Who will fill their circus shoes? RIP Phillip Gandey, John Haze, Gerry Cottle and Nell Gifford

It was a shock this week to hear of the death of Phillip Gandey (pictured above with the cast of Gandeys Circus) at the tragically young age of 67.

When I interviewed Gandey for The Stage in 2020, he was a man full of life. Having just reopened three big tops in Butlins holiday centres, after lockdown restrictions were lifted, his one regret was that he didn't have his usual "five or six" shows simultaneously running in locations from the Edinburgh Festival to the Far and Middle East.

Gandey was born into the circus world. A clown aged three, and a knife-thrower at 11, he inherited his father's circus and became the world's youngest circus director at 17.

With his wife, Carol, he established Gandey World Class Productions as the UK's premier exporter of circus shows. When Gandeys Circus stopped using animals in the early 1990s, Gandey became one of the industry's great innovators, seeking fresh ideas to fill the gap left by big cats and elephants.

He brought a Chinese troupe of acrobats to the UK and created the Chinese State Circus, which became one of the country's most successful touring shows. He also created the cabaret-style Lady Boys of Bangkok, Cirque Surreal, Spirit of the Horse and the fundraising Circus Starr (which you can read about here).

One of his newest creations, the circus-on-ice show Snow Storm 3 is currently delighting audiences at the Trafford Centre in Manchester. His Great Circus of Europe, meanwhile, has toured Hong Kong, Singapore, and is currently in the Arab Emirates.

Gandey's passing leaves a huge hole in the circus world, and follows the loss of another great British showman, John Haze, who died in April this year at almost exactly the same young age.

Haze, like Gandey, was both artistic director and businessman, creating the long-running success story the Circus of Horrors and currently the UK's biggest big top show, Circus Extreme (read my review here).

Sadly, it was only a couple of years ago that both Haze and Gandey were paying tribute to another great showman, and a collaborator with both of them, Gerry Cottle, probably the best-known name in UK circus since the 1970s, who died in January 2021, aged 75.

Circus Mania author Douglas McPherson
with Gerry Cottle (left) and John Haze.

It was not long before that, that the circus world was shocked by the loss to cancer of Nell Gifford, aged just 46. (Read her story here)

Nell Gifford

In the space of four years, Britain has lost four of the most important circus impresarios of modern times. Each was an innovator and energiser, breathing new life into a world of big top and circus ring that was created in London by Philip Astley more than 250 years ago. 

They formed a generation of circus-producing talent fit to be remembered alongside their predecessors in earlier eras: Billy Smart, the Chipperfields, Bertram Mills, Lord Sanger and Astley himself. 

Like four king poles, Gandey, Haze, Cottle and Gifford lifted the tent of British circus high. But with their departure, the big top will not fall.

Although all four were driving forces and figureheads, they were not one-person companies. Each left behind a creative team and/or family members to carry on their legacy. Giffords Circus, the Circus of Horrors and Circus Extreme continue to tour without their creators and the many shows of Phillip Gandey will doubtless do likewise, capably overseen by Carol Gandey and their daughters.

We still have another of our greatest showmen, Martin 'Zippo' Burton, whose twin shows in Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland this Christmas reveal the Zippos brand to be at the top of its game.

And a new generation of circus blood is rising, inspired by the generation that came before. People like Tracy Jones who ran away with the circus when she was 15 and learned her craft having knives thrown at her by Phillip Gandey himself. Jones travelled the world with Gandeys Circus, an apprenticeship that stood her in good stead to start her own show, Circus Funtasia, which is this year celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Also on the ascent are Paul and Irina Archer who spent many years working with Haze in behind-the-scenes roles on the Moscow State Circus and Circus Extreme before launching their own colourful and contemporary-styled big top show Circus Cortex two years ago. The show is currently starring at the indoor Kingdom of Winter attraction at ExCel London. 

Around the country, Planet Circus, Circus Zyair and Big Kid Circus are providing top drawer circus entertainment to big audiences in what feels like a thriving scene.

It's easy to see the passing of giants like Phillip Gandey, Haze, Cottle and Gifford as the end of an era. But in the circus, there are no ends. The show will always go on. And as much as they will be missed, I'm sure that Gandey, Haze, Cottle and Gifford would want it no other way.

 

Tommy Chipperfield - Interview with a Tiger Trainer

Tommy Chipperfield in the 1980s

The name Chipperfield is synonymous with the circus. Tommy Chipperfield was born into the family show in the middle of the last century, when Chipperfield’s Circus was the largest in Europe with a huge menagerie of animals from chimps to giraffes. Following in his father’s footsteps, Tommy grew up to be a big cat trainer. As well as the UK, he has worked in Spain, Africa and Australia, where he met his wife, Marilyn. For 23 years, the couple appeared with Duffy’s Circus in Ireland before returning to England in 2013, with their son, Thomas Chipperfield, who is carrying on the family tradition as a lion and tiger trainer.

What are your earliest memories of the circus?

There’s a picture in one of the old programmes of the first time I got on a horse - a big spotted horse - with my father when I was 3-years-old.

But after that, I can always remember being asleep and in the middle of the night and being woken up by a little bear cub being pushed into bed with us. You never know what’s going to happen on a circus when you’re little.

I can remember looking out the caravan window and the ground would be overrun with public. There’d be thousands and thousands of people. We weren’t allowed to go out in case we’d get lost amongst all the people. We were too small. The parades on the Sunday at 3 o’clock, after the show was built up... the animals would come from the railway station. The elephants would walk through the town with the horses and the other animals. The public would follow and the circus site would just be full of people.

What was it like inside the big top?

There would have been about 17 rows of tiered seating with a gangway around the back, because in those days you’d walk up steps to get into the seats at from the back, on the top row. In front of the tiered seating there’d be a gap with the boxes in front of that - about two rows, sometimes three rows of chairs. In front of that there’d be a track for all the animal parades and such like.
Around 1953, they actually had chariot racing inside the tent. It was an 8-pole tent and the track went right around all the king poles.

When we were really young, we were allowed to see the performance once in the beginning of the year and that was it. It was very strict. The circus kids weren’t allowed to just run amok inside the tent. We had to behave ourselves, of course, and sit in the back of the seats.

The earliest I can remember going into the ring... in those days they used to have Popeye and Mickey Mouse... big  heads you used to put on and walk around waving to the people. We were allowed to do that sometimes, in between the acts. I would have probably been 5 or 6-years-old.

Did you always want to work with the animals?

I always wanted to work with the animals. My father made all of us kids learn hand balancing and tumbling, somersaults and things like that, just in case we needed it later on in life. You can always put something like that in an animal act as well. But I wasn’t brilliant at that, so it was the animals really, for me.

Was your father the animal manager?

Old Dickie Chipperfield used to run the show. He was the main one. There was Jimmy Chipperfield at the time, who opened the safari parks. He was organising a lot of the away stuff - looking for acts, things like that; a lot of the business side of it. My aunty Majorie used to take over all the costumes and decoration for the shows. And my father was the main animal trainer on the show. He loved horses. But he worked very good with the wild animals and also with the elephants. He was an all-rounder, and a trick rider as well.

What are your memories of Jimmy Chipperfield?

I wouldn’t really remember him on the show, because when he left and opened the parks, I was very young. But later on - we were always close; we always got on - what he wanted, he went for. There was no maybes. You just keep going until you get it.

What are your memories of Dickie Senior? 

Dickie Senior was more circusy. It was more give and take. My uncle Jim, he’d set his mind on something and he’d do it, whereas in the circus you give and take a lot more. I suppose uncle Dick was a bit like that. He was working with the animals a lot as well. He worked lions mostly. The old fashioned way which you wouldn’t do nowadays. Loud. I don’t mean beating them or anything like that, but a lot of whip-cracking and that sort of thing. Which is just noise, but these days people would get the wrong impression.

Did you use a calmer presentation?

I was sort of in between when I started out. Naturally, I was 16 and didn’t have a clue what I was doing; I was taught. But you have to learn from experience. So you have to keep your distance a bit more. Later on in life, I went the calmer route.

Tommy, Marilyn and Thomas Chipperfield
(Photo: Jane Hilton)

Thomas said you had a more self-effacing style in the ring than he does...

I’d be happy enough just to train animals and not have to go in the show. It’s the working with the animals that’s the important bit for me. Like I said to Thomas, when you’re taking your compliment, you’re showing the animals off, not yourself.

What we do in the ring is show off what the animals can do. I mean, you wouldn’t have a tiger balancing on a globe in the bush, but they’ll balance on a branch. Walking on their back legs... a tiger will stand up and fight on its back legs. A lion will sit up in the long grass to see over the top of the grass to see where their prey animals are.

Are you more of a lion or tiger guy?

Out of what we call the wild animals - lions, tigers, bears, leopards and such like - I think I like the tigers more. Thomas prefers the lions, but I like the tigers. The tigers to me seem more cat-like than lions. Lions are a bit more doggified. Tigers have got a mind of their own. It’s a bit more of a challenge, because you have to get them to like you. They’re more nervous than a lion would be. So you treat them different. Lions will play very rough together, so because they play like that, you can work them faster. They don’t mind. Tigers will play for about 30 seconds and then get a bad mood with each other. So you work them a lot steadier.

A lot of people ask which are the more dangerous. I think they’ve all got their own ways. It’s the way you treat them, really. You wouldn’t treat a tiger as you would a lion and vice versa.

What other animals have you worked with?

Oh god, I’ve lost count, really. It started in 1970, I think, with the elephants, then horses. Then in 71 it was the lions. Then I had a good break. I went to Roberts brothers Circus for a couple of years. Then I trained my first tigers. I then went to Australia and took over an act of an English fella out there. His contract ran out, so I took over his two acts and put a few more animals in and trained a few horses out there as well. And some pigeons. You lose count of the animals, really. Zebras, all sorts.

How many animal acts were in the circus in the heyday?

It was nearly all animals. Of course there were the speciality acts: the high wire, the flying trapeze. But we were known for the animals. When I was a kid, I can remember three wild animal acts that opened the show: The polar bears, the black bears, the tigers or leopards and the lions. The you’d have about three horse acts. probably high school or riding acts. Sea lions, chimps, alligators, dogs, exotics - camels, zebras - everything you can imagine.

Click here for an interview with Martin Lacey
on life in the big cat cage.

It must have been a huge job moving the circus?

What they used to do, before my time, was the advance crew would take through a set of king poles and one of the crane lorries, the big Macks. They’d put the king poles up ready, and the stakes in the ground, so when the circus arrived all they had to was roll out the canvas and put up the tent. So a lot of the work was already done.

Where did you go to school?

Boarding school. Marsh Court in Stockbridge, Hampshire.
I used to hate it. I mean, when you’re brought up on the circus with all the animals, who would want to leave? I remember crying and hanging onto one of the baby elephants once, when it was time to go to school.

What was the attitude to circus people, at school?

It wasn’t negative at all. You were somebody different, I suppose. In those days, circus was a big thing. You were somebody if you were circus. Now, it’s turning a bit the other way. I think in the old days it was because people put a bit of effort into schooling. You weren’t like what we call travellers. You were somebody. You had a good education.

Thomas did correspondence schooling. He did more schooling than I did at boarding school. My wife Marilyn taught Thomas and she said the correspondence course was a lot more than she ever did, actually going to school.

Is discipline and hard work instilled at an early age on the circus?

I think you have to be hard-working or otherwise you wouldn’t be able to make it work. One day you might have a full load of staff, the next day half of them could be gone - because to a lot of people it’s still just a job. So whoever’s gone, you have to take over and do it yourself. You can’t just stop because that person’s not there, or that light doesn’t get put up or that horse doesn’t get groomed. It has to be done.

When we came back from South Africa with the show, we were basically starting again over here. I said I’d do the grooming rather than hire staff in for that. So my father and myself did all the horses.

What did your brothers and sisters do on the show?

Charles was very mechanical minded. He liked the vehicles more than the animals. My brother John, he liked the animals and used to work the animals a lot, but he liked the business side of it more. He was very clever with the books. He was very good with office work. My little sister (Sophie) was very small then, so she was at school. And my other sister (Doris), when she came back from school, would help out with the horses as well. Sophie, when she grew up, was very into everything. Whatever was going, she’d have a go at.

Marilyn Chipperfield

How did Marilyn join the circus?

Marilyn actually ran away to join the circus. She went to Ashtons, in Australia, when she was 16. I think she might have been 15 but told them she was 16. She used to work in a shoe shop in Perth. So a bit different. I think the circus came to town and from then that was all she wanted to do. She’s done that many different acts. She’s done the high wire, the trapeze, the high perch where you balance it on someone’s shoulder and climb up. She’s done trick riding, bare-back riding, high school horses, ridden elephants. And of course since she’s been with me, she’s done the wild animals as well. So basically the lot.

In the old days they called people who came into the circus jossers, but there’s a josser and there’s someone who has been in it all their life and you would think of as an actual circus person, and that’s what she is. She’s a circus person.

Did Thomas show an early determination to follow in your footsteps?

Thomas always loved it. He was always out with me, helping me put the tent up. He was born in Winchester, but he was brought up in Ireland. He was always helping me with the animals.

I’d show him the tigers. Naturally not right up close. But I’d lift him up when he was very little and show him the tigers. They’d be roaring and carrying on and he’d just be laughing.

Click here for a review of Fortunes Wheel
- the story of Irish lion tamer
Bill Stephens

His first animals were the alligators. He was helping getting them in and out of the tank. The whole lorry was the tank for them. He’d be in there with his cousin Ben (Sophie’s son, Ben Coles) feeling about in the water for these little alligators. Well, six or seven-foot-long... little, you know! They get very quiet. They can bite, naturally. They’re alligators. But it’s the same with any animals. it’s how you handle them. They used to come and take food out of your hand in the end.

Thomas used to put his head in the alligator’s mouth. Once, being young, he got the wrong one out of the tank. My wife tried to tell him in the ring he had the wrong one, you can’t put your head in its mouth. He being young and a bit big headed didn’t take any notice, until he realised he had the wrong one and he had to put his head in the wrong alligator’s mouth - the one that wasn’t trained for it. He still did it!

How did you come to join Duffy’s circus?

They were very small at the time. We went over with more vehicles than they had at the time. We took the monkeys, the bears, the dogs. We had lions and tigers. I trained the horse act there for them. We had the alligators there. We were there about 23 years. Then we came back to fight the cause over here.

When did you hand reins to Thomas?

For one thing, people don’t want to see old, bald people in the ring. They want to see young fellas. So when it’s time to get out, you get out.

Thomas wasn’t just chucked in. He had to learn first. He did a long time looking after the animals, and a long time learning about the animals when they’re working. And when he was capable, I was actually in there with him, just in case he needed a bit of advice now and then. Then he took over himself. The lions he has now he trained completely himself, from the beginning. He thinks the world of the animals.

For more stories from the big top, read Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus.

Trump wasn't the only politician who loved elephants

As Westminster debates a ban on wild animals on the circus this Friday and the Welsh Assembly is midway through a study designed to introduce the same to Wales (read all about it here), it was refreshing to come across this picture of Liberal candidate Elspeth Attwoll taking Womba the elephant to meet her Glasgow constituents in 1974.

Apparently, she helped train the elephant at Southampton Zoo, which was owned by the Chipperfield circus family. Who wouldn't vote for a gal like that?

If only today's politicians took elephants on the campaign trail instead of campaigning against them. Maybe circus defender Chris Chope should try it.

Then again, there is that guy in America...

Some things will never change.

The 100-year battle to ban animals in entertainment

How the Daily Mail reported the
return of elephants to the Great British Circus
in 2009

The first calls to ban performing animals were made 100 years ago. In this article that originally appeared in The Stage, I untangle the history of opposition to animals in entertainment.

Animals have been entertaining us for as long as we’ve had professional entertainment. The word ‘circus’ dates from Roman arenas such as the Circus Maximus, where the spectacle ranged from chariot races to exhibitions of exotic breeds from across the empire. The circus as we know it was founded in London in 1768 by trick horse-rider Philip Astley, who augmented equestrian displays with clowns, acrobats and strongmen.

Animals were also part of music hall tradition. Jospeph Grimaldi, the early 19th century pantomime star regarded as the father of clowning, used a trained donkey called Neddy in his act.

The PG Tips chimps were among the most
popular TV stars of the 70s, but times change and the
long-running advertising campaign was eventually dropped.

Retired to a zoo, the chimps, including 42-year-old Choppers,
pictured here, were said to miss human interaction and
found it hard to integrate with other apes. Is that why
she looks so sad? Or does she just want a cuppa?

During the 20th century, animals were used in the film and television industries from the beginning, making stars of Lassie, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo and Flipper the dolphin.

Part of that tradition seemed destined to disappear when the government announced its plans to ban wild animals in circuses from December 2015. But that now looks unlikely to happen after the much anticipated Wild Animals in Circuses Bill failed to appear in the list of legislation to be brought before Parliament before the next election.

The campaign to outlaw performing animals is not new, however, and neither is the phenomenon of actors and other celebrities using their fame to endorse animal rights groups such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

The formation of the world’s oldest animal welfare organisation, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), in 1824, led to the Cruelty to Animals acts of 1835 and 1876. The latter was intended to regulate experiments on animals. But concern over the use of animals in science spread to questions about their treatment in entertainment and led to the Wild Animals in Captivity Protection Act, 1900.

Jack London
- Pulp novelist who called
for direct action against
circuses with animals

The Performing Animals Defence League was founded in 1914 to campaign against the use of performing animals. It was followed in 1918 by the Jack London Club. The latter was named after American pulp novelist Jack London who called for direct action against animal performances in the forward to his 1917 novel Michael, Brother of Jerry, which focused on alleged cruelty to animals in America. The Jack Londoners, as they were known, picketed circuses in the US and then Britain and Europe throughout the 1920s.

The first attempt at a government ban came in 1921, when Liberal MP Joseph Kenworthy introduced the Performing Animals Prohibition Bill. The bill was unsuccessful, but a select committee was set up to investigate the issue and led to the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act of 1925 which to this day requires that anyone who wishes to perform with an animal in public must possess a licence.

Calls for a ban continued and in 1927, the RSPCA wrote to the Times, asking “Will the public help to abolish this painful form of amusement by refraining from patronising exhibitions in which performing animals have a part?” The letter was signed by a list of public figures and celebrities including playwright George Bernard Shaw and the actress Sybil Thorndike.

Billy Smart's poster from
the heyday of animals in the circus

The 1950s were a boom time for circuses in Britain, and a period when animal acts by far outnumbered tightrope walkers and trapeze artists. The two biggest operators, Billy Smart’s and Chipperfields, filled their 5000-capacity big tops with hundreds of animals from tigers and polar bears to sea lions and giraffes.

Against that background, the Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS) was founded in 1957 to campaign and demonstrate against the use of animals in circuses and the exotic pet trade. In 1965, CAPS president Lord Somers sponsored a bill in the House of Lords to prohibit the use of performing animals. It was defeated by just 14 votes.

The 1970s saw the emergence of a new animal rights movement spearheaded by philosopher Pete Singer. Whereas previous campaigners had focused on animal welfare, the animal rights lobby sought to end the ownership of animals for entertainment, food, experimentation and products such as leather, by granting them equal rights to humans.

In 1984, husband and wife actors Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna founded the Born Free Foundation, named after the 1966 film Born Free, in which they had starred, to campaign against zoos and circuses.

Since the 1980s, around 200 local authorities have banned performing animals from council-owned show grounds. Circuses were forced to use private land in less accessible locations where animal rights activists often demonstrated at the gates. By the late 90s, most circuses had responded by dispensing with animals. The all-human Moscow State Circus and Chinese State Circus became the most successful big top shows in the UK, while Canada’s globally successful Cirque du Soleil, which had never featured animals, became the biggest producer in circus history.

An audience for animal acts remained, however. Zippos toured for ten years as an all-human circus but eventually introduced horses and dogs because of public demand. More recently, Ashleigh and Pudsey - a dancing dog - was a hit with the public on Britain’s Got Talent.

Dr Marthe Kiley-Worthington's
report on circus animals
Click here for more.

In 1988, the RSPCA sponsored an 18-month study of circuses by Dr Marthe Kiley-Worthington. The society refused to publish the results because she concluded circuses caused animals no distress and could have benefits for conservation, education and science. Kiley-Worthington subsequently published her report in the book Animals in Circuses and Zoos - Chiron’s World? (Aardvark Publishing). In Greek mythology, Chiron was half man, half horse and symbolises the relationship between humans and animals.

In 1999, undercover film made by Animal Defenders International (ADI) led to the conviction of Mary Chipperfield for cruelty to a chimpanzee at the Hampshire farm where she was training animals for film work.

Under pressure to ban circuses from using animals, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) set up the Circus Animals Working Group. The resulting report by Mike Radford, in 2007, concluded that circuses were as capable of meeting the needs of their animals as other captive environments such as zoos, and that there were no welfare reasons for a ban.

My report in The Stage on the Great British Circus
elephant controversy

Further undercover operations by ADI, however, resulted in film of elephants being hit at the Great British Circus in 2009 and a retired elephant, Anne, being beaten by a groom at the winter quarters of Bobby Roberts Super Circus in 2011. Roberts was given a conditional discharge for failing to prevent the groom in the video from abusing the elephant.

Following the large scale media outcry over Anne, animal welfare minister Lord Taylor announced in March 2012 that the government would ban wild animals in circuses from December 2015, with a new licensing and inspection scheme introduced in the interim. Only two companies, Peter Jolly’s Circus and Circus Mondao, applied for and were granted licenses, with shows such as Zippos unaffected since they use only domestic animals.

The Stage
- The issue this article
originally appeared in.

Animal rights groups such as CAPs criticised the government for delaying the legislation necessary to bring in the ban, and when it emerged in June this year that the Wild Animals in Circuses Bill won’t be debated before the next election, its future was put in doubt.

After a hundred years of controversy, however, calls for a ban are unlikely to go away, and Britain’s stance on the matter will be closely watched by animal trainers and animal rights groups around the world. Both sides believe a ban in Britain, where circus was invented, could create a domino effect in Europe and America. And with the film and television industries largely dependent on circuses for their trained animals, that could have implications for the future of all animals in entertainment.


The 100-Year Battle To Ban Performing Animals - Timeline

1914 - Performing Animals Defence League founded.

1921 - Joseph Kenworthy MP introduces unsuccessful Performing Animals Prohibition Bill.

1925 - Performing Animals (Regulation) Act introduces licenses for performing with animals in public.

1957 - Captive Animals Protection Society founded.

Born Free
The film about a lion that gave its name
to an animal rights group.

1984 - Zoo Check Campaign, later Born Free Foundation, founded by Born Free stars Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers.

1980s - Many local councils ban circus animals from municipal show grounds.

1999 - Mary Chipperfield convicted of cruelty after undercover investigation by Animal Defenders International (ADI).

2000 - The Performing Animals Welfare Standards International (PAWSI) founded to promote animal welfare in audio-visual industries.

2006 - Classical Circus Association founded to represent circuses with animals.

2007 - DEFRA-commissioned Radford Report finds no welfare grounds to ban animals in circuses.

2009 - ADI releases undercover film of elephants being hit at Great British Circus.

2009 - Bolivia becomes first country to ban all animals in circuses.

2011 - Media outcry over ADI film of Anne the elephant being beaten at winter quarters of Bobby Roberts Super Circus.

2012 - Animal welfare minister Lord Taylor announces ban on wild animals in circuses in 2015 and Circus Licensing Scheme in interim.

2013 - Peter Jolly’s Circus and Circus Mondao become only two UK circuses licensed to use wild animals.

2014 - With the Government's proposed ban on hold until after next year’s general election, Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick introduced a private member's bill under the 10-minute rule on September 3. It was blocked for the 12th time on March 6, 2015.

2015 - Thomas Chipperfield takes to the road in Wales with An Evening With Lions and Tigers.

2016 - The Welsh Assembly promise a ban on wild animals in travelling shows and appoint Professor Stephen Harris to carry out a study, which is expected to be complete by February 2016.

2016 - 10 February. Conservative MP Christopher Chope provides first public indication that the government may be reconsidering a ban, when he tells the Commons that the existing licensing regime has rendered a ban unnecessary. (Details here)

2nd Edition out now!

For more on the ever-thorny subject of animals in the circus, including a behind-the-scenes visit to Circus Mondao, one of only two British circuses licensed to use wild animals, read Circus Mania by Douglas McPherson. "A brilliant account of a vanishing art form," - Mail on Sunday.

Click here to buy Circus Mania from Amazon.

Circus Stamps

Step right up to get a new set of US postage stamps celebrating the art of the great American circus poster. A set of eight stamps each featuring the 19th century posters of Ringling Bros, Sells-Floto, Al C. Barnes and more was launched on May 5 at where else but the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida. 

Of course, it's not the first time the circus has graced a stamp. Here are a couple of British first day covers celebrating Chipperfields Circus in 1983 and Gerry Cottle's Circus in 2002. Oh, and naturally enough, Monaco, home of the International Circus Festival, has produced a circus stamp or two over the years.

For more fabulous circus art and circus posters, click here.

Thomas Chipperfield's lions and tigers relax backstage at the circus

Tsavo, named after a place in Kenya where the lions are
said to grow especially big, relaxes before the show

...and born show off that he is, puts on a show with
one eye on the camera

Circus with a bite

Tsavo leaves his living quarters

For more pictures that I took backstage at Peter Jolly's Circus, click here.

To find out how tigers are trained and to read more on the subject of animals in the circus, read Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away With The Circus. Click here to buy from Amazon.

"A brilliant account of a vanishing art form." - Mail on Sunday

Thomas Chipperfield's circus lions and tigers

King of the Cage
Thomas Chipperfield brings big cats back to Britain

Just back from Peter Jolly's Circus, where Thomas Chipperfield and his big cats were drawing quite a crowd! A big story on this coming soon, but in the meantime, here are a few more pictures I took when the circus set up at Rushall, near Walsall in the midlands.

Lions and tigers, oh my!

What can a cat man do?
Chipperfield and Tsavo relax before the show

While the queue begins to form outside

What's life like in the cage with six Bengal tigers? Read my interview with Martin Lacey in Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away With The Circus. Click here to read half a dozen customer reviews on Amazon.

A cat's life
Tsavo the lion relaxes backstage

Click here for more pictures of the Chipperfield cats backstage.

And click here for a review of Peter Jolly's Circus.

Circus directory 2014

How many circuses can you see in Britain this year? According to the circus diaries blog, there are more than 50. Clicking through the links, it looks like they're all active, so click here for the full list and find one near you.

When I wrote my book, Circus Mania, the Mail on Sunday called it "A brilliant account of a vanishing art form." But with so many shows on the road this year, I think Dr Haze of the Circus of Horrors better described the circus scene when he said in the book, "Circus is very much alive and juggling."
Click here to buy Circus Mania from Amazon, then go along and see a circus near you.

Chipperfields - Europe's largest animal circus

Circus animals are thin on the sawdust these days - you may find a few horses or dogs in a British big top if you’re lucky.


How different it was in the past as this Chipperfields poster from 1959 proves. Under the monocled eye of then TV favourite Fred Emney we find:

- Polar bears and brown bears.

- 4 Shire carthorses.

- a Poodle and Pony revue.

- Europe’s Greatest Elephant Herd (presented by the “15-year-old wonder boy of the circus,” Dickie Chipperfield).

- Nubian Lions.

- Cheeky chimps.

- 16 thoroughbred horses.

- Chako the “almost human” ape.

As if that were not enough, a “Fabulous Exotic Act” featured:

- 2 Giraffes.

- 8 Camels.

- 8 Lamas.

- Harry the Hippo

- and (scribbled in as if almost an afterthought) Crocodiles!

In this later poster from 1963, Chipperfields put the giraffes, camels, lamas and hippo on display but presumably didn’t have enough paper to list the rest of the acts individually, boasting only, “Europe’s largest animal show - over 200 animals.”

“The only circus in the world where this spectacle can be seen,” shouts the advertising copy. To which, half a century on, we can probably add with some certainty, “And which will never be seen again.”


Read about the colourful history of the circus, the amazing stories of today's circus people and the ongoing debate about animals in the circus in Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book for Anyone Who Dreamed Of Running Away With the Circus.

Click here to buy Circus Mania from Amazon.

"Circus Mania is a brilliant account of a vanishing art form."
- Mail on Sunday.

But animals haven't fully left the big top. Click here to see my pictures of the latest Chipperfield, 24-year-old Thomas Chipperfield, and his big cats at Peter Jolly's Circus. and click here to read my review of Peter Jolly's Circus.

Find fabulous examples of circus posters
and programmes through the Circus Mania blog.