RECENT Memories have been discussing circus trains of the 1950s, and Richard Barber of the JW Armstrong Trust has very kindly sent in this superb picture of Bertram Mills’ circus in the goods yard at Garbutt Square, near Darlington’s Bank Top station in 1953.

The Northern Echo:

IN A SIDING: The Bertram Mills circus train in the goods yard at Darlington in 1953. In the background is St John's Church, Bank Top, and in the middle behind the train is Richardson's thermometer which was once a landmark on the East Coast Main Line. The photograph was taken by Mr R Payne of Newcastle from Darlington South signal box. It is part of the JW Armstrong Trust collection

We climbed aboard the circus train in Memories 213 as the organisers of this year’s Brass festival, in Durham City, were after information about a circus train that is said to have pulled into Elvet station in the months before it closed on January 11, 1954. Could it have been the one in Richard’s picture?

David Race in Darlington remembers that from the goods yard in the shadow of St John’s Church, the circus animals – including the elephants – would traipse down Parkgate, over Stone Bridge, up Tubwell Row and into the Market Place, before heading off down Feethams and along Victoria Embankment to South Park, where the Big Top had been erected.

“When it came to getting the Big Top up – and it really was big – local men were called upon to heave it up by a rope system,” remembers Dave Moore. “No hard hat or goggles or boots, just plenty of muscle.”

Dave now lives in Hutton Magna, but grew up in Park Lane, Darlington, and the arrival of the circus meant a chance to earn a few bob for him and his fellow youngsters, doing the shopping, fetching water, cleaning up...

“It was a real bonanza for us young lads,” he says. “I remember one act where three ladies stood on top of three huge balls and did all kinds of acrobatics. We got the job of repainting the balls.

“The lion tamer was called Caesar and he always had a chair in one hand and a whip in the other, to give himself protection if things went wrong. At times, the lions could be heard roaring loudly outside our house.”

The Northern Echo:

WHERE IN DARLINGTON? This 1930s photo is said to show circus elephants on their way from Bank Top station to the South Park showground, but we can't work out where it was taken. It is somewhere in the Clifton Road area. Please let us know if you can identify the location

Dave also remembers the clowns in their old car – a pip on the horn, and the doors would fall off. And the ringmaster getting a volunteer from the audience to ride round and round the ring on a horse.

“They were attached to a safety device, and normally came off and were left hanging in the air – the audience loved it,” he says.

“Can you imagine elephants walking through Darlington, kids helping out, men raising the Big Top, and people being left suspended in the air? Nowadays there would be more health and safety officers present than people in the audience – happy days never to be repeated.”

CLICK HERE for an earlier article on circus trains

If you’ve got any circus memories, please send them in.