It used to stick its trunk out through the louvred wooden window
Jim
One day, I was walking from me house in Carter Street and I was walking up behind the Black Bull to turn into Church Lane, and as I turned in, I was confronted by an elephant.
There was an elephant walking up Church Lane. And it walked down behind the Black Bull pub and it went into the back of the Black Bull pub. It had a keeper with it. Now the Black Bull pub then was a bit bigger than it is now. It had a huge yard and a stable and they used to keep this elephant in a stable at the Black Bull pub. It was visiting. There was a Circus on at the Empire and they used to bring the elephant up and put it in the stable in the back of the Black Bull, and often it used to stick its trunk out through the louvred wooden window and we used to stroke it and feed it.
Interviewer
Do you know what his name was?
Jim
Jumbo, no I didn’t know its name, it was probably different elephants anyway. They all look the same.
Interviewer
And did it happen more than once?
Jim
Yes, every time the circus came to town.
Elephant images from Pixabay.com
This memory is part of the Bishopwearmouth Heritage Scheme collection