hi any memories? how long have you got?
the fat lady taking the money wore a purple overcoat,apparently made of moss,way down below her knees,even in the height of summer. maybe she was not fat.
there was a family of acrobats stayed for a week in a caravan behind the little wooden theatre, and i became friendly with them and then obsessed with acrobatics. i was heartbroken when they left.
one sketch i remember was of a man listening to a radio programme on how to make and bake a loaf.he popped out,someone came in ,switched the radio to a programme coaching football skills.the man comes back and following instructions,throws the ball of dough in the air,heads it,dribbles it round the floor etc. i know. you had to be there.
the talent competition involved the compere standing behind the competitors in turn and holding his hand flat above each head,the volume of applause deciding the winner.the more friends you had in the audience,the better singer you were.!
there were magicians,with little black velvet bags and disappearing ceramic eggs ,bunches of flowers springing out of their sleeves, a young ballet dancer i can still see clearly, stilt walkers,tap dancers by the boatload with metal plates on their shoes and out-of-scale bows in their hair.
it was the best bit of summer holidays;entertainment in the fresh air and sunshine,free for those who lined the railings, fourpence for the wealthy,communal, and lord knows how many imaginations and distant dreams were sparked by it.it is instructive to work out in how many different ways it could not happen today. we are poorer without it. i send a posthumous thank you thank you thank you for all that enjoyment to its providers.
aged 8, i got up one day and sang the wild colonial boy,but brian epstein was not in the audience that day.