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Personally I have a fond memory of the great show having had the pleasure to have worked for the ‘moving city’ twice, once as a clown 1n 1963 and then as the ringmaster for the 1970 season. (Details of these times can be found within my published diary over on the American Circus Historical Society webpages)
Billy Smart and his family commenced the first circus season under canvas in 1946 but they also included the funfair too. The mixture of the two proved not to work well so Mr. Smart let go of the funfair section and developed the circus into the biggest and the best in Europe. In just three years the tent could hold 6000 people! Around the single central ring was placed the ‘hippodrome track’, a 20ft wide circle for huge spectacular set pieces such as the famous wild west finally.
I do recall meeting Mr. Smart with a humorous story attatched to it.
His passing has never been replaced by any British showman of his stature. The great circus was then run very successfully by the family until 1972 and of course, television broadcasts after that.
