Exploring the rich multicultural history of Devon.

Rachael Smith

Posted on

19th December 2024

Posted by

Wendy Milne

Posted in

Ilfracombe Community Stories, News

Rachael describes her childhood growing up in Hemel Hempstead, playing in the fields, the daughter of a Romany father and a White British middle class mother whose marriage crossed the social divide.

She spoke of her father’s and her own psychic abilities and how her father was very skilled at bushcraft and survival skills. From a young age she was told not to reveal her Romany heritage, so kept this a secret. She also kept her psychic abilities a secret until she got older.

It wasn’t a happy marriage and her mother tried to file for divorce due to domestic violence when Rachael was seven or eight years old. Eventually at 15 the couple divorced and her father disappeared to live on either the Isle of Wight or the Isle of Man.

At this time her mother started a relationship with one of Rachael’s boyfriends. To escape an increasingly unsafe household Rachael moved to Cumbria. She was “hanging out with a lot called the ‘Tibetans’ that were a branch of New Age travellers, but that were much more spiritual and totally into eco. So, we were quite often on the road, at festivals and things like that”.

She spoke about her activism and going on anti-fox hunting rallies and police heavyhandedness against them. She worked as an animator in London and then on exhibitions. 

After an unhappy first marriage she met Pete, a circus performer, and is now happily married.

She discusses Ilfracombe and the spiritualist community in the town.

(NOTE: Rachael would like to make it clear that she believes that there are good mediums in Ilfracombe and the surrounding areas – but that there was not the opportunity to talk about them during the interview.)

Listen to highlights from Rachael’s interview below:

Highlight 1: Childhood || Suppressed/half forgotten Romani upbringing || Rachael’s father, brother showed her how to box || Living in two different worlds – mother and father very different [00:00:00 – 00:11.55]

Highlight 2: Arriving in Ilfracombe || Finding a Circle in Ilfracombe [00:11:56 – 00:18:29]

Highlight 3: Reading and the responsibilities of doing readings for/on people || Being a fixer || Providing people tools and the Circle falling into disrepair [00:18:30 – 00:25:44]

Listen to Rachael’s full interview here:

Click on the image below to read a full transcript of her interview.
Click on the logo to see a summary of the interview