Gerry Hoggarth , an insight

Every now and again we get a chance to open a window in time and glean a bit more about a wrestler.

On Heritage Gerry Hoggarth has been one of our greatest success stories , but today I have found a report that really opens up a picture for us of one of Gerry's finest hours as a showman. For me this is unexpected , but enjoy it folks. Hope William R is looking in.

Looks like Gerry stole the show from Jack Pye.

35 comments

35 Comments

Hack

Feb 25

Phil Kenyon

Hi Ron,

Reaing with interest the bills from the Carnforth Carnival.

This all rings a bell for me, in particular the 1967 bill with Vince Lawson vs, Don Plummer and the other guys.

I mentioned in another forum the fact that Bob Bannister ran shows, which I thought were for a Coal Miners Carnival, In 1963-4 I was up against my tutor Don Plummer. In retrospect I'm now convinced that It must have been the Carnforth Carnival.

The twist on the miners, was that we were told the boughts were being filmed and that they were going to be shown at Coal Miners homes/clubs in the North.

Any thought on this subject Ron would be very much appreciated.

Well I know nothing Phil, but I've never let ignorance get in the way.

You know as much as I do that in the 1960s wrestling was intertwined into northern/working class culture. It seems more than likely that wrestling from places like Carnforth Carnival would have been filmed and shown in working mens clubs. Wrestling was big business, largely thanks to television. There was no way that clubs could afford to show those Joint Promotion televised wrestlers. Anyway, we both know that in Lancashire there were more independent shows with just as good wrestlers. Filming of those was cheap and without additional costs.