Mirror Man at Pinders Circus

The best costume in a British circus ring this year must surely belong to juggler Mirror Man, at Pinders Circus.

 

Pinder's Circus, the show with 200 year's of history, comes to Hasland, Derbyshire

I love this picture of what looks like the perfect traditional family circus - and it's a show with more than the usual share of tradition behind it.

Pinder's Circus is probably the oldest name on the circus block, dating back to the 1850s, when it played before Queen Victoria.

The current show is run by husband and wife clowns Eddy and Erika Pinder, whose family have been in the circus business for more than 200 years, along with ringmaster Mike Lea.

Click here to read more about the history of Pinder's Circus, and check out my book Circus Mania for a full chapter on it.

The Pinder's Circus Clown Car

Circus Fantasia in Mildenhall

Circus Fantasia big top

Roll up, roll up to Circus Fantasia at Mildenhall on the A11 Newmarket Road from Feb 25 to March 1. Tickets and times: 0844 888 9991.

Behind the big top we find this traditional
Scammell circus truck

And out front, the ticket wagon

And if you like big tops and circus transport... 

Click here to see how Pinders Circus travelled 100-years ago.

Click here to see how they move the Chinese State Circus

Click here for snowy scenes on the set of BBC sitcom Big Top.

Click here to see the Russell's International Circus big top going up.

And to find out what life is like for those who run away with the circus, click here to buy Circus Mania - the Ultimate Book for Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus!

Pinders Circus - Two hundred years on the road with Britain's oldest circus family

One of the most interesting people I met while writing Circus Mania was retired ringmaster George Pinder. He gave me this picture of his uncle Tommy, on the road with Pinders Circus in the 1930s, and told me how his family was one of the first to introduce motorised transport to the big top.

“Between the two world wars, we had motor lorries, but we still used horses as well. I remember saying to my dad, ‘Them first lorries you had, how fast did they go?’ Oh, about 12mph or 15mph. ‘So how far behind were the horses when they came in behind the lorries?’ Oh, 15 or 20 minutes. ‘So what did you bother with the lorries for?’ ‘Because you didn’t have to get up at five o’clock in the morning and catch them!’

Pinder comes from one of the oldest families in the circus. Its youngest members, sisters Carol Macmanus and Gracie Timmis run one of the last traditional big top shows still travelling with animals, Circus Mondao.

The following pictures from George’s personal archive provide a trip back in time to when his great-great-grandfather Thomas Ord, a Scottish minister’s son, ran away with a travelling show and went onto to become an equestrian star 200 years ago.

Royal Continental Circus poster, 1926.

Inside the Pinders big top in the 1930s.

The circus in the 1890s.

A poster advertising the horsemanship of Thomas Ord (George’s great-great-grandfather) dated October 25, 1817.

Updated for Circus250!

To read the full story of Britain’s oldest circus family, plus behind-the-scenes visits to all Britain's top circuses, buy Circus Mania from Amazon 








Grand Continental Circus with Pinder and Sons, Dundee, 1926

Moving the Chinese State Circus

"Gypsies know not to mix it
with the circus," warns
Chinese State Circus
transport manager
Ingo Dock
as featured in
Truck and Driver magazine

Ingo Dock reveals the secrets of Britain's biggest Chinese takeaway



Moving a circus is a big deal - 13 drivers, 20 trucks and 22 loads of a big deal in the case of the Chinese State Circus. The man in charge of the operation is 34-year-old Ingo Dock, who has been a circus man all his life. He grew up on Uncle Sam’s American Circus where his father drove the lorries before him.

I spoke to Ingo recently for a feature that appeared in the April issue of Truck and Driver magazine to coincide with the publication of Circus Mania, and he told me all about life on the road, from the hazards of waterlogged grounds to travellers who have taken over a site before the circus arrives.

“It happens about once a year,” Ingo sighed, “But on the whole the Gypsies know not to mix it with the circus because we‘ve got forklifts to get them off...”

I also talked about circus transport, this time in days gone by, with retired ringmaster George Pinder, who’s family have been circus for around 200 years (Click here for pictures of the Pinder circus from yesteryear).

The Chinese State Circus
- between shows they travel in lorries...

George is full of amazing stories about the introduction of steam generated electricity in the big top in the 1890s, and the move from horse-drawn transport to lorries between the two World Wars. He supplied some great pictures which will hopefully be in Best of British magazine in the New Year also. There’s even a poster for his great-great-great-grandfather Thomas Ord’s circus, in 1817, which appears in Circus Mania.

George, incidentally, is the uncle of Carol and Gracie, the sisters who run Circus Mondao.

New edition for 2018

For the full story of the Chinese State Circus, Circus Mondao and the 200 years in the circus of Britain's oldest circus family, read Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away With The Circus.

Click here to buy Circus Mania from Amazon.

Click here to see the trucks of Uncle Sam's American Circus.