A KNUTSFORD man who left his family to join the circus 24 years ago said this week: I have no regrets.

Paul Archer abandoned his home life in Old Market Place and joined Circus Hoffman as a 16-year-old juggler.

"I didn't exactly run away but I certainly walked," he said.

"At the time I did realise that that there was more to it than just the glitter though."

As a child he had watched circuses that visited the Heath in Knutsford and he taught himself to juggle when he was eight.

Since leaving to tour the world he has worked with more than six different groups as a fire-eater and stilt walker.

"I've been to all places from the Far East to the Middle East," said Mr Archer.

Russian

"A normal person would pay good money to visit the places I do in the summer."

Initially he moved around smaller travelling groups in the early 1980s before he finally joined Gerry Cottle's Circus in 1984.

Mr Cottle runs the European Entertainment Corporation and he made the former Knutsford High School pupil his general manager.

Mr Archer, 40, now tours with the Moscow State Circus and is never in the same town for more than three weeks.

His partner is a Russian translator and she helps him on Moscow scouting trips to find performers to join their troop.

Last week Mr Archer said the decision to join the circus was similar to many other teenagers' career choices.

"It's no different to anyone else who goes off to a university," he said.