Elephant Rampage

Last weekend I posted a teaser for today's post. The photos below show five tiled mosaic murals in a small alleyway off of the High Street. The murals tell the story of the day the Circus visited town and the Elephants went on the rampage!

In March 1934 Chapman's Great London Z00-Circus came to Cheltenham. The Circus boasted 28 of the finest acts never before seen in England. They also had lions, tigers, polar bears, comedy black bears, boxing kangaroos and elephants. Could you imagine that being allowed today?! As the advertising parade went through town some of the elephants broke free and headed for the seed merchant and pet shop, Bloodworths. One of the elephants entered the shop and started to have his fill of seed and pet food, another elephant got stuck in the doorway! Little damage was done, some people said it was part of a publicity stunt. Did they do that back then?! Bloodworths Pet Shop is still open in Cheltenham, though elephants are now banned!

The Circus parade begins to work its way through town.

The Ringmaster advertises the Circus.

One of the Elephants breaks free and heads for the goodies.

A keeper struggles to remove one of the Elephants.

The police and locals look on aghast.

And here is a photo taken on the day.

Hope you enjoyed this tale!

On a different note - I have added word verification to my comment box due to all the 'see hear' 'click here' spam comments I am receiving. I don't really like this but I've got no choice. Hope this doesn't stop you commenting.