Wrestling was starting to grow again in the late 1950's and in 1958 Wryton opened the Wryton Stadium in Bolton. Peaking around 1963 most of my Nooks and Crannies pieces are based round the 1960's when TV gave wrestling such great popularity. Wryton did not venture very far east , probably because of the Pennines and got as far south as Wolverhampton. But North Wales was there for the taking.
The Stadium at Bolton was by no means the main Wryton venue , it had been an old Cinema saved from demolition and held one or maybe two hundred over a thousand at best. But there lies the template. Circa 1963/64 , there was money to be made and if you could not go really big , a thousand or a little more was not a bad optimum.
That bench mark was used at Rhyl with the Gaiety Theatre and the Arcadia at Llandudno. I don't think the grip on Colwyn Bay was quite so important , the Pier Pavilion only holding 600 and problems with the ageing Pier , led to some moving about and also letting in the Independents.
Just over 100 miles from Manchester was Caernarfon (this is todays accepted spelling.) And again a cinema , The Majestic. Capacity about 1100. It's hard to think of anywhere further in the Wryton portfolio. Riley and Atherton were doing the Isle of Man. This was an outer limit and for that reason I think I will call it a Nook and Crannie.
It started in 1963 , you can see that it is typical Wryton , Bert and Vic versus the Cadmans , some reliable Yorkshire boys coming over to help , and big names at that time Two Rivers and Ian Campbell.
Jackie Pallo visiting in 64 and Peter Maivia , Gordienko and a very early sighting of Kendo with an imaginative spelling mistake.
In 65 Ricky Starr comes and works with a safe pair of hands in Jim Hussey. You can see as the decade moves on that The Royals were a cornerstone of Wryton , battling The Black Diamonds , Dennisons , Cadmans
Street and Pallo along with Kendo and Bill Robinson helped provide strong cards , the credibility being needed as time moved on and less overseas visitors to our shores.
These selections were not unlike what I myself saw at Belle Vue from here on in. It was good strong wrestling and a determined effort to have this venue through the sixties.
How many of you saw Royal v Ginsberg and Vic v Cutler followed by a tag. It worked because of the quality , it told a story , no doubt with some scores settled in the tag match. I certainly saw it , probably at Belle Vue.
It was also done with the Hells Angels and probably the Dennisons.
Typically Wryton at this time and a small challenge from myself. I know Wryton did a short stint in Hartlepool and even Norfolk. But I am talking of regular tenure for a sustained period.
Is this Wryton's furthest regular Outpost.
Enjoy the bills and click on them for a larger image.
So much to pore over there and Hack's right; a town of 10,000 commanding such winter bills. Did people travel from all around or did 10% of the residents turn up?
A strangely obvious comment is that of all the bills we see, those showing Ct Bartelli pre-1964 are quite rare.
We can see he wasn't even in the main support bout on one bill. Does this tell us that the entire north-west knew his routines by this time? We have always imagined he graciously allowed himself to be unmasked; but maybe the promoters thought he was past his sell-by date? Pushed rather than jumped?
Who is London's Billy Graham? There's a Mancunian in the A-Z, but a Londoner?
Thanks Guys for a nice response , the icing on the cake , out of just pure interest , would be an insight as I mentioned about the job of the ring crew on this North Wales Loop. How many rings would Wryton have access to. Did one ring do the who coast.
Probably only Paul or Eddie could answer this , and maybe not regarding this period , it's a piece of research that there is no way of looking into , other than word of mouth.
Great stuff as usual and expected, from Ron. Those were the great bills, my friend. We thought they’d never end.😅
When I saw you'd explored Caernarfon Ron I assumed they would be summer shows, but these are winter shows - in a town with a population still under 10,000 that incredible. Not that the low population means low quality - there are some gems here. George Kidd in a supporting role. I don't know if he was still living in London in 1963 or back in Dundee, but even from London that was quite a traipse. In fact it would be an awkward journey for anyone except those from south Lancashire or Cheshire.
In the 1963 bills the heavyweights ruled the roost,but by 1967 Pallo v Street Main Eventing with Kendo and Bill Robinson in support. But then further down Ron has Pallo v Mann headlining in September 1963, so forget that one. This was in the wake of the Pallo v McManus tv matches, which really were a milestone for the lighter men to break through.
Interesting to see Ron's comparison with Belle Vue. Yes, these were very strong bills.
Outstanding research Ron.
The also ran the County Theatre in Bangor, would've been earlier I think maybe 1960. I've actually been to this part of the world, out to catch the ferry at Holyhead and back again some years ago.
Very interesting, thank you so much, Ron for doing the hard work of researching all this to give pleasure to the ret of us. What amazes me is the fact that it was worth all the long journeys to Caernarfon on dark winter's nights. The journey must have been even longer before the A55 coast road was improved. I can understand it during the summer when the nights were lighter and there would be tourists to fill the hall. Presumably the good people of Caernarfon turned out in big enough numbers to make the exercise financially profitable and to send Kendo and co home feeling their efforts had been rewarded!
The Ost makes a great observation about Bangor. Firstly , I think the very first show at Caernarfon was this one.
The popularity of wrestling on TV at this time was just too good an opportunity not to expand and make money while you can.
A choice of town removed from any real competition and an adventurous venture going round the corner from the North Wales Coast.
It worked and was sustained through the sixties.
With reference to Bangor the success of the Majestic Cinema blazed a trail and consequently , we could speculate was the reason and template for a try at Bangor.
Captured below is the very first show there in February 1964. The Plaza Cinema was used with a capacity of just over 1000. (Click for larger image)
By the time it got to April after running shows early in the month as opposed to later at Caernarfon , the April show at Bangor says for one night only. Was this the end of the experiment. Caernarfon did a May show and for once early in the month , then Wryton had a summer break from what I can see.
Of course advertising could have gone in other papers or even ceased in the papers , but I don't have any more at Bangor. Was Bangor Sustained.
Of note , they don't seem to have thrown the Royal brothers at it or Billy Robinson , Joyce , Howes. You see an early Honey Boy as Nigel the Warrior and Eric Cutler while Ginsberg is with Foley in the Black Diamonds.
Over the years of the 60's Abergele was tried , and inland at Corwen , then near and convenient North Wales towns at Buckley and Connors Quay.
At 10 miles away , did Bangor prove to be too near Caernarfon or can anyone throw some more bills/results at Bangor.
Nice stuff Ron, i'm always keen to see Wryton content. They also ran Bangor.