The girl who sat on an elephant

It was taken in June 1950 and shows his nine-year-old sister Jacqueline on a circus elephant being weighed at the Old Warwick Road weighbridge.

The circus owner and ringmaster are pictured along with a small crowd of children and adults admiring the huge animal.

Jeff, who used to be a town guide, lived with his family in Union Walk at the time.

He said: “They used to weigh the elephants at the weighbridge next to the railway along the Old Warwick Road.

“The site now houses Jewsons builders merchants. I believe the weighbridge hut in the background is still there.”

Jeff says that his sister, who now lives in Hampshire had to have a bath after sitting on the elephant because of the oil which was smeared all over it.

Reader Jennie Haynes remembers elephants parading through Leamington in the 1960s. She said: “My journal from 1966 quotes ‘April 7. Took boys (our sons Greg age 4, and Keith age 3) into Leamington Spa to see the elephants on the Parade.’

“As I recall they walked from the station too. Hope others have memories too.”