I think what attracted me, Ron, was the realisation - through your hard work in finding and cropping and uploading - that Margate was a special venue. The bills were clearly up a notch in quality and sometimes quantity from other seaside venues that I had previously assumed were all rather equal, such as Weymouth, Eastbourne, Worthing, Folkestone.
The ex-Paul Lincoln crowd - Hunter, Hayes, the Wild Man, Verdu - were Margate regulars in the late sixties. Blackbeard Angus appeared several times. Tag matches abounded, and when they had a ko tourney they actually had 8 wrestlers rather than the naff six that abounded elsewhere. (Hope Ruslan sees the William Hill Margate Trophy - a new one for him to track down.)
I dare say it's a hard ask, but Saxonwolf, can you remember the arena at all?
There were so many charity bills at Margate. I'm wondering how these really worked. Is it just the word "charity" thrown in? I wonder where the charity began ... and stopped? We shall never know.
Digging ever deeper into conspiracy theories or at least into understanding what was going on: should we read anything into what we now know, that the Pallos lived but a couple of miles away from the venue? Do you suppose there was any accommodation aspect? In any case, Margate was a reliable 90-minute journey along the north Kent coast for those south-east Londoners such as Garfield, Fisher, Barnes and Logan.
I went to so many Dale Martin shows around this time and remain fascinated as to how they created and maintained their magic within what we now know was a very fragile context.
I just counted McManus v Colbeck six times in the two years 1971 and 1972 in Margate.
They had some great bills there, often 5 matches, but blighted by this sloppy matchmaking.They could at least have built themselves up as grudge return bouts or why the hell not a championship bout?
I think what attracted me, Ron, was the realisation - through your hard work in finding and cropping and uploading - that Margate was a special venue. The bills were clearly up a notch in quality and sometimes quantity from other seaside venues that I had previously assumed were all rather equal, such as Weymouth, Eastbourne, Worthing, Folkestone.
The ex-Paul Lincoln crowd - Hunter, Hayes, the Wild Man, Verdu - were Margate regulars in the late sixties. Blackbeard Angus appeared several times. Tag matches abounded, and when they had a ko tourney they actually had 8 wrestlers rather than the naff six that abounded elsewhere. (Hope Ruslan sees the William Hill Margate Trophy - a new one for him to track down.)
I dare say it's a hard ask, but Saxonwolf, can you remember the arena at all?
There were so many charity bills at Margate. I'm wondering how these really worked. Is it just the word "charity" thrown in? I wonder where the charity began ... and stopped? We shall never know.
Digging ever deeper into conspiracy theories or at least into understanding what was going on: should we read anything into what we now know, that the Pallos lived but a couple of miles away from the venue? Do you suppose there was any accommodation aspect? In any case, Margate was a reliable 90-minute journey along the north Kent coast for those south-east Londoners such as Garfield, Fisher, Barnes and Logan.
I went to so many Dale Martin shows around this time and remain fascinated as to how they created and maintained their magic within what we now know was a very fragile context.
Well worth a look at these galleries to read the excellent comments from Anglo.
He really has a great feel for Dale Martins and their M.O.
Some of his snippets are Gems.
Great to have your personal link, Saxonwolf, from Gallery bills of 50 years ago to actually having been present.
Kwango vs McManus was one bout I saw in Margate when I was a kid on holiday (and they seemed to face each other on a regular basis, as we all know!)
Lovely to get your comments on these Anglo. Seen the many comments you left in the galleries.
I am afraid I can't shed any light on the Tag Team "The Rugged Ones"
Mick must have found Colbeck a real gent to work with.
I just counted McManus v Colbeck six times in the two years 1971 and 1972 in Margate.
They had some great bills there, often 5 matches, but blighted by this sloppy matchmaking.They could at least have built themselves up as grudge return bouts or why the hell not a championship bout?
Thanks Ron, yet another fascinating microcosm with these 1971 & 1972 bills. A few remarks:
- remembering Campbell and Hussey doing their farewell tours of the south.
- Dale Martin still not daring putting Goldbelt top of the bill early 1971.
- the recurring nightmare of McManus v Colbeck. I will hazard a guess that this was the most repeated bout ...
In fact, I'll start a thread to this effect!