When an Elephant Flew over Lytham
Bertram Mills Circus, Lytham, 1st & 2nd August
1955
With a circus established at Blackpool Tower since the 1890s it was rare for a
travelling circus to visit to the Fylde Coast, however, in 1955 Bertram Mills Circus visited
Preston, Lytham and Fleetwood.
Advert for Bertram Mills Circus and Menagerie, Preston, Lancashire,
1955
After a week at Preston the circus decamped to Lytham, arriving at the railway
station.
Zebras arriving at Lytham Railway Station, 1955.
The horse rider, Joan Fowler, arriving at Lytham Railway Station, 1955.
The horse rider, Joan Fowler, arriving at Lytham Railway Station, 1955.
The circus horses arriving at Lytham Railway Station, 1955.
The circus horses arriving at Lytham Railway Station, 1955.
The circus horses in the 'stables' Lytham, 1955.
The Circus, Lytham, 1955.
The Circus, Lytham, 1955.
The Circus, Lytham, 1955.
Phyllis Allen & one of Bertram Mills' Shetland Ponies.
Rudy Horn (1933-2018), juggler & equilibrist, Bertram Mills, Lytham, 1 August 1955.
Video of Rudy Horn (youtube) Rudy Horn - Ken Dodd Show Blackpool 1971
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3000 see circus balancers fall
Three thousand people at Bertram Mills Circus at Lytham last
night gasped when four members the Seven Eagles, a German team of high wire
balancers, lost their balance 45 feet up.
A guide rope leading to the side of the ring snapped. The
movement of the tight ropes caused the four artists to lose their balance.
Three fell into the safety net and the fourth managed to hang on
to the wire, which he grabbed as he fell. Ringmaster Mr. Anthony Gelding said:
'They escaped with a shaking.'
Lancashire Evening Post, Wednesday 3 August
1955
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Reco the Clown and May, his partner, Lytham 1955.
Video of Reco & May (British Pathe website) Reco & May, 1951.
Costa Kruse & Elephants, Lytham, 1955.
Video of the elephants (British Pathe on Youtube) The Circus Is Coming To Town 1946.
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Bertram Mills Flying
Elephant.
The Circus and flying elephant, Lytham, 1955. A "Flying
Elephant" named "Effie" was used to publicise the touring circus from July 1955.
"Effie" the flying elephant, Bertram Mills Circus, tethered at Lytham
Football Club, 1955. Described in contemporary press reports as
"experimental", this elephant perhaps influenced Boeing's development of the Jumbo jet in
the late 1960s.
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