Years upon years ago there were wagons. Lots of travellers used wagons. They travelled all around the country. They would pull into gardens of old houses. They would light campfires outside of the wagons. They would gather sticks and turf. They would light the fire with a May bush. The May bush had to be very red so that the fire would light. You couldn't use a green one because the fire wouldn't light. The food was cooked on the campfire in big pots. There was a stove inside the wagon. It was mostly turf that was burned in the stove. The stove was used to heat the wagon and boil the kettle for tea.

The men used to make them out of copper and tin. They would go to the fair in the wagons and sell them to the people of the town. In the evening when they went back to the molly they would boil a big pot of stew on the fire. Everyone would sit around the fire and share the stew. They would listen to the radio. The men would play music on the accordion, mouth organ or the jaws harp. The women would sing songs and the children would do Irish dancing around the fire. (John Connors)

My Grandfather told me a story about wagons. It was a nice story. He told me wagons are nice inside. He had good horses for pulling the wagon. He always kept good wagons. The wagons were big. They were nice and they were valuable. The wagons were made out of wood and they were covered with leather. The shafts of the real old wagons were wooden. The shafts of the new wagons are steel. The old wagons had 4 big wheels and the newer ones have 4 small wheels. There was a stove, wardrobes, presses, and bunk beds inside. There was a window on the side. He said that six or seven people would fit in a wagon. Everyone would have to fit in the one bed. Whoever didn’t fit in the bed would sleep on the floor.

The horses were un-yoked when the women and men were going to bed. They would tie the horses by a ditch or sometimes they would hit a stake into the ground and tie the horse to it with a long rope so that he could graze safely without getting loose. If the horse got loose he would be taken to the Pound. When they woke up they’d yoke the horses again and go begging. They’d give the horse a drink during the day and they’d let him graze on the side of the road until they got back home.

In the night-time they’d light a fire outside. They’d all stand around it and sing songs or see who was the best whistler. Then they’d all go to bed. (Mylie Berry)

This is an old type of caravan. In my picture I have crown derby in my window. I have curtains on my window, they have swags and tails. There is an old churn at the side of the caravan. It was used for getting water. Sometimes they water was got from a farm or sometimes they got it from the pump on the side of the road.

There are steps up to the door. Most of the steps were made of metal and some of them were made of timber. You can see little skylights up on the roof to let sunlight in.

As you look at the picture on the left-hand side of the door was kind of a living area. Most of the men would sit here and talk or watch a match on the telly. There were two bunks with a little table between them. The woman would put a crown derby vase on the table to make it look nice. On the right hand side of the door was a little kitchen area with a sink and a little gas cooker. There was a little gas heater here also. At the end of the caravan was a sleeping area. This was the place where the woman kept her best delph so that it wouldn’t get broken. There was a shelf up over the curtains where the woman kept ornaments or little keepsakes.

You can see little jacks at the front and back of the caravan to keep it level. There is a little jacking wheel on the drawbar. This was put down to hitch off the caravan from the van. (Larry Connors 5th Class)

I heard people say that it wasn’t nice living in a caravan because all the girls had to sleep in the one bed and the same for the boys, so it was very uncomfortable. Another thing was that there were no toilets in the caravans. People had to use the toilet that was outside in the site. There was no water in the caravans, so someone always had to go to the tap on the site or if the water to the tap were turned off they would have to go to a house.