Barrow , originally a Lancashire town made the transition to Cumbria. Relwyskow gave us a break and advertised that he promoted in Morecambe , Barrow and Carlisle. Not sure if he took over or was supplying wrestlers to William Little for his Carlisle shows. But what this told me was that he did not seem to be promoting in Workington or Whitehaven. Maybe I will find them another time.
Can I justify Barrow is a Nook and Crannie. Well I have passed by and looked down on the Rugby League town , but I don't recall us mentioning Barrow or having a member that way. Fleetwood and Morecambe threads brought our Heritage fans out so maybe finding Barrow will.
On another thread , I put this find. Truly some effort was being put into Barrow to put Thesz on here. Not that many towns were bestowed this honour.
My understanding is that the Public Hall was the old , small and original Town Hall , the later one a magnificent building , and the old Hall used for the public was a compact 800 seater.
Relwyskow , I think got keen on wrestling here in late 1957.
If you want history , I found Wrestling on with Boxing in 1931 at The Drill Hall.
Hard to believe that Billy Riley would take part in a match with Strangler Harris with Nose Pulling , Ear Twisting and Finger Biting to display All In Wrestling as a Violent Sport , when you consider the comedy here.
In the war and even the late 1940's they had some matches at the Strand Skating Rink.
1948 The Ghoul v Eric Day. and other years Vic Hessle , Jack Atherton , Cordite Conroy , Dave Armstrong and what looks like mainly Lancashire Wrestlers operated here.
But from the Relwyskow era , I have picked out a few bills of note and will show some of what I collected later.
Nearly everyone on the above a champion or billed from another county to project the international Flavour.
And below and especially for Bernard , a Trilogy of Walsh/Marino grudge matches. Virtually pre TV it is looking like this combo was one of the top matches that money could buy at that time. Very high quality. Sorry that I will never be able to see one of these. Thinking maybe Rocco/Jones Quality.
And the following year Marino defending the World Title that he must have swapped and changed with Walsh several times over I bet.
All for now , but more to display later.
Thanks Anglo , it shows there is always something new to be found.
Very different , I have something else to show you.
Coming from the south of the county (Lancashire at that time) Barrow truly was a difficult Journey. What I see above makes me wonder about a stop off on the way back from Scotland.
So we have 11th , 12th , 14 April 1960.
Look at Foley and Mancelli. They are in Hamilton slightly south of Glasgow. The next day they are in Aberdeen , well over 100 miles.
I conclude that they did not wrestle on the 13th because just to travel from Aberdeen to Barrow was about 320 miles and I bet they were too tired to do the Barrow show without the rest day.
Typically some wrestlers went Barrow to Yorkshire next.
Mask and Stockton did Hamilton to Aberdeen but did not do Barrow.
Foley/Mancelli , an unexpected combo must have traveled together , I assume by car , but who knows , maybe trains.
Outstanding research Ron, the irony of such depth being that they went on to be synonymous with the east coast and Yorkshire.
Just had a look at the Barrow connection. George Relwyskow married Elsie Lawrie there in 1937. Yes Elsie was born there.(1918) Here father William Lawrie was also born Barrow and had worked in Engineering , but in 1921 he was an Invalid (age 40) That year he died.
Elsie Lawrie's Mother had been Jane Banister and whilst her husband was an invalid , she had took on a boarding house in Church Street that could accommodate 10 guests. After his death in 1921 Jane remarried (1923) and became Bailey. I find her again in 1939 in charge of The Concle Inn.
George Rel and Elsie (Lawrie) must have took over the pub at some point, it was in the family. It's situated at Rampside and there are plenty of pictures on the web. Lots of land there at the back and I suspect the Inn could have put up wrestlers or maybe the Relwyskow family had other properties there.
The Concle was the staring point for Motor Rally's that George took part in.
Without a doubt the connection with the town of Barrow brought the wrestling there.
In a Nutshell Barrow was the home town of Elsie De Relwyskow.
I also have found out that the council had recently approved a Caravan Site at the rear of The Concle Inn for workers who came in to Barrow and in 1961 they were reviewing it. However I think by this time the Relwyskows had already moved on.
bkendo1
24h
Was Eric said milkman sorry couldn't resist.
Are you referring to our superstar of Leyland wrestling?
He's always worth a mention.
https://wrestlingheritage.co.uk/eric-turner/
Don't know about the 1970's , could have gone to Wryton.
I don't think anyone has any Barrow posters , again could be wrong but I don't think Even Ray Plunkett had these Barrow bills.
The last I have thus far is 1963 , here are some
Bruno was here , White Angel , Wall v Two Rivers (wonder if Albert went over)
Two more visits from Pallo.
Was Eric said milkman sorry couldn't resist.im puzzled now unless I made a mistake more than likely but in a date book iv got Barrow as a Wryton in 1973
Hi All.
Walsh v Marino were generally good technical fights. Because of my interest in Norman, I always thought he was the better wrestler because he was more aggressive than Marino.
I never thought that he would lose to Marino, but of course I now know that this was at Newcastle and there would be stadiums where Marino would hold sway.
To answer one query. I think that these two drew good crowds because they were the two top wrestlers in that weight category at the time. Of similar ability and also there was often a title defence thrown in.
Sure, the world title makes it sexy.
Great bills, there 1960/61 with McManus still in a support bout and Robinson still light-heavyweight. Plenty of proper foreigners making it all the way to Barrow, too. Maybe G del Rel could offer hospitality there.
Walsh/ Marino just comes across to me as a huge rivalry before it could be captured on tv.
Yes of course there were others. I think what jumps out for me is it's always to do with the World Title. When you bring that into it , it is a massive selling point for the promoters.
Indeed , I am asking Bernard , were they exciting , or was the World Title the best way that the Promoters could sell it.
Just been looking at George Rel. he was married in Barrow in 1937 and certainly living there in 1950. he was a member of Furness Motor Club and drove his Triumph in Motor Trials , frequently making the papers. There is mention that he had a wrestling Field , who knows maybe at the pub. Relwyskow and Green was registered in Leeds where George owned a Coach business. He died there.
Rel and Green applied for the Public Hall in Barrow for wrestling in the autumn of 1957 and quickly got approval.
Now we know that Wrestling in this Nook and Crannie was a cert. I only wonder why it took so long to get it going. No doubt due to bigger shows Thursdays was chosen to do the shows. ironically that was the same day as at Morecambe. At this time Carlisle was Mondays fronted by William Little.
Enjoy some from 1960/61
Just an aside, after we have been discussing Harry Fields all week. I see here in Barrow that Alan Colbeck was billed from Dewsbury, as was Harry. You'd have to think there was an important connection.
Ron, you mention Walsh v Marino as being box office à la Pallo v McManus. Isn't it more a case of Logan v Kellett or Colbeck v McManus? Two buddies putting on their show all around the place? All the while concealing that they were wrestling each other up to three times a week. Never a mention of the regularity of their bouts in the literature.
Pallo v McManus was much more of a rarity because fans knew, through tv and programme publicity, that it was a real feud. And it was indeed box office.
So I am asking you what makes you believe it was such box office? Was there some kind of ongoing story or feud that fans could lock into? Or was it box office just because of the toing and froing of the belt?
Judging by all your comments about access to Barrow, it would have been an ideal secluded spot for promoters to get up to all kinds of naughtiness.
Clearly Marino/Walsh went on at a lot of Halls. So many have come to light now..
Were they rough fights Bernard . How did both men come over.
Was it very aggressive or technical.
Like McManus Pallo.......... Box Office.
I forgot to mention that Wrestling started in September and sometimes went to the first week of June with a summer break. It was generally fortnightly and roughly 16 shows a year. Mcmanus and Pallo visited , Scots v the Rest nights were popular and many top visitors went there. Bill Robinson was often on and in the days when he was not yet full heavy.
In my own experience it's a long way to get round that corner to Barrow. Used to give it a miss when I watched rugby because it was so time consuming. It may get judged as not as nice a place to draw people in as some of the great spots like Grange Over Sands and Cartmel. Still a long way after you exit the motorway at Milnthorpe. When I have been up that coast I gave it a miss. But I do know it's an important place , my brother-in-law worked there for a couple of years re roofing the submarine base.
Click for a bigger image. Here is some from 1959.
Thanks Ron. Very Intriguing.
4 Visits by Norman and 5 by Mike Marino in a short space of time.
It would have been easier for Norman to get there, but a longer trek for mike if he was coming from London.
They would have been old friends by the time that they finished.
By the way Ron I did see them meet at Newcastle a couple of times .
Both excellent wrestlers then.
For a small town and small hall Barrow was certainly fighting above it's weight. Possibly because in 1948 George DeRelwyskow and wife Elsie took over as licensees of the Concle Inn in Barrow.
I've only been to Barrow twice, both times over fifty years ago. The first time was for a wedding. Travelled in a car and it seemed like we were travelling to the end of the world. Second visit was, unknowingly, during Wakes Week and the place was deserted with everything shut. In those days Wakes Weeks in small Lancashire towns meant everything stopped - I remember buying newspapers from outside the closed newsagents and bread from a van outside the closed bread shop. At least the milkman still came.