Feltham's travelling showmen first settled off Station Estate Road nearly 200 years ago but now Hounslow Council is threatening to buy them out and move them on.
They have taken their famous funfairs around London; to Wimbledon Common, Ravenscourt Park, Finchley, Bishops Park and Eelbrook Common.
They travel to work at fairs during the two weeks for which they run in each location, but then return home to clean, store and maintain their rides in preparation for the next event.
Over the years the Feltham community have adapted their business to the evolving needs of Londoners and last week ran a fair for people celebrating Eid.
Having a fixed base to operate their businesses from is essential to the showmen, which is why Hounslow Council's plan to buy up the Station Estate Road site at the junction of New Road and build a block of flats there has outraged the community.
What's been happening in Hounslow?
John Parnham Funfairs and Jimmy Noyce are both run by families at the site while round the corner in Fern Grove, another showman family, the Stevens, are famous for making the "Rolls Royces of carnival rides".
Following Hounslow Council's 2017 publication of the Feltham Masterplan, which earmarked the site for redevelopment, a campaign to save the showmen's home where up to 200 residents live, was launched by the community.
Four generations of Feltham showman families invited us into their homes this week to explain why moving isn't an option for them.
Speaking to getwestlondon, Yasmin Parnham, 50, who is one of the leading figures in the Save the Showmen campaign and was born at the Feltham showmen site, said: "When we move it's not like when other people move house.
"We have got to have the turning points for the large lorries and space to store all the rides and fairground equipment.
"The council have said they'll try and work with us to help find us somewhere that meets our needs but they've recommended Hounslow Heath, which we know is contaminated and unsuitable for us.
"They also recommend Hounslow Lakes but that's unsuitable too because you can't build houses there.
"The council doesn't understand some of us live in houses like my mum and dad - they just think we live in caravans!"
Yasmin, who lives in a large mobile home, explained that while 40% of the site is owned by Hounslow Council, 60% of it is owned by showmen families.
Yasmin claims the council has threatened families with compulsory purchase orders if they refuse to relocate voluntarily.
Yasmin's 77-year-old mum, Peggy Parnham, lives around the corner from her daughter in a brick house her husband built.
She is grandmother to Yasmin's two children, has four grandchildren in total and was also born at the Station Estate Road site and has lived there her whole life.
She said: "When all the showmen came here over 100 years ago it was a great big orchard. They all bought their own plots and set their homes up there."
She added: "This has just come out of the blue - it's unbelievable! They think they can just move us like we were in little tiny caravans and put us anywhere and then take our land to make millions.
"Not for all the money in the world would we move - we want it for our children and grandchildren. I can't imagine not living here.
"They want to move people out and move new people in - well that's not fair is it. We own it. We are now fighting for something that we already own."
Yasmin's neighbours, David Rowe, 80, and his wife Lily, 73, say the council's proposals have been keeping them awake at night.
Mr Rowe, whose ancestors settled in Feltham more than a century ago, said: "We're not happy - how can the council take our property to give to a developer to build houses for him to earn loads of money and for somebody else to live on our property, how does that work?"
Lily added: "Not when we've been here hundreds of years - David's family and Yasmin's ancestors came here when this was an orchard and a piggery.
"Even if we had to move from here we wouldn't. Why would we move? We want to keep what we've got. We're asking for nothing else.
"We're losing sleep because of the stress of it. I can't count the number of nights we've sat up over cups of tea sick with worry over what might happen to us."
At this point neighbour and family friend Sarah Jarvis interjected: "All we want is to get up each day knowing this is our home and that we're going to stay here."
And Yasmin then added: "We're fighting the council to keep what we've worked hard all our life for."
A Facebook page called "Save Feltham's Showmen" gathered 6,000 supporters in just a week and the general secretary of the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain wrote to Hounslow Council to show support for the showmen on Tuesday (June 19).
The council will put forward its latest proposals for the site at a public area forum meeting on September 22.
On June 11, Hounslow Council leader Steve Curran issued a statement about the Feltham showmen's site.
It read: "Hounslow, alongside many other London boroughs, is facing a major crisis in housing, at the heart of which is the lack of supply of truly affordable homes.
"The new London Plan also requires Hounslow to provide 21,800 new homes over the next 10 years - an increase of 165% from our previous target of 8,220 units in the previous 10 years.
"The Feltham Masterplan was produced to consider how the Feltham area could be physically developed over the next 15 years.
"It identifies the Station Estate Road 'Travelling Show People's' site as having potential for redevelopment for housing due to its close proximity to the train station and town centre.
"Following public consultation the masterplan was approved in September 2017.
"The masterplan is not a statutory document, but it forms part of the evidence base for the West of the Borough Plan which will have statutory weight when adopted.
"Whilst the site is shown as part of the masterplan for Feltham, this is subject to full engagement with the community, and the successful relocation of the Travelling Show People to a suitable alternative site.
"In order to identify a suitable alternative site, we have carried a detailed assessment of the current and future needs of the existing Traveling Show People community. We have also carried out a 'Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA)', which is a borough-wide assessment.
"We continue to look for a suitable alternative site and engage with the community to assess their needs."
