The Greatest Show on Earth?

Hot-footing it to a Preston meeting this morning to avoid the worse of the forecast snow, I paused to take a quick snap of the circus big top just erected on Knutsford’s ‘Big Heath’. Both heath and adjacent Bermuda Triangle of Tabley Road have featured regularly in my blips over the years. No doubt laziness and they being immediately opposite our front door were the main factors.

Seeing the circus come to town, I was reminded of a big protest here back in 2011 over a circulated video of animal cruelty by one of the circus hands of the Bobbie Roberts Circus against a 58-year old “intelligent elephant” called Anne. Years before that, I remembered seeing Anne quite a few times when put out to graze on the heath grass with only an electric cattle fence to stop her packing her trunk. The end result of this was Anne being permanently retired to an animal sanctuary - and thankfully captive wild animals like Anne dont feature in live shows any more.

But this is Gandeys Circus though, and their ‘Big Top of Dreams’ is hosting a show being called ‘Glitterati’ that involves 30 artistes. Its been quite a few years since I have been to a travelling circus, but am guessing they are much more your Cirque du Soleil than ‘March of the Elephants’ these days - which can only be a good thing.

I might give it a try if I can persuade MrsB.