Can anyone confirm the identity of the wrestler with black hair.

Hi there thats definitely Don Branch with the black hair. He is my grandad, great guy and a true legend. He wrestled and boxed up and down the country.

Hello Terry. Thanks for joining us. Your dad is certainly the one I enjoyed watching and celebrated on Heritage. Maybe you can share more and we can work on your dad's Heritage profile.

That's not to take anything away from this other Ronnie Brooks. They all did their bit and have their place. There was no suggestion that Knottingley Ronnie called himself Stoker

Only one Stoker.

Interestingly enough, that picture looks like the lads are using amateur wrestling moves. It could still be a "worked" bout of course, but what they are photographed doing, didn't often get used in Pro-Wrestling bouts.

I am Terry Brookes, son of Ronald Brookes (Brookes with an “e”).  My dad, also known as Ron, Ronnie, and his wrestling name of Stoker Brookes.  He was from Barnsley, not Knottingley, and does not have a daughter.  He trained, boxed, wrestled at Charlie Glover’s gym, on Cemetery Road, Barnsley.  Charlie was the father of the famous actor Brian Glover, who my dad knew very well and boxed and wrestled with him.  Ron did not have any tattoos, and is neither of the wrestlers in the photograph.  Hack is correct, he was a signwriter, builder, and also watercolour artist who taught at the Royston Art Cub, Barnsley.  As child my dad took me to Charlie Glover’s gym and I knew all the wrestlers; Sam Betts, Jack Land, Pedro, Giant Haystacks - too many to mention, and I went on countless trips to wrestling bouts in Scarborough, Dudley, and tours of Scotland, Devon and Cornwall.  

Hack thank you for your email, I've passed the newsletter on to his daughter and she really appreciate your message in it. I've asked her if she can find out any further information from her dad about his wrestling, so you can add him to the A to Z, as soon as I hear anything I'll post it on here. Once again thank you Hack you've made an ex wrestler and his familys day.

Well Yorkie I've said before that truth in wrestling is only true until it's found to be untrue. It looks like you've made a discovery for us.

Stoker Brooks name was Ronnie Brooks. He was from Barnsley, which is in the same neck of the woods as Knottingley. It looks like I made the false connection as Stoker definitely died in 2008.

So now you have a task. Find out all you can about our new Heritage friend, Ronnie Brooks.

Ronnie Brooks daughter has been back in contact, and said Don Branch regularly used to go to Sleepy Valley in Knottingley to wrestle her dad, although Ronnie never won, he was selected to wrestle Don because he was similar weight to Don. there was a friend of Ronnies who also was a wrestler his name was Les Bell. Anyway it's Ronnie Brookes birthday tomorrow and he'll be 89, his daughter is going to ask him about Don Branch. As a side note I asked if Stoker Brooks was related to her, the answer I got back was a bit of a conundrum as she hadn't heared of him but said he died in 2008. Which is intriguing. If I hear anything else I'll update this thread.

Well he didn't look like that when I saw him 15 years later! Mind you, neither did Don Branch.

It is Ronnie Brooks, or Stoker Brooks, who I watched on the independents in the 1960s. By then he was bearded, muscular and tattooed He was one of Charlie Glover's lads, learning boxing and wrestling at Charlie's Junction Gym in Barnsley alongside Dwight J Ingleburgh, Pedro the Gypsy, Max Raeger and the rest of Charlie's troupe. In real life he was a signwriter and water colour artist would certainly have surprised us. In later years Ronnie put his artist skills to the benefit of the community when he tutored twice weekly at Age Concern art classes. Ronnie died in January 2008.