The Level

Chipperfields Circus working model

By Jennifer Drury

Regular contributor to My Brighton and Hove, Dennis Parrett, has provided us with a personal view of the visits of Chipperfields Circus to The Level.  Here you can see the programme of the day which apart from showing the circus line-up, gives a fascinating glimpse into social aspects of the time.

When we found out that Europe's largest working model of Chipperfields Circus was part of an exhibition at the Brighton Centre, our trusty chief photographer Tony Mould went along to see it.  A little known fact is that Tony actually worked for Chipperfields when he was just out of school. Yes, he really did run away to the circus!

Carl Moore, who has spent many years making this outstanding model was very pleased to chat about the 'old days' with Tony.  The model is a perfect representation of the circus and even has working models of the acts performing in the 'Big Top'.  Apparently the whole thing takes Carl three hours to set up at an exhibition.