WHEN the circus came to just about any town in the 1950s it was usually the biggest local story of the moment.

So it was in August of 1956 when Billy Smart’s Circus and Great Western Spectacle arrived and set up its big top at Westcott Recreation Ground.

An advertising feature included a photo of performers on horseback parading along Westcott Place, and local businesses who provisioned the show had acts drop in for Adver photo opportunities.

Samson the strongman, for example, posed for milk merchant TJ Carter of 1 Wootton Bassett Road, while an unnamed but glamorous young woman in a sparkly leotard was pictured slicing a loaf at Gray’s Bakers in Bridge Street.

Other advertisers included butchers BJ Martin and Sons and fishmongers Wallis Brothers.

In keeping with the Wild West element of the show, Hobby’s Corner in Fleet Street advertised its cowboy, cowgirl and Davy Crockett outfits, as well as guns, bows, arrows, holsters and wigwams.

Our advertising feature devoted plenty of space to sword-swallower Tagora, also billed as the Human Volcano thanks to his fire-eating. He was, we said, the son of a former postmaster from Yugoslavia.

“For his act, Tagora uses two gallons of petrol a week.

“For many hours before, he is unable to eat, not because of lack of appetite but because any food in the stomach would make fire-eating and sword-swallowing even more dangerous.”

Tickets to enter the 6,000-seater big top started at 2s6d and went up to 10s6d, or between 12.5 and 52.5 pence in decimal money.

Circuses in those days were different from modern ones – and so were many other things.

In the run-up to the show, the biggest advert we ran had a drawing of sinister-looking Native Americans rampaging and dancing. In their midst was a blonde white woman tied to a totem pole – although she didn’t seem overly perturbed.

Audiences were promised a two-and-a-half-hour show “…that has already thrilled over 400,000 people this year!”

As well as Tagora, the 23 acts included German comedy troupe The Gutis – “The greatest comedy act in any circus.”

Thrills on the trapeze came courtesy of the 8 Croneras, while the 6 Fellers took care of high wire duties.

There were also 12 Foreign Legion camels, 10 baby elephants, eight polar bears, eight forest-bred lions, sea lions, chimpanzees, horses and dozens of other animals.

The various Western-themed spectacles featured none other than Davy Crockett himself - or rather Billy Smart Junior, as the real Davy Crocket had died 120 years previously.