I did the Wryton Outpost last time with Aberystwyth and Heritage member Peter commented that Newquay could also be a general Wrestling Nook and Crannie.
So maybe we have members who holidayed there and for me there is no better measurement than the golden years of early 1960's.
I drill in on 1963 in Newquay and ask the question , could this have been Paul Lincoln's far venue. I know he came north to do the Free Trade Hall in Manchester , but Newquay is 280 miles from London.
But first , let me admit that Lincoln promoted also at The Flamingo Ballroom in Illogan, Redruth which was 290 miles.
As always , click for a bigger image.
I checked out Manchester Belle Vue and Liverpool Stadium for the same time period. Their cheaper seats up north could undercut 4 shillings here and also a top line of ten shillings and sixpence here , a little marked up , but probably pitched as maybe within reason.
I am no Dr Death expert , I never saw him. I think his great year might have been 62 with the unmasking of White Angel and his fans will know his principle venues , often Cinema 's and maybe in particular deals with Chains of Cinema's.
So my choice here is different because it's 3 months of summer 1963 , an outdoor venue and a football ground. Only 15 miles from Redruth and I wonder why. Not a Football League venue , and although a 5000 capacity , that was no use for wrestling. It must have been based round the covered stand which was pretty crude bench seating , and do we assume mainly standing.
Here are some words from a review that I found.
Facilities are a bit basic with a small outdoor tea bar and an even smaller outdoor beer bar. Portaloos available too. A small seated area straddled the halfway line. All benches though so no lumber support. A length of covered terracing running the length of a half of a very well maintained pitch.
No reports , I am afraid , no results , which for me is not so important.
But Lincoln saw the summer out although may not have repeated the venture here.
I have 12 bills and Lincoln only gave one glimpse of Dr Death , was he winding down , why not a small feud or a run of destruction. Yes he chose a flagship bout with Al Hayes , then nothing.
Interesting for me as I spot Lee Edwards , The Flash that I found in Madras and Kid Zamboa who he worked with there and I also suspect the same of Basil Coulolias
Maybe the person running the Flamingo Ballroom in Redruth was happy to advertise for Wrestling Promotions and was prepared to try any or all of them willing to travel that far.
Redruth is an interesting one.
In 1958 FSCG is refereeing or appearing on most bills, so likely he was involved in promoting there. Bills have a touch of the Wryton to them and Conroy referees some of the shows.
1959 they have an independent look, Kidd, Capelli, Big Boy Scott et al.
1961 the bills are all over the place, I have a programme but it makes no note of promoter.
Early 1962 looks like Dale Martin. Not their top tier bills.
By October 1962 it's Paul Lincoln promoting.
Scoff at your peril, Time Cop. I'll root out that northerner promoting in Bognor. Definitely from north of Tunbridge Wells.
And now you've been and gone and done it again....you've thrown a Zarpa into the works. Zarpa on a Lincoln bill?
Fair play to you, though, you've won the ITV 7 there: a February 1964 bill where "we" don't know any of the wrestlers. Must have caught the eye of Paul Lincoln to muscle them out the following year.
It was all going on in 1964 promoters' offices. Wrestling being included in World of Sport must have been more influential than we have realised so far.
I did not find much in 1964, I did wonder if these saints were Johnny saint and Partner.
Of course a new venue too. An early girls match.
Earlier in 1964 , I could say , Who the Hell were these Guys.
1963, only to Anglo Italian could this promoter be a northerner
Wasn't there a northern promoter who ran shows in Bognor Regis?
Well just when I thought I had expanded Wryton Territory beyond the 70 miles into the midlands from Manchester , through Wales with Caernarfon then Aberystwyth , we now have Wryton in Cornwall. Redruth , a few shows, Newquay , it's on that list , but how often.
It just shows that I knew nothing , always learning.
Could I speculate that certain wrestlers had roles with Wryton , well we know that for sure. But in the case of Cornwall , I wonder if Francis Gregory had a hand in it all.
Wikipedia have Francis Gregory wrong with 1904 birth. It's 1910.
More St Wenn than Redruth if the census can be trusted. Although he played Rugby for Redruth.
Bakshis and Gunga's billing are months apart so I don't see that as an issue.
Just why Wryton held on to these outposts we don't know. Maybe Dale Martin's shows in the south were in a much more densely populated area and they may well have seen it as just now worthwhile sending their wrestlers on such a long journey.
There was good reason why Joint Promotions did want a presence in "the outer reaches" like Redruth, Newquay and Aberystwyth. Their contract with the wrestlers stated their workers must not work for the independents within a ten mile radius of their venues. If they did not put on shows in out of the way places the independents would be free to move in and use Joint Promotion wrestlers.
I had mentioned that Bakshis was perhaps Gunga but excluded because Gunga was billed separately.
I suggested Wryton for that Redruth bill because they look like Wryton wrestlers. And now this Wolverhampton programme lists Redruth as a "regular" Wryton venue. That's a late November bill, way outside the tourist season.
I think there is much to be deduced from all this. Even today the population of Redruth is only 15,000. That was some committment on Wryton's part to commit to regular year-round shows so far from home in such a small place. Lincoln was doing the same in Newquay, resident population 13,000 in 1963, but sensibly focusing on summer bills in the tourist season.
I deduce that Wryton acted based on that 1962/63 peak we are well aware of. Business was booming, and they could put on shows everywhere and couldn't fail. There was only a limited dose of televised wrestling, just enough to whet the appetite for a live show.
Those peak years also made ITV sit up and take notice. In 1964 the amount of televised wrestling more than doubled. I deduce that for some fans this meant they had their fill on the small screen and didn't need to go live. I note that Wryton and Lincoln continued in 1965 to plan based on 1962/63 figures but were ultimately disappointed and pulled stumps in some of these more costly venues. In the case of Lincoln, the increased tv output was probably responsible in some way for his decision to quit while still ahead late 1965.
So I put the case that the very success of professional wrestling, showcased through the ITV contract, also led to the downturn from 1964 precisely due to overexposure.
If we consider a grander scale, Premier League soccer grounds remain packed because it's a product fans cannot see on tv.
Not sure of the year, but 1960s and Wryton are listing Newquay as a regular venue. Aberystwyth also listed, and we know Wryton were there up to 1965.
I was wondering if Riley and Atherton.
However I have missed a few shows so this one is not on it's own.
They did five fortnightly shows at the end of 1964 , but did not continue into 65.
It was a long way , not a regular outpost and probably Wryton.
Another great find, Lincoln certainly sent his big guns to this outpost. Don't know if it's true but have heard that Baskish Singh was our old friend Gungar, The Wildman of Borneo.
The Joint show at the Flamingo looks like Wryton to me, absence of DM wrestlers.
Hi Anglo , I had missed this one as I have a bit of a collection for Naggers up to his unmasking of Bartelli.
It's a mystery because through 64 , Paul Lincoln was still promoting , but there was a lull before autumn.
In 1965 it was not Joint but maybe Jack Taylor or some syndicate of promoters such as Cyril Knowles etc.
This bill sits there on it's own really.
Nothing either side of it that says Joint.
What a strange mix , nobody that Kendo would have trained with that I can see.
They change the spelling , but so early , would anyone want to imitate him.
I feel sure if it had of been Wryton they would have had him with Hussey , or a meet up with safe Marino.
I think maybe Hack is our man here.
Hi Ron
I just want to mention that other Cornish venue. We always say Nagasaki didn't wrestle in the South in his first years, but I have him on 27th November 1964, in his second week, facing Ahmed the Turk in Redruth. Do you think that was a Wryton bill far from home?
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Thanks for this interesting thread but I meant New Quay in Wales!
At the AGM for the football club in July 63 , it was reported that the club was £700 in debt and that proceeds from one charity evening plus the wrestling would wipe out £300 of that debt.
It's not clear if there was a rent or just takings from hospitality. Looks like Lincoln got it cheap for sure.
Decision was also made to have no pro footballers on the books.
It looks to me like the club made about £20-25 per show.
If only we knew what the gate size was. A minimum of 300 people at about 7 shillings average would bring in roughly £100. My guess is that this would be enough to pay the wrestlers. Maybe the gate was a little higher. Only me guessing though.
You're right. The football club were probably happy to have the grockles flooding the bar in the summer heat, maybe Lincoln wangled free hire. Andy yes, Lincoln kept it so fresh; even Jack de Lasartesse was there. I never had a snifter of seeing him.
Reference the Christian names of the Singhs, the obvious thought is whether Bakshis was The Wildman under yet another name? But Gunga is billed on Whit Monday.
I'll answer you then: yes, Cornwall was the farthest flung outpost of Lincoln promotions. I would have expected to see Roy Bull Davis on at least one of those bills; but no.
Fascinating for me is Jacques Lageat. As I mentioned this week, although French, one of the promoters of the German Tournaments.
But Jacques has really gone native. He was on the tv bill of Pallo v McManus I in 1962, wrestling Billy Howes for the European title; clearly for Dale Martins. Here he is a year later probably taking the family on a summer holiday, with two appearances in Newquay. A pound to a penny he was in Redruth, too.
Bakshis Singh????
The tag match has really got mangled.
Incredible to be making discoveries from plain sight 62 years on. Well done, Ron.