The Elephant in the Room...
Some unlikely visitors come to Berwick!
When you think of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England’s most northern town, I’m sure that elephants are not the first thing which spring to mind! I must admit, when I first started working with the collection 10 years ago, an elephant was pretty low on my list of ‘things I might find’.
In the mists of time, in the days before animals had rights, every touring circus had a menagerie of beasts, from lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) to dancing horses and indeed elephants. It was in this capacity that Berwick had its fair share of these giant grey plodding visitors.
In May 1954, a train owned by the legendary circus owner Billy Smart drew into Berwick Station. Passengers boarding the express train on the opposite platform received a shock when 10 elephants disembarked and left the station on foot to begin the 3 mile trek to the Scottish border at Lamberton. On crossing the border the herd, headed up by the equally rotund figure of Billy Smart himself, were regaled by the skirl of bagpipes. 150 children followed the parade from Berwick and even the Mayor turned out to meet Mr Smart at the border. After setting foot in Scotland, the party about turned and retraced their path to the train in Berwick Station to continue their journey to Edinburgh.
Our collection contains countless stories connected to the millions of photographs taken by the Smiths and their photographers over the years, but my favourite has to be this one, and it does indeed involve an elephant. To be specific, an 11 year old Asian elephant named Monica.
The popular spot for circuses to pitch up when visiting Berwick in the 1960s was the Bonarsteads field in Tweedmouth, now the site of the sports centre. In June 1965, Robert Fossett’s Circus was set up in the field. In a canvas tent next to the big top were four elephants, all looked after by a trainer named Ivor Rosaire. Ivor had a son named Derek, and Monica - the youngest of the elephants - had a soft spot for this young chap. She followed him everywhere.
Close to the Bonarsteads field, less than 100 yards away, is Tweedmouth Middle School (formerly Tweedmouth Modern School). On Wednesday 16th June Monica was looking out of the tent and thought she saw Derek walking in the direction of the school, so she left the herd and followed him. Little did she know that this unsuspecting schoolboy was not her young friend but was simply making his way to school. Convinced that this was Derek, Monica picked up her pace and perused the young boy. As one would when being followed by an elephant, the boy ran into the playground and then into the school. Monica in turn followed and promptly burst through the door, tearing it from its hinges.
The headmaster Mr Gleig must hardly have believed what he was hearing when he reprimanded the boy for running in the corridors, only to be told ‘there’s an elephant following me!’. The curious elephant, now satisfied that this wasn’t her chum, was soon collected by her trainer and was retuned to the Circus. The school caretaker Mrs Skelly was left to clear up the mess – I bet she had great roses that year!
The last elephant (to my knowledge) visited Berwick in 1969. I though we’d end with the most photogenic image of an elephant we have in the collection from 1967. It shows Suzette, surrounded by local children, having a drink before embarking on a trip to her new home in Spain. She was owned by Roberts Bros. Circus. Let us know if you recognise anyone or if you have memories of the circus visiting Berwick!
We hold every negative to every photograph ever taken by the Photo Centre so if you’re missing any of your own wedding photographs or you’re exploring your family history let us know! We may be able to supply you with just the photograph you’ve been looking for.
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This article is simply a historical glance at these unusual animal visitors to Berwick in the mid 20th century and does in no way condone the exploitation of animals in circuses or in any other scenario.
I love this post. I grew up in a similar sized town in the north east of Scotland. An early memory was a parade of elephants going through our high street in late60s early70s. I always felt i’d just muddled it up with the end papers in the Babar Books - it felt too out of place. These photos make me believe it would have been real!