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Tornado Smith the Suffolk daredevil

The Wall of Death rider used to ride with a lion on the handlebars

Tornado Smith set up his Wall of Death at the Kursaal amusement park in Southend-on-Sea, and the lioness became part of his act, riding with him on the handlebars, before moving to a sidecar as she got larger.

He used to return to Boxford out-of-season and set it up there, where he could be seen taking Briton for walks around the village on a lead.

Matt Marvel, with help from Ken Fox, who has been riding, building and presenting Walls of Death for over 40 years and Howard Watts publican from Boxford help tell the story of Tornado Smith.

(Picture credit - Getty Images)
(Archive audio - British Path茅)

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11 minutes