ROMANY tarot card reader Tony Grent is fed up with being tarred with the same brush as other travellers. "I'm a Romany and I've travelled all my life," said 45-year-old Tony.

He is sitting on the floor of the clean and tidy converted coach that is home to him, wife Brenda and three dogs, Bear, Sniffer and Bonkers.

The vehicle, with welcoming flowers at the door, is parked in the wide gravel layby near Taddiford on the New Milton to Milford road.

It's a place he visits every year. He's got friends in Milford and a lot of people pull up for a tarot reading beside the B3058 road.

"I've always lived this way but the roads are getting busier now and we can't travel with the horses like we used to," said Tony.

"We've just moved forward with the times for the convenience and the safety mainly.

"Things are changing a bit as far as travelling is concerned. I used to have nine horses and my cart, and you can imagine how difficult it was to find grazing. But I did love it.

"I like to keep the old ways going, even though I've modernised with a Bedford truck rather than a Reading wagon.With the horses and carts we used to be accepted everywhere, but it's a bit different now because they expect 20 other people to follow on behind.

"All we get now is 'Move on, move on, move on'. If it's not the police, it's the landowner or the council."

Because of a mechanical problem with his home, he recently moved onto Barton Common and eventually left after New Milton Town Council applied to court.

Council clerk Graham Flexman said he had received only two minor complaints.

"He didn't make a lot of mess, but it's a criminal offence to drive on common land," said Mr Flexman.

Tony said true Romanies do not leave the mess that some other travellers do.

He is disgusted when he has to clear up dirty nappies, human excrement and even discarded hypodermic needles before moving onto some sites.

There is no need for it with bins bags and chemical loos, he says.

"When I leave anywhere the only thing I leave is the tracks out. You won't find even a cigarette butt.

"I live with the elements and can't be doing with pollution."

He doesn't mind sharing a site with other travellers but says: "If there's any more than one or two wagons, I'm away; I like my aloneness."

When he stays at Taddiford he gets his water from the nearby Shorefield holiday centre, where he also shops. He also admits to enjoying shopping at Tesco in New Milton.

"There's always been a stigma with tarot reading. People say it's devil worship. But it's only guidance," he said.

It's certainly popular. He had a good number of visitors at the recent Hordle Festival and has numerous callers at the door.

First published: Sept 18