Just read this story, such a great read, and absolutely enjoyed it. History of pro wrestling in Great Britain and in England in particular was always based on the rivalries of different territories. In the pre 1800s time period it was North v South West, and it was like that for centuries, in the South West it was Devon v Cornwall, on the English side it was Devon v Somerset, eternal rivalry, in the 1800s it was mostly peaceful co-existence of various wrestling cultures I mean different styles which didn't mingle, in the XX century it was mostly South v North West, and in the NW it was historically Manchester v Bradford, or the great wrestling War of Roses. In eastern parts of Lancashire it was Blackburn & Burnley v Greater Manchester, in Greater Manchester itself it was Bolton-Wigan v Rochdale-Oldham, so to speak there always been a rivalry around, some kind of wrestling rivalry and that made rasslin even more attractive for fans all around the country.
Would love to hear more about rivalries in your region dear friend.
A couple of interesting points for me.
Wakes Week:
I remember in around 1959/60 during my apprenticeship that Wakes Week was the same as yours Hack i.e., last two weeks in July.
As most people in the Accrington area went to the “West Coast” for their holidays, they invariably had rain on most days! The local area of the then AEU (Amalgamated Engineers Union) made a suggestion to alter the holidays to the last two weeks in June, as the weather was “nearly” always better then!
This was put to a vote and of course it went through. The following year Wakes Week was changed to the last two weeks in June, but it rained nearly all of the time! The next year was changed back again to the original Wake Weeks holiday.
Clog Dancing:
I mentioned this in an earlier forum topic, where, after my apprenticeship I wore clogs myself. Because they had solid wood soles, this was very good when “Swarf” (metal chippings from Milling or turning) were on the floor. These would tear your leather soles apart, but not the wood soles of clogs.
If you go to YouTube and type in "Lancashire Clog Dancing" you will get a good idea what this is, it's like step dancing.
Needles to say as I was wrestling in the heavyweight division at the time, I never tried clog dancing myself.
P.S. I tried putting the link directly into this post, but somehow when trying to open it, it doesn't work!
Cheers