Some crazy bills here from 60 years ago. Bedlington Station ironically closed in 1964 and had a nearby ballroom that sometimes doubled as a Roller Rink.
Who some of the wrestlers were , maybe Hack knows from his North east Contacts.
Arnie Bulloch has cropped up before and of course Dicky Swales.
Just enjoy the nostalgia.
Looks reasonably priced after a quick look round 1964.
I wasn't previously aware that there had been wrestling in Bedlington at this time but in the early sixties there were several events advertised around the North East featuring names quite unknown to local wrestling enthusiasts.
The only name that stands out here is Digger Rowell who was a regular name at Newcastle from 1959 to mis 1963. I never got to see him live as I didn't start going to St James until November of that year but interestingly enough it was only a year later that he appears on these promotions as a bill topper; quite an elevation from his Joint Promotion days!
This thread has been given a permanent home on Wrestling Heritage
Some of these Nooks and Crannies are the most tangled webs of them all. Usually unwanted by Joint but sometimes tried , and often audiences of under 300 to somehow survive on.
I've managed to find out a bit about Harvey Ashman, who it was said presented the Bedlington shows.
In 1959 it was reported that he had been appointed manager of the Essoldo Cinema in Gateshead. It was said he had been a singer, actor and now theatre and cinema manager. His first post as cinema manager was at the Picture House in Whitley Bay and went on to manage a cinema in Minden, Germany and later Hamburg. Back in Britain he was at the Newcastle Essoldo prior to Gateshead in 1959. In 1962 he went on to manage the Theatre Royal in Blyth and two years later we find him at Bedlington.
There doesn't seem to be any wrestling connection, so I guess he bought the shows in. Seems to have been born in Tynemouth in 1925, died 1999.
This was in my heyday as a wrestling fan and the only name I recognise is Digger Rowell, who appeared once or twice at Morecambe around that time.
We are not alone .... in our ignorance.
Word went out and asked Pete Ross, Jim McCormack, Les Prest, Lord Bertie Sinclair, Sean McNeil if they had heard of
Al Wilson
Tim Carruthers
Jim Carruthers
Dave Barron
Charles Price
The masked Phantom Brothers
Jim Darke
John Sullivan
Don O'Neil
Tom Berry
Robert Earl
Nick Braden
Peter Mackley
Len Holt
Son of The Ghoul
David Cole
Scarlet Mask
Promoter Harvey Ashman.
They hadn't. (Muttered something about being too young).
He doesn't appear anywhere online, I wonder if he was a local business man or even manager of the dance hall who bought in the show from another promotion.
the Clayton Ballroom has come up before when we had a thread on Arni Bulloch I believe there's a photo of the Clayton on that thread, I believe the building is now a medical centre
Nice one Ron. I'd not heard of Bedlington let alone most of these names.
Already in the A-Z are
Dickie Swales
Billy Red Cloud, an Hungarian, Julian Gurgris
Rob Roy, listed as Rob Roy McGregor and Jim McCombie
Digger Rowell
John Walsh, listed as Lord Bertie Sinclair
Arni Bullough