I guess only a few on here will remember the heady days of Billy Smarts Circus coming to Southend each year to set up their Circus in Southchurch Park East. I remember meeting the trains at Victoria station and walking down to the park with the Elephants and other animals, they always transported them by trains in those days. We used to get free tickets for the show if we helped them set up.
Since those days of course and rightly so IMO most countries have banned the use of large animals in Circuses, there are still a few in Europe who I am led to believe still do, but hopefully that will end soon.
Anyway on to the main point of this post.
I had to go to North Benfleet today to pick up a lovely lamp I purchased on Faceache Marketplace (BTW you find some lovely things on there) I did not put two and two together at all when we arranged for me to collect it, why would I even think of it after so many years.
Anyway I drove up the long lane past a few houses, searching for this house, (they have no numbers in this road and noticed as I was driving past one it had a sign on the gate saying "Billy Smart". I thought to myself when I find the house I am looking for I must ask the owner what that sign was all about up the road.
I got to the end of the road and could not find the house I was looking for so checked the message I had received about directions and noticed that the lady had said it had dog signs on the gates and the name Billy Smart. Again I never clicked at all when I saw that name in the message i had got.
I turn around, park outside the house with Billy Smart on the gate and it is the correct one of course. The lady came out with the lamp and I asked her what is that sign saying Billy Smart all about? she then goes on to tell me they are the actual real Billy Smart family. I was flabbergasted, Circuses were a big thing for kids in the times I grew up in. We briefly chatted and she told me Billy was not there at the moment but he would of been in charge in the days they came to Southend.
I went on to learn in that brief conversation he was the third Billy Smart in that Circus family and they had little to do with Circuses now apart from having a few cousins involved and that there was still a Billy Smarts in Tunisia.
The outcome of that chat is that when Billy comes back home I am actually going to go and meet up with him for a chat about all the old Circus days and no doubt much more old nostalgia.
What a great day , I cant wait to meet him.
Since those days of course and rightly so IMO most countries have banned the use of large animals in Circuses, there are still a few in Europe who I am led to believe still do, but hopefully that will end soon.
Anyway on to the main point of this post.
I had to go to North Benfleet today to pick up a lovely lamp I purchased on Faceache Marketplace (BTW you find some lovely things on there) I did not put two and two together at all when we arranged for me to collect it, why would I even think of it after so many years.
Anyway I drove up the long lane past a few houses, searching for this house, (they have no numbers in this road and noticed as I was driving past one it had a sign on the gate saying "Billy Smart". I thought to myself when I find the house I am looking for I must ask the owner what that sign was all about up the road.
I got to the end of the road and could not find the house I was looking for so checked the message I had received about directions and noticed that the lady had said it had dog signs on the gates and the name Billy Smart. Again I never clicked at all when I saw that name in the message i had got.
I turn around, park outside the house with Billy Smart on the gate and it is the correct one of course. The lady came out with the lamp and I asked her what is that sign saying Billy Smart all about? she then goes on to tell me they are the actual real Billy Smart family. I was flabbergasted, Circuses were a big thing for kids in the times I grew up in. We briefly chatted and she told me Billy was not there at the moment but he would of been in charge in the days they came to Southend.
I went on to learn in that brief conversation he was the third Billy Smart in that Circus family and they had little to do with Circuses now apart from having a few cousins involved and that there was still a Billy Smarts in Tunisia.
The outcome of that chat is that when Billy comes back home I am actually going to go and meet up with him for a chat about all the old Circus days and no doubt much more old nostalgia.
What a great day , I cant wait to meet him.
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