Care home circus girl's death-defying stunt thrilled thousands but she doesn't remember

Looking gloriously coiffed like a 1940s pin-up, 21-year-old Violet Sandow slipped into a sparkly skin of a costume each night and took a death-defying trapeze flight, high above a sea of craned necks in a circus tent – it was a daily triumph her 97-year-old self no longer remembers.

Born in a circus trailer, Violet performed a trapeze act with her sister Margaret that drew crowds and gasps every night but the 97-year-old veteran acrobat, who now lives in a care home, remembers little of her circus life.

Diagnosed with dementia eight years ago, Violet, who lives at Willoughby Grange Care Home in Boston, Lincolnshire, finds it hard to hold a conversation or recount any memories.

Her mother Carrie Fossett was a circus ballerina on horseback who fell in love with Violet’s father; a strong man in the same travelling show.

Their family business was the ‘Sandow Caucasian Circus’ and toured the UK in horse-drawn carriages filled with animals, acrobats and clowns.

Born into one of the oldest circus families in the world, Violet became part of a legacy spanning five generations.

Proving the circus life was in her blood, Violet and her sister created a trapeze double act called The Sandow Sisters who performed from the 1940s until 1955.

She risked her life each night

Swinging from a second trapeze bar held by her sister, Violet would very suddenly plunge towards the audience in a deadly dive

Stopping only inches from the public’s heads, she’d be swooping left and right, when the rope holding the bar had fully uncoiled.

Every day, Violet risked her life to perform the act.

But the intentions of a spectator can be far from virtuous and a little more vicious. The crowds kept coming with audiences watching the high stakes act, forever on the lookout for the thrill that they may see the spectacle of a slip up.

Like a line of vehicles moving far too slowly to gaze at a car crash, Violet brought her audience close but snatched away at the last second their chance of seeing her fail.

As a tentful of voyeurs fixed their eyes on her, she was their world for five minutes and the audience applauded her for it. Circus life may have appeared all glamour and adventure but her life was hard.

Harsh, relentless training to escape injury was a CV pre-requisite but with a daring, honed skillset the results looked effortless.

She would practice and perform on the trapeze but could also work the trampoline and was accomplished at horse riding.

When not practicing she would feed and fetch water for the horses and Shetland ponies and would train up the dogs and monkeys.

And fell in love with a clown

Violet had a doubtless passion for the circus and fell in love with a clown named Marius. He was also an acrobat on the Roman rings and was an impressive horse rider.

She later lived with her son Peter, who became a clown in the circus.

The great grandmother of three retired but continued to make costumes and for a while was able to pass down her circus tricks to her niece Amanda Sandow, who is not only carrying on the family name but has a trapeze act of her own.

Amanda Sandow says her aunt Violet was “very ahead of her time”. Since moving into the care home, Violet often goes for walks and her niece is a regular visitor only too happy to try to remind her of her unique career.

She recently brought a Shetland pony called Frosty into the care home to help jog her aunt’s memories.

“Unfortunately, she does not remember too much about her wonderful life in the circus”, says Amanda Sandow.

“Sometimes she mentions her mum Carrie Fossett who was a ballerina on horseback, especially as she sat driving the horses on her mum’s horse-drawn carriage when she was 14.

“I so wish she had written a book on her stories in the circus.

"I think she’s inspirational. She inspired me.”

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