Also known as Young Raymond, Farmer Raymond.
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Another Taylor, one from the Lancashire side of the Pennines. Our memories of Ray go back to the mid 1960s when he never failed to please, be it in skillfull contests against Danny Flynn or rugged affairs against villains such as Killer Ken Davies.
Young Raymond, that was the name on the posters in the sixties, was born in the small Lancashire textile town of Accrington, famed for its football club, the “Accrington Pals,” and a family of wrestling brothers. Ray Taylor was the younger brother of Accrington’s Jack Taylor; a third brother, Doug, was referee and office manager for Jack Taylor Promotions.
Ray was a youngster when older brother Jack moved away from Accrington to pursue his wrestling career from his new home in Langley Mills, Nottinghamshire. One night Jack took ten year old Ray along to the Victoria Baths, Nottingham. Ray was smitten. Like so many Heritage readers he still has vivid memories of the first time he watched a live professional wrestling show. “The main bout was Gentleman Jim Lewis versus the Farmers Boy. Little did I know one day I would have the pleasure of wresting Jim at Granby Halls, Leicester one of the greatest venues in England.” The Granby Halls was a huge, cavernous hall which fans packed out every Saturday night during the 1960s.
In his early teens Ray started working on a farm when not at school, hence the Farmer Raymond and Farmers Boy names. Leaving school when he was fifteen he went to work down the coal mines. During those teenagers the thought of becoming a wrestler could not be resisted. It wasn’t until he was twenty that brother Jack began to teach him the ropes “It was the most harshest punishment I’ve ever endured.” His professional debut was against a man with a reputation for hardness, Killer ken Davies. “He hit me from pillar to post i still have the bruises to prove it, A nicer guy you could never wish to meet outside the ring, I wrestled him many times after but I always gave as much as I got.”
Other great matches remembered by Ray include those with Butcher Goodman and Cyril Knowles, “I wrestled Cyril several times but I was never in the same league.”
Ray supplemented his wrestling earnings as a HGV driver for a local milk depot. 7.00 am starts didn’c come easy having arrived home from a wrestling engagement at any time up to 3.00 am. Working for Jack (as well as other independent promoters) meant that Ray had to make himself available for work just about anywhere in the country.
It was hard work, but rewarded with many happy memories, and Ray was generous with his compliments for those he worked with, mentioning particular admiration for Gentleman Jim Lewis, Mick Collins, Al Marquette, Ken Davies, Randolf Turpin, Eric Sands, Dominic Pye, Jim Green, and the list goes on.
Page reviewed 30/03/2022
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