Returning to the post-industrial north-east of England of his upbringing young gypsy John-John Wisdom wants to escape his past His new job as an ice cream man should offer freedom but the legacy of brutality left by his father the champion bare-knuckle boxer Mac Wisdom overshadows his life & instead pulls him into the dark recesses of a town where is family name is mud John-John seeks solace in nature & must find an inner strength in order to escape poverty prejudice & his violent heritage Taking a dual narrative in which past & present intertwine towards a dramatic conclusion Pig Iron is an unflinching & poetic portrait of contemporary Traveller culture Set in fairgrounds woodlands camp sites car parks quarries & housing estates it is also a homage to the beauty & diversity of the modern English landscape