Cumbria, Sparks Concerns Over Safety and Crime
Businesses in Appleby have boarded up their shops as thousands of travellers arrive in the Cumbrian market town for the annual horse fair. This event brings horse-drawn carriages, wagons, and caravans into the town, drawing around 10,000 travellers and over 30,000 other visitors.
Fears of overcrowding and crime have once again led to the closure of shops and restaurants for the six-day event. So far, a sweet shop, pet shop, cafe, gift shop, and charity shop have shut their doors, sacrificing nearly a week of business.
Pictures show caravans in a long queue of traffic in the market town where travellers will showcase their horses and trade them for cash, as well as enjoy traditional music and market stalls. Others show families proudly at the doors of their wagons—known as vardos—and dogs on the back of carts.
Streets are lined with market stalls selling everything from frilly baby clothes to pints of beer as traditional music is played.
Cumbria Police have introduced live facial recognition technology (LFR) at the fair in an effort to crackdown on troublemakers. However, the move was met with anger from many travellers who claim they are being singled out for their race by the AI-powered cameras which scan faces and check if they are wanted or known by police before flagging their whereabouts to the force.
It even caused clashes between leaders in the traveller community with Billy Welch, the Head Gypsy, or Shera Rom, who helps organise the fair, being accused of being an ‘informant’ over his support of Cumbria Police introducing LFR at the event.
Already police have dealt with allegations of a youth threatening a local person with an axe, stolen vehicles, a horsebox being driven at a police officer and children riding recklessly among traffic on horse and carts.
A teenager traveller was challenged for carrying an axe in Sedbergh, south Cumbria, and allegedly then threatened a member of the public. He was arrested and charged with a public order offence and a dispersal order was put in place to move travellers away from the area.
In Kirkby Stephen, the youth centre was closed down due to incidents involving the travelling community. A spokesperson said:
“Due to recent incidents outside KSYC, and with Appleby Horse Fair week now underway, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily close the centre until it is safe to reopen. The safety and wellbeing of our children, young people, staff, volunteers, and wider community is always our absolute priority. We strongly advise all children and young people to remain safe at home throughout this coming week. While the building itself is closed to all normal activities and sessions, our youth workers will still be present at the centre during usual session times – but only for those who genuinely feel unsafe, need urgent support, would like someone to talk to, or have nowhere else safe to go.”
Last week a man in his thirties was arrested after driving at police officers as they attempted to stop his vehicle in Powis Lane near Appleby. The horsebox was seized by police after two officers were struck by its wing mirrors, but were not injured.
On Monday, police seized four stolen vehicles as part of the pre-Appleby Horse Fair policing operation. The vehicles – a car, two horseboxes and a wood-chipper – all found to be stolen, were seized by officers who continue to work with the National Stolen Vehicle team throughout the fair.
Detective Superintendent Dan St Quintin, Police GOLD Commander for Appleby Horse Fair, said:
“Appleby Horse Fair is the biggest annual policing operation for Cumbria Police. Our officers work diligently and professionally throughout the Fair – as well as the lead up to it – and I will not accept people acting in a way that puts their well-being at risk. We have a strong and respectful relationship with the majority of those people who travel here for the Fair. We will continue to engage positively with people from all communities but will not hesitate to act against anyone who believes the law does not apply to them.”
The facial recognition cameras received the backing of Cumbria’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, David Allen.
He said:
“As Commissioner, I am the voice of the public in policing and fire services in the county so I’m really pleased to see Cumbria Constabulary consulting with the public on their thoughts surrounding facial recognition. Cumbria Constabulary prioritise keeping the public safe, deterring crime and dealing with criminality. Cumbria has an incredible track record of utilising technology to aid this and is already one of the leaders in CCTV use across policing in the UK. I genuinely believe that the use of facial recognition would be an excellent addition to the tools available for the Constabulary to use to keep our residents and visitors safe. However, it is important that we seek and give due regard to the public’s views and opinions on this matter. I want to make it clear: this isn’t a tool to spy on law-abiding members of the public.”
Cumbria Police and Westmorland and Furness Trading Standards seized a number of counterfeit items and air weapons on Thursday morning after stopping a van that was on its way to the Trading Fields at Appleby. Among the items seized were dozens of realistic-looking air weapons, along with BB pellets, vapes, children’s toys.
Detective Superintendent Dan St Quintin, Police Gold Commander for Appleby Horse Fair, said:
“Police and Trading Standards will be working closely during the event. Anyone who thinks it is acceptable to bring items such as air weapons, imitation firearms, knives or other such items to sell at the event can expect to have such goods seized and be ejected from the area.”
Catherine Hornby, Trading Standards Manager for Westmorland and Furness Council, said:
“We’re pleased that this successful joint operation with the police, working on shared intelligence from outside the area, has prevented counterfeit goods from reaching the market fields at Appleby Horse Fair and resulted in the seizure of a number of unsafe items.”
In its 250-year history, the horse fair has only been cancelled twice, the first in 2001 during the foot and mouth outbreak and the second in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.
The gathering is billed as the biggest traditional gypsy fair in Europe and has developed traditions that take place every year. Gypsy horses are washed in the River Eden in Appleby and trotted up and down the ‘flashing lane’ – a closed off rural road – before being haggled over and bought.
The fair is held outside the town of Appleby, at the point where the old Roman Road crosses Long Marton Road, on Gallows Hill, which was named after the public hangings that were once carried out there.
It was once thought the fair originated from a royal charter to the borough of Appleby from King James II of England in 1685, although more recent research has found the charter was cancelled before it was ever enacted.
The gathering is sometimes known as ‘the New Fair’ because Appleby’s medieval borough fair, held at Whitsuntide, ceased in 1885. The ‘New Fair’ began in 1775 for sheep and cattle drovers and horse dealers to sell their stock.
By the 1900s it had evolved into a major Gypsy Traveller event which brought families from across the UK and Europe.
Heavy rain has prevented travellers riding their horses in the swollen River Eden on the opening day of the fair. Ponies and horses are traditionally bathed in the water at Jubilee Ford, but today the ramp into the river in spate is fenced off due to hazardously high and fast flowing waters.
It is hoped River Eden will be safe to exercise animals as water levels drop during the 250th Appleby Horse Fair.
The The Multi-Agency Strategic Co-ordinating Group (MASCG), who made the decision to close the ramp, strongly advises people not to enter the River Eden at Appleby for the safety of themselves and their animals.
Chair of the MASCG, Claire Notman, Senior Manager Communities at Westmorland and Furness Council, said:
“The top priority for all the agencies involved in the MASCG is the safety and welfare of the people and animals attending the Fair. Clearly, any time any person or animal enters the River Eden there is an inherent risk. However, now that river levels have significantly risen above the 0.5m safety level, the relevant agencies in the MASCG have taken the difficult, but necessary, decision to close access to the river in order to keep people and animals safe. We strongly urge everyone attending the Fair to observe the restrictions that have been put in place to prevent access to the River Eden. These restrictions also apply to other access points within the Appleby area, including Jubilee Ford.”
River levels remain under regular review and if they do fall back to a safer level, the MASCG may take the decision to reopen the access ramp and Jubilee Ford. However, the current forecast is that this is highly unlikely to occur today.
There is also the potential for the river levels to remain above the 0.5m safety level into Friday 5 June. However, The MASCG will continue to monitor the river level, review the closure status and communicate any changes to the situation, as appropriate.
The RSPCA is urging people to observe the advice and to not to take horses into the river as it is currently unsafe for people and animals.
RSPCA Chief Inspector Lyndsey Taylor said:
“Conditions are so dangerous that we took the decision not to send in our specially trained water rescue officers, who remove hazards from the river near the ramp each morning of the Fair. If the water is too risky for them, with their expert training, I hope it goes without saying it is not safe for the public. This decision has been taken by the MASCG for everyone’s safety and it’s really important that people listen.”
Eight animal welfare organisations are deploying a total of 66 volunteers to the fair to help any animals in need, including the RSPCA, Bransby Horses, Redwings Horse Sanctuary, World Horse Welfare, Blue Cross, The Mare and Foal Sanctuary, British Horse Society and The Donkey Sanctuary.
There will also be four vets donating their time from private practices.
