Circus & Fairground
THE HISTORY OF THE CAROUSEL - JOURNAL 1
Dating back to the fifth century AD, the carousel has a long and interesting history. A Byzantine etching depicting riders swinging in baskets tied to a central pole is one of the earliest records known.
The word ‘Carousel’ is believed to originate from the time of the Crusades and was derived from either the Spanish carosella or Italian garosello – both of which mean “little war”. Crusaders probably named it after a Turkish game played by solders on horseback, a game which was eventually brought to Western Europe where it became part of French pageantry.
By the late 17th century, the game had developed into a fixed structure with legless wooden horses hung from arms attached to a central pole. Young nobles were trained on it, by ‘riding’ these figures while attempting to spear small rings that were dangled along the outer edge of the device.
In 1870 the carousel was revolutionised by Frederick Savage, an English engineer who designed one of the first up-and-down cranking machines that gave the horses their galloping motion. Machines were then invented that could support at first two, three and eventually up to five rows of elaborately carved wooden horses and animals. Ornate panels and trimmings were then added, which not only gave the carousel a grand appearance, but also helped to hide the mechanics. Today’s carousels take many forms but all still remain a fairground favourite. One of the largest now in existence was built in Wisconsin in 1981. It includes 20,000 lights and 269 handcrafted animals, while being 35ft tall, 85 ft wide and weighing 35 tons.
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THE FAIRGROUND - JOURNAL 1
Nobody knows when the first roundabout or swings appeared, although it has been suggested that the earliest and most ancient swings could simply have been enlarged cartwheels with seats hung from the spokes! Later, crude carriages were substituted and even legless horses for people to sit and ride on. Movement was initially supplied by young men and boys, who walked round on the inside of enlarged cartwheels, pushing the spokes or levers. But improvements soon followed, and gradually something resembling the roundabouts we know today started to appear. A significant advance came in the 1860s with the advent of steam power, which is first reported as being harnessed at a fair in Norfolk. No records survive to tell us what style the roundabout took, but its success was immediate and others soon followed. A new industry emerged, which brought all the romance and excitement of the fair within the reach of all, in the shape of switchbacks and galloping horse roundabouts. Gradually the rides evolved into sophisticated pieces of engineering, with large organs playing lively music, elaborate scenery and flashing lights! “The Catwalk” arrived in the early 1900s, while “The Waltzer" first appeared in 1929, and many examples of both survive to the present day.
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TWO SHORT STORIES FROM ROMANY ROAD - JOURNAL 2
CHAPMAN'S CIRCUS
"We were working at a hop-yard for the man where Chapman’s Circus kept their lions and tigers. The horses wanted to turn round in the row where they were chained while harrowing or fertilising, because they could smell the lions and didn’t like it. The poor horses were petrified – well they fed the lions on horsemeat didn’t they?
As for the elephants – well one died, Mary it was, Mary who’d pick you up and put you on top of the hedge if you didn’t watch it! Everybody knew Mary! The three elephants used to walk about ‘trunk to tail’ sort of thing. Jack and me, we were in the pump house filling a barrel with water, when Jack said “Here’s old Roscoe coming with those elephants” and one of the elephants came over and put his trunk into the barrel for a drink. Well, now folks had got to drink that water, so Jack quickly shut the lid on the barrel. Then the elephant, quick as a flash, caught hold of Jack round the middle and frightened him to death ! Roscoe says to the elephant “You put him back”, which the elephant did, but I bet Jack messed his trousers! I was petrified too, I thought the elephant was going to squeeze him to death like a snake – I laugh about it now, but it wasn’t laughable at the time I can tell you!
The circus animals were evacuated from Birmingham and stored over the War years and they all died here at Suckley. When Mary died, my brothers Sam and Jack buried her. They dug a hole with a caterpillar tractor, then they pulled the elephant into the hole, but they couldn’t get her all in, so they fetched an axe and chopped her leg off, which they buried separately. If they ever digs up that elephant they’ll find it only has three legs – that’s right that is!”
ELEPHANTS LOYALTY
When a vehicle transporting four circus elephants near Stockholm in Sweden was involved in an accident, damage caused to the vehicle allowed four of the animals to escape. Immediately there were fears that they might make a break for freedom. But they say elephants never forget and those certainly didn’t, because even though they weren’t tethered, they never forgot who looked after them and remained alongside their keeper just grazing at the roadside until replacement transport arrived.
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IN MEMORY OF Mr. HARRY STROUD - JOURNAL 3
Bygone Days of Pied Poudre Court
From A.J. Reader
The Pied Poudre Court of The Bishop of Chichester held at the annual Sloe Fair in medieval days, attracted citizens and folk from the surrounding countryside to the fairground a few yards outside the Northgate in the city walls. By ancient Charter, the Corporation of Chichester had provided since the days of the Henry’s, an open space for the merchants and showmen. The old days of horse dealers, travelling wool and cloth merchants and itinerant tradesmen in every commodity likely to tempt the fancy of the rural population, have passed. But, the booths, swings and sideshows continued, drawn to the ground in later years by powerful tractors and lorries. “Walls of Death” have vied for popular favour with the modern thrills of the “Chairoplanes” and bumper cars, attracting townspeople and countrymen to the bright lights and hurdy-girdi of an up-to-date fair.
War-time changed everything. A Sussex Daily News representative visited the ground in Northgate, and found one stalwart of the showmen breed alone in the glory of his solitary coconut shy and darts stall. He was Mr. Harry Stroud of Hemsworth, sole defender of the ancient rights of the Showman’s Guild. By establishing one canvas-covered stall, he had preserved for another year the privileges of the ancient Charter.
Perhaps the shades of the medieval showmen, who set up their stalls at the old Pied Poudre Court held at the Sloe Fair, look on with approval at a modern descendent “doing his bit”, while England once more is at war with her enemies – who knows?
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My Grandfather's grandparents, Edwin and Betsy Orchard used to follow the fairs. Grandad's mother Charlotte was their daughter and she had a coconut shy. Her brothers Edwin and Tom were big, tall men who fought in a boxing booth, while Betsy told fortunes with cards and Edwin charged people to throw sticks at his head as he bobbed up and down in a barrel! From Ian Orchard