General News
30 September, 2025
THE TRAVELLING CIRCUS: A childhood memory, with Brian Lennen
Maryborough's Brian Lennen recalls a time of a local circus.
The school holidays had arrived and we were at a loose end.
After mowing the backyard lawn and stacking the grass on the compost heap, I headed down to Gilbert’s paddock.
The paddock was a vacant block of land in the centre of the town.
It was a popular gathering place for myself and my mates.
“Cowboys and Indians” was a popular past time. We built grass huts reminiscent of teepees.
Cap guns, cowboy hats, bows and arrows and Native American feathered head-dresses were featured.
Johnno, one of my best mates, was in a state of excitement. He informed me that the circus/carnival was coming to the paddock.
We were approached by a moustached man with a large bucket of Clag (a glue) and a pile of posters. We agreed to paste the posters all over the town.
Our reward was to be given vouchers that allowed you to attend the big ring, go to the sideshows or purchase food from the concession stands.
After we pasted posters all over town we returned to the paddock where we were amazed to find the circus contingent had already arrived.
The big ring was assembled with military precision. We found further employment shifting seats and some of the equipment.
Neddy was feeding the lions in their cramped cages. The attendant said they wouldn’t bother him unless he stepped on them.
Like a domestic cat, they spent all day sleeping. They were hardly ferocious man-eaters.
Saturday night and the circus was in full swing. We strutted about as if we owned it, much to the envy of our peers.
The ring-master put up the “full house” sign and the show was underway.
The clowns who tied the show together entertained between acts. The riders performed amazing acts on the horses, acrobats and jugglers defied gravity.
The trapeze artists brought “oohs” and “aahs” from the fired up crowd.
The clowns took centre stage as they prepared to shoot one of their numbers from a canon.
The unsuspecting victim was loaded into the barrel. Amazingly he was jettisoned across the grounds safely into a net.
Barriers were set up and the audience was warned of the man-eaters about to take centre stage.
The beasts were unrecognizable as they roared ferociously and snarled at the lion-tamer who was resplendent in his jungle suit.
Gasps came from the crowd as he made them leap through hoops.
Finally with the three lions sitting calmly in a row he lay across their bodies in a casual sleeping posture.
Ten minutes after their performance they were back to sleep.
We were informed that the doughnuts, hot dogs, dim sims were free after the show. We certainly weren’t backwards in coming forward.
I had a scary experience when I came face to trunk with one of the elephants as I walked day dreaming around the big top.
Overnight the circus was disassembled and on the road. The next morning the paddock lay bare and we felt a strange sense of loss.
Australia once had a multitude of travelling circuses which brought pleasure to adults and children alike.,
They still exist, but only in large cities. Hopefully one day in the future they may return.