Tower couple not clowning around with baby Charlie's name

Danny, Jenni and Charlie Photo by Stephen Walker Photography

Fun loving Danny Hickes, 29, juggled his job with his love for his co-worker Jenni Taylor, 30, for two years before he plucked up the courage to ask her out on a date.

Nine years later all his clowning around has proven worthwhile following the birth of little Charlie.

The six-week old is named after Charlie Cairoli – one of Blackpool’s most famous stars.

And for Danny and Jenni, who were both team leaders at the Tower Circus, the name is just perfect Danny said: “Jenni and I met when we worked in the Circus together in 2006 and we were both team leaders.”

Danny said: “We thought about what name we would pick for ages and then it clicked and we thought he really suited the name when we saw him.”

Charlie Cairoli began performing in Blackpool in 1939 having arrived in the UK as part of a travelling circus.

The superstar clown never left Blackpool and died aged 70 in 1980 having performed to hundreds of thousands of children.

Danny and Jenni hope their own relationship will be as enduring as Cairoli’s was with the Blackpool ring. Danny said: “We were working together for two years before I asked Jenni out. We were friends at first and we spent a lot of time together.

“We just hit it off and a lot of our work colleagues were telling us we needed to get together. But we didn’t until I finally plucked up the courage to ask Jenni out. It took me a long time.

“Luckily, she said yes.”

And the Tower played a key role in the couple’s nuptuals, providing a stunning venue for their wedding reception.

Danny said: “Our theme was vintage…..but with sweets.

“All of our tables were dressed with sweets and we had cocktail glasses full of sweets too.

“After some photos right at The Blackpool Tower Eye, we had a sit down meal for 70 people at the Timeline, which marks moments in the Tower’s history.

“The rest of the evening we spent in the Ballroom and we came up through the floor with the Wurlitzer and greeted everybody.”

Since their big day it’s been business as usual for Danny, who manages The Blackpool Tower Ballroom, but Jenni, who manages The Blackpool Tower Eye, is on maternity leave.