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More Wrestling Than Dancing
Cab Cashford didn’t exactly look the part of a rough and tough all-in wrestler, but he was one of the busiest workers of the 1930s, continuing his career following the Second World War and into the early 1950s. Often billed as American Cab’s background was a little more prosaic, coming from the Lancashire town of Bolton, where he ran a well respected gymnasium above the Co-Op in Bridge Street. The gym was well respected because it was cleaner and better organised than most, and those attending were required to conform to Cab’s high standards of discipline.
Derrick Hogan’s acquaintance with Cab came not from the wrestling ring, but from the dance floor. Cab was a dancing instructor at the Bert Mayo School of Dancing in Bow Street, Bolton, in the early 1950s. Derrick remembers “Cab was a blg tough rugged guy, but a terrific teacher of ballroom dancing. I was of a large frame but overweight. Cab would say to me , ‘Give me your body and I will make you an adonis.’ I wish I had gone along with his ideas of training me to become a successful bodybuilder. I have fond memories of a true gentleman.”
During the second world war Cab served in the army and was billed as Sgt Cab Cashford of Bolton, “The Man of Action.” We discovered contests against top class opposition such as Billy Riley, Phil Siki, Sonny Wallis and Val Cerino. James Morton told us of a poster from 5 June 1950 with Cab Cashford v Val Cerino at the Leeds Town Hall. Cab was billed as from Bolton and said to be ‘One of Britain’s toughest’.
He was a man worthy of further investigation. So we left it to Ron Historyo.
Ron Historyo Goes On The Trail of Cab Cashford
Page added 30/07/2023
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