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Another of Charlie’s Boys
Welterweight Pete Herman was born and brought up in Barnsley, and so unsurprisingly he met Red Devil Charlie Glover as soon as he became interested in boxing.
Charlie, father of Leon Arras and a good wrestler himself, ran a boxing and wrestling gymnasium, The Junction. At the time Pete got involved the gym was in Quarry Street and had not yet moved to The Junction Gym behind the public house of that name.
Boxing was Pete’s first love, but at Charlie’s gym the lads would mix together and it wasn’t unusual for each to have a go at the other sport. When Pete had a go at the wrestling he found he liked it. He liked it a lot and gradually he found himself learning more alongside Dwight J Ingleburgh, Karl Von Kramer and the rest of the Barnsley lads.
They all moved to The Junction Gym in 1956 and a year or so later Pete turned professional. Pete and his friend Sam Betts (Dwight J Ingleburgh) joined the Merchant Navy, based in Goole shovelling coal into the boilers. It was gruelling work but kept Pete in good condition to pursue his wrestling interests. Pete engaged in great matches with Stoker Brooks, Pedro the Gypsy and Butcher Goodman in those early days, working for the independent promoters.
In 1965 Pete joined Joint Promotions, though he was quick to tell us that he much preferred his time on the opposition circuit. One of his first opponents in Joint Promotion rings was Peter Preston, and it was a bit of a dramatic result for Pete Herman as he went down by two straight falls.
There were to be many other matches with Peter Preston, fortunately with more favourable results, and Pete looks back on them as some of his favourites. Others he enjoyed working with were Vic Faulkner, Linde Caulder and Pedro the Gypsy.
Maybe not one of the first names that comes to mind when we remember the old days, but Pete is a typical example of one of those unsung heroes who made the wrestling business great.
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