Free Trade Hall and Peterloo

Not a chance Peter , that was just the way Oakeley promoted.

Capacity came nowhere near Belle Vue at 2500.

Amazing that the site of such a significant event in the struggle for workers rights should become the site of such an important element of popular culture. Wonder if it is true 10,000 were turned away in 1939

Does anyone know anything about the annual charity shows at the Free Trades Hall in the 1960s? I think they were something to do with the newspaper trade.

What an interesting topic. I love the initial link with the Peterloo Massacre and now your latest twist. Maybe there's an avenue to explore there of wrestler links investigated through the places they worked together.

Yes it is amazing what we can do Anglo and yet I suspect the wrestlers would just chuckle at our analysis. Here is another one for you from that Wryton Bill of September 30th. Masambula and Francis Gregory were on at Newcastle the next night. (1st oct)

Have a feeling Masambula could not drive as I knew a guy who used to go and get him in his taxi.

Maybe Masambula got a lift to Newcastle.

Nice Ron, these are the clues that fascinate me.

Unfortunately, the more we talk about shooters and titles and so on ... the more these logistics just underscore that it was all a very clever work that we all swallowed.

Might be of interest that following the much discussed Mike Marino of late , the next night (Saturday) he stayed with Wryton and was on at Hanley.

He may have had Sunday off , but for sure was on in Edinburgh on Monday and Aberdeen on Tuesday for Relwyskow.

On all four shows he seemed to have a travelling partner.....Black Butcher Johnson.

A very Southern slant to that bill. They must have got a minibus ....

1955

wow amazing bill, Free Trade Hall, Wryton...which year was it???

Ron, as promised...George IV, 1820 Half Crown.

In view of the discussion about Bartelli and Alderley Edge it seems to me that he may have been the last ever promoter at The Free Trade Hall. (early 1970's)

That is unless anyone else has had a go late 1970's up to the closure unknown to me.

The trend in Manchester was to use the Houldsworth Hall during the 1970's as it's smaller capacity was more in keeping with the decline in wrestling audiences in Manchester that I myself witnessed.

Can't find Bartelli at the Houldsworth. They seem to be Jack Cassidy shows giving way later to Kendo and Brian Dixon. (1974)

Ron, when you were a kid were you collecting coins ???

I notice from the manchester bill 1964 the tag match gypsy(Joe smith)&burns(Bobby burns)v wensor(ed wensor).....is a re-run of the unmasking of the white phantoms against Mr x at Wimbledon PALAIS in March 1969.

I think we covered this before but what I have just spotted is that there is no height.

What we need to remember was that this was an Oakeley Production and I may have never given him enough credit as he was clearly the earliest and Greatest innovator of advertising.

He did have a guy working for him that he advertised as 25 stones and that was Gilo Golieth or Jumbo Giles.

However at New Brighton he went up to seven foot three in advertising his Ghoul and 25 stones went with it.

It was not Bomber , and there could be a question of did he use anyone , anywhere , at any time as a Ghoul. I always said the best bet for the 1939 Ghoul advertised at seven foot was the comeback of old Oakeley mate Carver Doone ,(Jack Baltus).

You may recall that I tracked down a photo and it certainly was not Bomber Bates.

However we have never given Oakeley the credit for inventing the gimmick.

That's what caught my eye, too, Bernard. 25 stones too. Intriguing. Either Bomber started early ... or he himself was a copycat. Either way - fascinating.

That's interesting Ron.The ghoul in 1939.

Any ideas who he was?