The articles in the Wolverhampton Express and Star continue to arouse old fond memories of Salt and Sauce the elephants when they were regular residents there in the 1920s-40s. Recently I was sent the following recollection from Harry Jones who has kindly allowed me to reproduce it for this blog:
"During the second world war my father was in the fire service [I don't know whether he was in the AFS or the NFS at the time], but I can remember him saying to me " Can you guess what I rode my bike into last night ". He used to cycle along Gorsebrook road on his way from Cannock road , where we lived, to the fire station on Newhampton road. Apparently it must have been one of the occasions that the elephants got free and he rode into one of them, fetching him off his bike. During the blackout the front lamp of a cycle had a cowl on it that deflected the light downwards , only illuminating the front wheel. The poor elephant didn't stand a chance !!!
Prior to living on Cannock road I lived in Lloyd Street, off Newhampton road, with the "Summer house" pub on the corner.
The trainer of salt and sauce used to walk the elephants round the streets, then pop into the pub for a drink, leaving the elephants outside, where a group of us children would feed them stale bread. Fathers of the children in the street would send them to collect what the elephants had deposited on the road, And on one occasion Tonys' truck had that much muck on, the wheels collapsed.
I decided to write this,after reading the article in the Express and star about salt and sauce, I thought you might be interested.
Harry Jones"
