A high flying King’s pupil is back in town - with her aerial circus act.
Hayley Jade Gandey-Briggs has travelled the world with her gravity-defying acrobatics, first taking to aerial stage when she was just 12 years old.
And now, age 33, she is returning to her home town with her awe-inspiring performance for the first time.
The mum of one, who will be performing with Gandeys Circus from May 4, said: “It is going to be great to come home because all my friends and family and there will be a lot of children coming down to the show.
“And friends from King’s will be coming with their children who can play with my son Joe, so I am really excited about it.”
Hayley and sister Coral grew up with the circus, which was set up by their parents Carol and Philip, travelling up and down the country with the travelling show.
Keen to ensure they had a good education, the girls attended King’s School until they were 16.
Hayley, who first performed at Edinburgh Fringe when she was 12, said: “It was great because there were lots of other children around so there was a real family atmosphere.
“We went from school to school as we moved with the circus but then my parents said wanted us to have a good education and we went to Brereton Primary and then the King’s School, in the last year of junior school.”
She added: “My friends at school loved it, it was great. They would come to the shows. A group of my friends from King’s would come up to the festival in Edinburgh in the summer and help put with the shows and they loved it -I’m not sure how their parents felt about it though.”
Gandeys Circus was founded by Hayley’s ancestor Robert Gandey after the First World War and has been running for a hundred years.
Hayley said a chance double booking has meant that Gandeys Circus can come to Macclesfield for the first time in 30 years.
The show, which features high wire acts, acrobats, BMX stunts and high speed juggling acts from across the globe, takes inspiration from the hit Hollywood musical The Greatest Showman, which follows the story of P.T. Barnum and the birth of showbusiness.
The Big Top will be located just off the Silk Road, at Bollington Roundabout, for five nights from May 4 until May 8. For tickets go gandeyscircus.com.
