We have heard tales of wrestlers fighting twice in a night especially in the clubs around Manchester using a minibus to ship the wrestlers from one venue to another. I wonder if any fans went to both. In the later years of the 1950's Bernard's Ghoul , who we would have know so little about but for Bernard's fantastic recollections had been released from Joint promotions. Declining health and fitness we assume reducing his performance level. John Bates , a Manchester man was a great friend with Sean O'Shea , (probable real name Paul Jefferson , sometimes Jack) I know this because O'Shea's daughter mentioned it to me when complimenting the Heritage galleries having so much of her father's career in them.
I have two bills to show you.
So O'Shea who promoted was in Brechin at 7-30 that Evening and by Midnight had to be in Abroath to put a second show on. Every bout must have been an exact repeat , no variation. Even the wording on the bills is the same. How can I be sure that this was Bomber Bates behind the mask. Well almost sure as they were mates and the referee was Frank Bates of Manchester. I am guessing this would be John Bates's brother. There is just that chance that Bomber was the ref and the Ghoul was a new version , but I will leave that for you to decide.
The bills capture the atmosphere of the times. A 14 miles dash down a fairly straight route to the coast on a summers night. Wonder if they had to hastily erect a ring , you would tend to think so. It must have been a hard nights work and I wonder for how much wages for the wrestlers and how much profit. Wonder how many vehicles and was it a minibus. Did any fan do both. I guess we will never know.
The Webster Hall at Arbroath has 600 seats , If it was full I guess that would have been a very good night for the promoters. They also had standing at the back according to the bill.
Brechin City Hall looks to be quite small and narrow , but unsure of the capacity.
Fantastic to find evidence in the papers of all this.
Is it a first to have it so concrete.
Certainly a fantastic example.
Yes Bernard , the Ghoul did it.
I think that settles it then. I guess I cannot remember everything I read on here as I have seen these items. I could speculate that O'Shea agreed with him as a tribute to a wonderful character that he would seemingly go on. Many of those Manchester nightclub matches may not have been him , or could have been him struggling on.
In many ways I could have entitled my find as something completely non Ghoul.
The Angus Loop would have been very small scale compared to the Calgary Loop. It's an incredible sequence in it's own right. Just don't know how they pulled it off.
I will also add that the referee Frank Bates of Manchester may well have been Bomber , but trying not to give away any clues. Significant maybe that he was not the ref in August maybe because he died within a week of that bill.
As I said , It is unclear if O'Shea was Paul or Jack Jeffereson or even someone else. They just dreamed it up. Easy for John J Bates to become Frank Bates. Shame Bates's kids have never come forward , he had two sons and a daughter , he also had numerous siblings.
So the Ghoul was a as fake as Dr Death at Arbroath in August 1961. O'Shea really did exploit anything he could , maybe like no other. Certainly I don't think Max or Jack Taylor had a Ghoul. O'Shea nearly got in hot water with his take on McManners over in Ireland.
I take it every single one of the wrestlers on the bill are dead.
So readers , enjoy "The Angus Loop"
Bates had been ill for some time. In March, 1958, a letter from Norman Morrell appeared in the Halifax Courier. He cast doubt that the appearance of a wrestler called The Ghoul on an independent show in Halifax was John Bates due to his medical condition.
Morell offered £1000 to this Ghoul if he were to accept a televised booking on 15th March against a wrestler of Morrell's choice and last more than ten minutes.
That does not rule out this 1961 wrestler being Bates, though I do think Coverdale was most likely taking over the role from 1958.
Bates died on 17th August, 1961 six days before Ron's last find. His address at the time was 21, Plymouth Grove West, Corlton-on-Medlock.
None of which takes anything away from this great research by Ron. Finding a very similar bill a week later would strongly suggest this was not Bates.
If it was the real Ghoul, it could be argued that a punishing schedule like this - and maybe they repeated the treble in other areas - actually contributed to his death shortly afterwards.
Marvellous stuff, Ron.
This visit to Scotland gets even more interesting when I tell you that there was a third show the next day. Completing a small loop of 13 miles from Arbroath to Montrose along the coast. the exact same four bouts again.
O'Shea must have had some "front" to do this. After all it went in different local papers but some people must have lived in between venues.
There are burning questions here such as "Was the Ghoul imitated during his lifetime"
The only copy I know of is LeGhoul who may have been branded to distinguish him as a completely different man.
I have not got the exact date of John J Bates's death except that it was during July , August or September 1961. The show at Arbroath may have done well as O'Shea and his Ghoul went back three weeks later. Could this have been the last time the Original Ghoul worked.
Using my own bills , at the moment I am finding a gap of perhaps a year , maybe a little more before an Imitation comes along. For sure O'Shea kept him going even in the mid sixties and I have bills of them touring Ireland.
Fake or original it's a fine piece of history.
Did Bates and O'Shea cook up a replacement because the gimmick had been so good. Cape Promotions introduced a Ghoul in late 1962.
If we never untangle the facts , it's still a great insight into the operation of the independents. Quite a clever way of making money , but they really pushed it with the closeness of the three venues.
I assume he was not expecting to die (Like Kirk , Dennison and Marino) , this was within a few months of his death. It's hard to be sure and a burning question as this is such a good find , are any of those wrestlers still alive. What a story if one of them is alive. Wrestling would have been his source of income to the end I suspect,
We did a thread on his last match and the speculation.
https://heritagedocs.wixsite.com/talkwrestling/forum/memories-of-the-old-days/the-ghoul-s-last-match
That's an amazing find Ron.
I'm surprised that an aging and infirm Bomber Bates could have carried this off.
Do you have any guesses as to why he would have agreed to this?
Do you think only for the money?