Our photograph this week shows two elephants in York Road, Salisbury.

The animals were on their way to the newly arrived circus at the Butts in the 1960s and it is believed that the elephants arrived via train (but I am sure readers will put me right if this was not the case!).

In the long history of travelling circuses, Salisbury was the scene of one of the biggest ever recorded clashes of two such major organisations.

In the old days many people were divided into two camps - some supported Messrs Bertram Mills and others supported Messrs Chipperfield’s.

The date of the clash was September 1954.

Bertram Mills had agreed to come to Salisbury from September 29 to October 3, and to occupy the site in Hudson’s Field off Castle Road.

They then heard that Messrs Chipperfield’s were intending to come to Salisbury a week before them, so they immediately brought forward the date of their visit from September 13 to September 15 inclusive.

When Chipperfield’s discovered this they made plans to come on the same days to let the public decide for themselves.

And they hired a site from farmer Tom Cook off the Wilton Road.

It was predicted that with such a limited population to draw on, both circuses would lose a good deal of money, but such was the effect of the boom in free advertising owing to the clash making national newspaper headlines, that when the big tops moved both sides reported full houses at all performances.

It was estimated that 58,000 people saw the two shows, and the clash certainly put Salisbury on the circus map.

As far as is known, nothing similar on such a scale has ever happened before in circus history, and it is most unlikely to ever occur again.

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