What is a Vardo? For the person new to the subject it's Romani
chib for living waggon, or, in plain English, it's a Gypsy
caravan. In Britain we imagine the traditional Gypsy home to be
a gaily decorated wooden caravan pulled along by a plodding
horse. But in reality caravans have only been used by Gypsies
for 150 years. Before that time, they walked on foot, used carts
to convey their possessions, and slept in tents. Waggons built
to live in developed about 1810 in France and were soon used in
England by showmen travelling between fairs and with circuses.
Gypsies only began living in them about 1850. They called their
home a "vardo", and it became their most prized possession.
Monuments on Wheels Sadly, today very few original vardos have
survived the evolution of time. Wear n tear, scrap yard
mentality, the great British woodworm, and the worst culprit of
all - the weather - are mostly responsible for the vardos near-
extinction. Let's also not forget the ones used in gardens as
plant pots - pretty perhaps b