Recently on this blog there was mention of a resident circus from 1949 to 1961 at Rhyl Pavilion; the advert above is dated 1953. The circus promoter, Captain Albert Prince-Cox, also ran aqua shows at the Open Air Bathing Pool on the prom. The publicity photograph of the company was an annual event.Lined up above are clowns, acrobats, jugglers; the gentlemen with dinner jackets and bow ties were members of the orchestra. At the circus you would have seen performing dogs, lions and leopards, monkeys, horses and ponies, an elephant perhaps. Lots of info and pictures from the Pavilion’s circus can be found in book ‘The Spirit
Of Rhyl’ by Bill Ellis.
As members of an audience we saw nothing wrong about keeping animals in captivity for our entertainment, but then we saw nothing wrong in blacked-up minstrel shows and women’s beauty contests either. Times change, society develops, we move on. Campaigning continuously against the abuse of animals is Wales Against Animal Cruelty (WAAC) whose new website is: http://walesagainstanimalcruelty.org.uk/
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