Stopping Down Memory Lane

A new travelling exhibition, co-created by the Changing Chalk project and members of Gypsy and Traveller communities, is touring East Sussex this autumn – the theme is Family, Home, Professions and the Arts, and the exhibition will be celebrating these cultural contributions to the South Downs.

• Three-venue exhibition created by Changing Chalk and Gypsy and Traveller communities

• Film about the making of a Gypsy cob horse sculpture, storytelling, oral history and archives

• Touring Shoreham, Brighton and Newhaven between August and December 2025

The Changing Chalk travelling exhibition, Stopping Down Memory Lane, will celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Gypsies and Travellers in the South Downs. Featuring a film based on the making of a totemic Gypsy cob horse sculpture, an iconic canvas tapestry created by the communities, stopping places maps, traditional songs and historic records. The exhibition will bring to life the stories and traditions of Travelling people and how they have contributed to this landscape.

Led by the National Trust and supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the exhibition was developed through the Changing Chalk partnership in collaboration with Gypsies and Travellers. It aims to honour the creativity, voice and deep connection to the land that these communities have brought to the Eastern South Downs for generations.

Stopping Down Memory Lane opens on 15 August at Skyway Gallery, Shoreham, before moving onto the Jubilee Library, Brighton (23 September), and then to BN9 Studio, Newhaven (3 November).

Josie Jeffery, Volunteering & Community Manager for Changing Chalk, said:

“This exhibition invites us all to reflect and celebrate a part of South Downs history that has often been ignored, misunderstood or forgotten. For generations, Gypsy and Traveller communities have lived, worked and shaped this landscape, yet their stories have rarely been told in their own words.

Traveller voices have guided every step of this project. It’s been shaped with care, creativity and collaboration, and we’re incredibly proud to now share it with the wider public as a celebration of identity, resilience and belonging.”

The exhibition was developed in close collaboration with local Gypsies and Travellers, including Gypsy historian Janet Keet-Black, Romany artists Jake Bowers and Elijah Vardo, members of the Romany community, and Brighton-based charity Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT). All have played an important role in shaping and delivering Changing Chalk – a four-year, landscape-scale project that connects people, nature and heritage across the eastern South Downs.