Dicky Swales, R.I.P.

Funeral on Thursday, 2.00 at Stockton Crem. Wear red and white!!!

That's right Bernard, but you know what promoters were like. To be honest I didn't know and would happily have changed, but that's what Les says.

Thanks Hack. Lots of bills showed it as Dickie.

Turns out it was Dicky, Bernard.

The Official NE Welterweight champion, no less:

Hack, the next time that you or I speak to Les Prest, we should ask him how DICK, spelled his first name.

Was It Dicky as you use or Dickie as I use?

The poster would be 1953.

Almost certainly not the same Don Eagle working for chunky. Which brings us to one of Dicky's tales. He was working on a bill with someone pretending to be a native American. He mentioned Julian on the bill too do might have been this one. In the boarding house were some students doing a study on native Americans, which the "American" knew nothing about.

Dicky was a lovely fella. Until the last couple of years he was in remarkable health and a good walker. In 2017, when he would be 87 Dicky and myself walked about a mile from the hotel to the Reunion. The others, all much younger than Dicky, went by car.

R.I.P. Dicky, enjoyed the stories he had shared. Here he is on a Chunky Hayes show.

Looking again at the bill, all of the boys were local, so I guess that it was 1953 and amateur.

Sorry that should read 1959 not 1958.

Hi MM. Thank you for trying.

No I haven't heard of The Arguments.

Joe Waltons boys club , I think used to be in Thornaby, but others more knowledgeable may correct me.

I had the impression that it started as a training centre for amateurs doing shows for charities, training in the professional rules style.

When it shut down, Dickie transferred to St Lukes, which did exactly the same thing.

I went to St Lukes in 1956 and Dickie was there then.

That was one of the reasons that I asked if you knew the date of the bill.

I don't think that Waltons was running in 1958, unless they started up again. Possibly if it was 1958, Dickie would have mentioned it to me.

So I guess 1953 is the date.

Pity this came up just too late, because I knew a man who would have been able to answer all of our questions for sure.

RIP Dicky. Sounds like a real character.

Hello to all,

I found out this morning about the sad passing of Dicky Swales.

Dicky brought my dad up and that is where myself, my brothers and sister, aswell as my dad, got our surname Swales from. It is a very sad time for us all, especially my Dad who looked up to Dicky, so I was wondering if anybody had any pictures of Dicky or pictures with his wrestling name on rosters etc, any stories about Dicky, anything in general that I can forward to my Dad to remind him of what Dicky loved doing.

I would absolutely appreciate it, thank you all.

Daniel Swales

Email: Swalesy_7@hotmail.co.uk

Hi Mm. That's the first bill that I have ever seen from Joe Whalton's boys club.

As many of you know, this is where Dickie started, but it later shut down and he went to St Lukes.

MM ,please can you tell me the date of that bill?

Hi Ron, Re. your first bill.

I'm sure that Dickie would not have been too pleased at being described as a Tyneside terror.

He would have loved the terror bit , but he was a man from Teeside.

Very sad news. The Blackpool reunion will not be the same without him!

R.I.P. Dicky.

Sad news indeed.R.I.P. Dicky.

RIP Tyneside Terror

Sad news, R.I.P Dicky Swales

So sad to hear, R.I.P. Dicky