Laid bare

A definite sense that we are on the cusp of winter as the trees gradually fall from the trees. It is also only 40 days until a certain day towards the end of December. 

The next block of my yoga classes started today and it was good to be back. I felt as if I had been uncoiled by the time I left - despite not realising that I was coiled to start with. 

Our whole group u3a meeting this afternoon was really interesting and thought provoking. Our speakers were Shamus McPhee and his sister Rosanna who are part of the gypsy traveller  community. Their family were settled in Bobbin Mill in Pitlochry as part of what has  come to called "The Tinker Experiment"  Shamus and Rosanna spoke of their personal experiences in growing up in Bobbin Mill - their living conditions and the prejudice and discrimination they encountered They put this in a wider context of the efforts going back many years to eradicate their traditional way of life which included children being removed from their families, put into home and send abroad.  They also spoke of their on-going campaign to receive an official apology from the Scottish Government and the obstacles they have encountered. It was interesting and thought-provoking as well as damming indictment about how they and others had been treated. 

You can read more here:

The Tinker experiment (bylines.scot)

Scandal of The Tinker Experiment: demands for apology over Scotland's treatment of gypsy travellers | The Herald (heraldscotland.com)

Apology demanded for gypsy traveller 'Tinker Experiment' - BBC News

Home to Roost: The Legacy of the Tinker Experiments by Shamus McPhee — GRTHM.scot