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ABERDEEN Health and Strength Club
ABERDEEN Linksfield Stadium
ABERDEEN Music Hall
ABERDEEN Pittodrie Park
ABERYSTWTH Kings Hall
ABINGDON Guild Hall
ACCRINGTON Assembly Rooms
ACCRINGTON Drill Hall
Philip Kenyon: My wrestling career began in Accrington where I had some of my matches at the Drill Hall. When not on the bill, then of course I would help organise the events with the promoter Bob Bannister. We would have some of the big names who were in particular doing the North of England tours, such as: Bob Sherry, Grant Foderingham, Joe Reid, Al Strickland and a host of other wrestlers. The capacity wasn’t all that big, but we would have something like 300 to 400 people attending.
ACCRINGTON Town Hall
ADDLESTONE Community Centre
ADWICK-Le-STREET Sports Centre
AIRDRIE Sir John Wilson Memorial Hall
AIRDRIE Town Hall
ALDERLEY EDGE Regal Ballroom
ALFRETON Drill Hall
ALLOA Town Hall
ALTON Palace Cinema
ALTRINCHAM Bowden Assembly Rooms
ALTRINCHAM Hale Drill Hall
Rainbow: First watched wrestling 1946 Hale Drill Hall near Altrincham,saw Maurice Tillet-THE ANGEL, beat Francis St Clair Gregory there around 1948. Shows put on by altrincham charities entertainent society the ACES in conjunction with matchmaker Jessie Rogers from Belle Vue, Manchester. Her husband was referee, Dick the Dormouse. My favourite at that time was George Gregory from Bolton billed as British Heavyweight Champion. Shows moved to Stamford Hall in Altrincham around 1949.
ALTRINCHAM Red Robin Club
Graham Brook: In 1971 at The Red Robbins football ground in Altrincham and Joe Mercer (Manchester City manager at the time) was special guest ring announcer for the main event. We sat in the stands and the ring was on the pitch. It was a Brian Dixon show and opened with “Bad Boy” Steve Young (later Skull Murphy) against Mike Dallas followed by Mitzi Mueller versus Klondyke Kate (later Hellcat Haggetty) and it was a most unusual bout in that Mitzi was wrestling with her arm in a sling. Top of the bill was Roy “Bull” Davies (father of Steve Young) versus Monty Swann and the show concluded with “Romeo” Joe Critchley versus Harry Palin
ALTRINCHAM Stamford Hall
Graham Brook: I went to The Stamford Hall in Altrincham in the early seventies (the venue was razed to the ground some twenty years ago) to see Hans Streiger versus Honey Boy Zimba on a Wryton show (promoted and M.C.d by Martin Conroy). Zimba no-showed and his place was taken by Albert “Rocky” Wall. Wall was British heavyweight champion but Streiger really pushed him to the limit before being disqualified by referee Stan Rylands in the fifth. Just out of interest, the remainder of the bill featured Jack Robinson beating Jim Breaks by two falls to nil (this was actually procliamed by the posters as the evening’s main event), Alan Woods beating Roger Green by two falls to one and Ray Steele defeating Mike Dallas by the same scoreline.
AMMANFORD Regal Ballroom
ANDOVER Drill Hall
ARBROATH Gayfield Park
ARBROATH Webster Memorial Hall
ASHFORD Corn Exchange
ASHFORD Stour Sport Centre
ASHTON U LYNE Cavendish Sporting
ASHTON U LYNE Town Hall
ASHTON U LYNE Tameside Theatre
AVIEMORE Aviemore Centre
AYLESBURY Assembly Hall
AYLESBURY Grosvenor Ballrooms
AYLESBURY Reg Maxwell Hall
AYLESBURY Town Hall
AYLESBURY Vale Hall
AYR Butlins
AYR Caledonian Hotel
AYR Dam Park Hall
AYR Ice Rink
B
BALLYMENA Town Hall
BANBURY Winter Gardens
BANFF Town Hall
BANGOR County Theatre
BANKS Labour Club
BARKING Assembly Hall
Tom Hawes: “In 1938 work began on a new town hall in Barking. The town hall would be at one end of the building with a hall at the other end. Work stopped when war broke out, the building work was up to first floor level, the basement was used as a shelter during the war. Building work resumed in 1958 and The Barking Assembly Hall finally opened its doors in 1961 and Dale Martin began putting on regular wrestling.It was 1962 when I began going to the wrestling at Barking, on that night Jackie Pallo was matched against a clever, and very popular, young wrestler named Jim Breaks. Les Kellet was matched against heavy middleweight champion Eric Taylor.
Occasionally, ATV vans would roll up outside, on a Saturday, and the wrestling would be broadcast live to the rest of the country. It cost three shillings for a seat at the TV shows but you could not book in advance as a lot of the seats had been removed to make room for the cameras. Unfortunately Dale Martin stopped promoting in Barking before the end of the 1960’s. “
BARNEHURST Residents Club
BARNET Drill Hall
BARNSLEY Civic Hall
BARNSLEY East and West Ardsley Social Club
BARNSLEY Imperial Hall
BARNSLEY Public Hall
BARNSTAPLE Pannier Market
BARNSTAPLE Queens Hall
BARRHEAD Town Hall
BARROW Public Hall
BARRY Butlings
BARRY Memorial Hall
BASINGSTOKE Sports Centre
BATH Forum Cinema
BATH Drill Hall
BATH Spa Pavilion
BATHGATE BMC Works
BATHGATE Town Hall
BATLEY Rink
BATLEY Sports Centre
BATLEY Town Hall
BECONTREE Merry Fiddlers
Bernard Hughes: Wrestling at The Merry Fiddlers Pub was always open air, in the garden (field) round the back of the pub, I think on a Monday or Tuesday night. When I was living in Romford, roughly 1959 to 1962, I tried to go to the Fiddlers most weeks.Then courting got in the way. Often Bert Assirati was on the bill. Unfortunately Bert had a habit of finishing bouts quite quickly. As Bert was often rough I got the feeling that sometimes his opponent got out of there quickly before too much damage was done. He was one wrestler that I can say, I never saw him carry an opponent,for too long.
With regard to the bout between the dummy Ghoul (Bill Coverdale) and Bert Assirati, it was not the night described in “The Wrestling”. It must have been later in the year or the following year, and it was not raining. Now I have to confess that I cannot be certain that it was Bill Coverdale, but as he was the normal impostor in the Southern area and because he was of a similar build, I would guess that it was. As soon as I saw the mask I knew that it was not the real one. Others around me were also commenting that this was not “The Ghoul”. This man was shorter, weaker looking, bit of a belly and definitely not as menacing. However a lot of what followed seemed to be following the normal script.
In the first round after much running and evading by the masked man, Assirati got on a single leg boston. The mask got himself well and truly entangled in the ropes and would not let go. The referee (can’t remember who he was) broke them up and dislodged the man in the mask from the ropes. Coverdale, if it was him, rolled under the bottom rope and fell heavily on the floor. Two seconds or assistants helped him to the dressing room and the announcer declared that as the masked man was injured accidentally he had to declare it a “No contest”
This was obviously pre-planned and disappointing.The crowd were not pleased, but nothing apart from a little shouting. I watched Assirati and thought that he would say or do something to show his displeasure but nothing happened. He had put his gown on and made his way to the dressing rooms. This was Assirati, but not the Assirati that I saw in the 1949-50 time. Then he seemed more vicious, now he seemed to accept what had just happened.
Had he mellowed or just fallen in line with the promoter’s wishes? An easy nights work.
If it was not Bill Coverdale under the mask, then I offer my apologies.
They did have some reasonable bills there but, although I didn’t know about Independents then. I now realise that this was one and selecting from a small pool of London wrestlers. Sometimes we got a French wrestler “especially flown in” . Some were good, some were awful.
The funny thing is that although my Newcastle days predated this period, I still remember far more about St. James Hall than the Fiddlers. Especially the wrestlers and the bouts that I saw there.
Probably the reason that I do remember the above match was disappointment.
1. Disappointment when The Ghoul entered the ring and I realised that it was not my version of The Ghoul.
2. Disappointment that the bout lasted less than one full round.
3. Disappointment that there was no unmasking.
Promoters , don’t you just love them?
BEDFORD Corn Exchange
BEDFORD Drill Hall
BEDWORTH Civic Hall
David Mantell: “Most infamous for Kendo hypnotising Brookside, but also for Big Daddy & Danny Collins vs Drew McDonald & Red Ivan, Brookside & Regal vs “Road Warriors” Duran & Monroe (Regal’s third TV bout and his first as “Steve”) one for the purists Keith Hayward vs Tim Fitzmaurice from 1980 and a Big Daddy vs Bully Boy Muir match from 1976.”
BEESTON Drill Hall
BELFAST Kings Hall
BELFAST Ulster Hall
BELPER Assembly Rooms
BELPER Sports Centre
BERWICK ON TWEED Corn Exchange
BEVERLEY Assembly Rooms
BEVERLEY Memorial Hall
BEXHILL De La Warr Pavilion
Anglo Italian: “I only went to the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill a few times but that’s enough to share a few memories here. The De La Warr seemed only to be a venue for the independent promoters down the years and I shall always link it inextricably to Jackie Pallo’s exciting bills featuring the dearly departed from Dale Martin’s, such as Adrian Street, Ricki Starr and Albert Wall, and exciting new names I had never heard of: The Warlord always intrigued me, along with various red Indians.Funny to think in these internet times, but back in the early seventies I struggled to find out who was billed at Bexhill just a few miles along the coast from me, and often discovered what I had missed too late.
Unfortunately my memories of actually attending are rather scarred by decimated and awkwardly rejigged bills. I remember Roy Bull Davis being the referee and then having somehow to wrestle – they didn’t have enough wrestlers. I remember feeling compassion towards Jackie Pallo at the time – he stood up and made a from-the-heart speech about his difficulties, saying he would do his best, but offering a refund to anyone who wanted it. The theatre itself was long and narrow with tiered theatre tip-up seats leading down to the stage where the ring was erected. I would suspect Dale Martin’s discarded it as being slightly too small to fulfil their ambitions and this made it an easy target for Jackie Pallo.
I would like to have gone on a rip-roaring night where everyone turned up but was never fortunate enough.
There, that’s all we need in the way of memories, even if they are a bit blurred.”
BILLINGHAM (Teeside) Technical College
BIRKENHEAD Ritz
BIRMINGHAM, ASTON Hippodrome
BIRMINGHAM, ASTON Aston Villa Leisure Centre
BIRMINGHAM, COSTA GREEN Delicia Stadium
BIRMINGHAM, DIGBETH Civic Hall
Hack: “Arriving in Birmingham in 1976 and knowing no one the Thursday night wrestling at the Digbeth was an obvious place to head for. Although wrestling was no longer my first love I discovered what was to become my favourite venue of them all. A tiny, atmospheric place where fans could reach down from the balcomy and (at least feel) they could touch their heroes.”
BIRMINGHAM, ERDINGTON Stadium
BIRMINGHAM, GREAT BARR Kings Club
BIRMINGHAM, LONGBRIDGE Essoldo
BIRMINGHAM, NEWTOWN Palace
BIRMINGHAM, SPARKBROOK Embassy Sportsdrome
BIRMINGHAM, STIRCHLEY Birmingham Indoor Sports Stadium
BISHOP’S STORTFORD Rhodes Centre
BLACKBURN King George Hall
Hack: “A majestic Victorian palace of a venue where Norman Morrell put on some grand shows. One night I remember three championship matches on the one bill, and the wonderful night Billy Joyce won the British Light Heavyweight Championship. I cheered that night, but retrospectively not a great night for wrestling.”
BLACKPOOL Blackpool Stadium
BLACKPOOL Central Club
BLACKPOOL Central Pier
Hack: “Sunday afternoon shows presented by Bobby Barron. It always seemed a bit odd going to the wrestling in the sunshine. Bobby used some big names though his shows were a bit of a mixed bag, but this was the place I first saw Haystacks.”
BLACKPOOL Ice Drome
BLACKPOOL Mecca Ballroom
BLACKPOOL Norbreck Castle
BLACKPOOL North Pier
BLACKPOOL Royal Pavilion Theatre
BLACKPOOL South Pier
BLACKPOOL Stadium
BLACKPOOL Tower
Hack: “From 1972 until 1975 enjoying pro wrestling with a whiff of elephants. The wrestling ring was in the centre of the circus ring making the action a bit more distant than usual. Some great shows from Billy Best.”
BLETCHLEY Wilton Hall
BLOXWICH Baths Hall
BLYTH Theatre Royal
BOGNOR REGIS Butlins
BOGNOR REGIS Esplanade Theatre
BOGNOR REGIS Pavilion
BOGNOR REGIS Theatre Royal
BOLLINGTON Civic Hall
BOLTON Albert Hall
BOLTON Bunden Park
BOLTON Drill Hall
BOLTON Greyhound Track
BOLTON Palace Cinema
BOLTON Turton Street Stadium
BOLTON Wryton Stadium (formerly Palladium Cinema)
BOREHAMWOOD Hertsmere Centre
BOSTON Drill Hall
BOURNEMOUTH Baths Hall
BOURNEMOUTH Pavilion Ballroom
BOURNEMOUTH Town Hall
BOURNEMOUTH Winter Gardens
BRACKNELL Sports Centre
BRADFORD Belle Vue Barracks
BRADFORD Olympia Hall
BRADFORD Baths
BRADFORD St Georges Hall
BRADFORD Windsor Hall
BRECHIN Town Hall
BRENTWOOD Football Ground
BRIDGWATER Blake Hall
Duncan: “The Blake Hall, Bridgwater was the usual Friday night venue down here in the Westcountry with D/M’s in charge. A smoke filled hall, where, if the lads put on something good they let them get back to the dressing room! Naggers was on one night against Tibor Szakacs –referee Mike Demitre, MC Geo. Lawson Peake, and following Kendo’s winning fall, Tibor heaved him out of the ring whereupon two of the regulars in the front row administered some Bridgwater justice to which Naggers responded in kind! I recall anothr night which had to be cancelled because the ring crew had left the bolts which attach the ropes to the corner posts at the previous nights show at Bournemouth. Tibor Szakacs and Crusher Verdu who were topping the bill were already at the hall when the announcement was made!”
BRIDLINGTON Grand Pavilion
BRIDLINGTON Lounge Cinema
BRIDLINGTON Spa Royal Hall
BRIERLEY HILL Public Hall
BRIGHTON Corn Exchange
BRIGHTON The Dome
BRIGHTON Grand Theatre
BRIGHTON Metropole Hotel
BRIGHTON Palladium
BRIGHTON Sports Stadium
BRISTOL Colston Hall
Mark Thomas: “First live show at the Colston Hall Bristol in the mid 70s – Nagasaki v Bartelli, Kendo fled the ring and this set up the rematch with Bartelli donning his mask again, Rematch won by Nagasaki by KO. Main supporting bout was McManus V McMichael the latter winning. Cannot recall Mighty Mick winning live no doubt he won on TV. Also saw some great hard tough tag matches featuring Marty Jones, Murphy ,Cullen and Finlay,,whatever happened to him! Then sadly went less and less as the stars faded, WWE/WCW arrived and wrestling finished at the Colston Hall.”
BRISTOL Knowle Stadium
BRISTOL Victoria Rooms
BROMSGROVE Baths
BROMSGROVE Garringtons Works Canteen
BROMSGROVE Plaza
BROMSGROVE Victoria Ground
BUCKHAVEN Town Hall
BUNGAY Football Ground
BURNLEY Empress Ballroom
BURNLEY Lowerhouse Sports Ground
BURNLEY Mechanics Institute
BURNLEY Turf Moor Football Ground
BURTON CONSTABLE Burton Constable Hall
BURTON ON TRENT Ind-Coope Sports and Social Club
BURTON ON TRENT Jubilee Hall
BURY Athenium Hall
BURY Barbary Club
BURY Co-Op Hall
BURY Palais de Danse
BURY ST EDMUNDS Corn Exchange
BUXTON Pavilion Gardens
C
CAERNARVON Empire
CAERNARVON Majestic
CAISTER Holiday Centre
CAISTER Mermaid Club
CAMBERLEY Civic Hall
CAMBERLEY Drill Hall
CAMBORNE Skating Rink
CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange
CAMPBELTOWN Town Hall
CANNOCK Danilo
CANNOCK Prince of Wales Hall
CANTEBURY Cavalry Theatre
CANTERBURY Drill Hall
CANTERBURY Marlowe Theatre
CANVEY ISLAND The Paddocks
CARDIFF Drill Hall
Welsh Davey: “One night at Cardiff’s Drill Hall Samme Cohen was roundly booed from the ring after a truly woeful performance. So atypical and strong was this response from the normally generous Cardiff crowd that MC Sammy King immediately announced that Cohen would never step inside a Cardiff ring again. And to my knowledge he kept his word.”
CARDIFF Kings Hall
CARDIFF Sophia Gardens
CARLISLE Market Hall
CAROLYN BAY Cornish Riviera Club
CARRICKMORE Patrician Hall
CASTLE DOUGLAS Town Hall
CASTLETON Peak Hotel
CHAPEL-EN-Le-FRITH Constitution Hall
CHATHAM Central Hall
CHEAM Baths Hall
CHELFORD Dixon Arms
CHELMSFORD Casino
CHELMSFORD Chancellor Hall
CHELMSFORD Corn Exchange
CHELTENHAM Albion Street Athletic Ground
CHELTENHAM Football Ground, Whaddon Road
CHELTENHAM Town Hall
CHESHUNT Wolsey Hall
CHESTER Broadway Palace
CHESTER Drill Hall
CHESTER Northgate Arena
CHESTER Royalty Theatre
CHESTER Town Hall
CHESTERFIELD Drill Hall
CHESTERFIELD Goldwell Rooms
CHESTERFIELD Rendezvous Danse Hall
CHESTERFIELD Skating Rink
CHORLEY Astoria Skating Rink
CHORLEY Barracks
CHORLEY Town Hall
Hack: “A tiny venue with great memories of Dirty Dominic Pye, Smasher Pat Curry and Wild Angus Campbell. Until things got out of hand with fans throwing chairs and police called in. That was the end of our wrestling.”
CHURCHTOWN Kirkland Memorial Hall
CLACTON Butlins
CLACTON Football Ground
CLACTON Princes Theatre
CLACTON Town Hall
CLACTON Winter Gardens
CLECKHEATON Town Hall
CLEETHORPES Cafe Dansant
CLEETHORPES Pier Pavilion
CLEETHORPES Winter Gardens
CLEVELEYS Showboat
CLYDEBANK John Brown Shipyard Canteen
COALVILLE West End WMC
COLCHESTER ABC Cinema
COLCHESTER Corn Exchange
COLCHESTER Winter Gardens
COLDSTREAM Town Hall
COLNE Municipal Hall
COLNE Stadium
COLWYN BAY Pier Pavilion
CORBY Civic Centre
CORWEN Pavilion
COUPAR ANGUS Town Hall
COWDENBEATH Central Park
COVENTRY Baths
COVENTRY Drill Hall
COVENTRY Matrix Hall
COVENTRY Winter Gardens
CRADLEY HEATH Majestic Cinema
CRAWLEY Leisure Centre
CRAWLEY Starlite Ballroom
CREWE Focus Cinema
CREWE Town Hall
CROMER Olympia
CROSBY Civic Hall
Masked Mummy: “This hall only held 3 or 4 shows in the golden age but Haystacks, Daddy, Drew Mc Donald and Davey Boy Smith all appeared on shows there.”
CUPAR Memorial Hall
D
DAGENHAM Round House
DARLINGTON Baths Hall
DARTFORD Granada
DARTFORD The Orchard
DARWEN Baths
DARWEN Cranberry Fair Nightclub
DEAL Pavilion
DEAL Regent Cinema
DERBY Assembly Room
DERBY Baths
Graham Brook: “In the early seventies I used to regularly attend Jack Atherton’s shows at The Queens Baths, Derby, which is where I first saw The Dynamite Kid versus Kenny Hogan and was absolutely blown away. I had never seen anything like it before (and have seen very little like it since). Of course, Tommy Billington could only have shone to the degree that he did because Hogan proved to be the perfect foil for him.”
DERBY Central Hall
DERBY Drill Hall
DERBY Highfield Boxing Club, Kedlestone Rd
DERBY Kings Hall
DERBY Skating Rink
DEREHAM Memorial Hall
DERRY Guildhall
DEVIZES Corn Exhange
DEWSBURY Drill Hall
DEWSBURY Empire Theatre
DEWSBURY Sports Centre
DEWSBURY Town Hall
DIDCOT New Coronet Cinema
DINGWALL Town Hall
DISS Corn Exchange
DONCASTER Corn Exchange
DONCASTER Grand Theatre
DONCASTER Kiki Club
DONCASTER Lido Skating Rink
DORKING Dorking Halls
DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN Derby Castle
DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN Gaiety Theatre
DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN Palace Ballroom
DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN Palais de Danse
DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN Summerland
DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN Villa Marina
DOVER Drill Hall
DOVER Essoldo Cinema
DOVER Rio Cinema
DOVER St Margaret’s Holiday Village
DROMORE St Patricks Hall
DUDLEY Hippodrome
DUDLEY Town Hall
DUMBARTON Burgh Hall
DUMBARTON Town Hall
DUMFRIES Drill Hall
DUNBAR Town Hall
DUNDEE Caird Hall
DUNDEE Premierland Stadium
DUNDEE St Margaret’s Hall
DUNFERMLINE Alhambra Picture House
DUNFERMLINE Carnegie Hall
DUNGANNON New Commercial Balloom
DUNSTABLE California Ballroom
DUNSTABLE Queensway Hall
DURHAM Ice Rink
E
EASTBOURNE Winter Gardens
Anglo Italian: “This was one of the three theatres in the seaside resort, and if anything the least prestigious. I cannot say it was an ideal wrestling venue. The ring was built on the main floor area and the stage was curtained off, so all the seating was at the same flat level. And it was arranged in an arc, a banana shape. All very irregular. All of this made for dreadful acoustics for a wrestling show, and frankly I don’t recall any great atmosphere being evoked. Those curtains went on for ever and it was uninspiring to see the wrestlers appear from behind them. I hope others can balance my negativity with more positive reminiscences.”
EAST GRINSTEAD Whitehall
EASTLEIGH Fleming Park Sports Centre
EASTLEIGH Town Hall
EDINBURGH Corn Exchange
EDINBURGH Eldorado Stadium, Leith
Papa Ernie: “It was, latterly, an out and out dump, but I wouldn’t have missed a Tuesday night there. For me the bills were great. Tuesday’s at the Eldorado, Friday’s at the Kelvin Sports Arena and when that closed
we moved to Govan Town Hall. Every second Monday was Hamilton Town Hall. The monthly extravaganzas at Paisley, Falkirk, Kilmarnock and Ayr. Towards the end I was reduced to once a month visits to The Kelvin Hall, much greater in stature but a lot less in atmosphere, than the good old Kelvin Sports Arena.”
EDINBURGH Meadowbank Stadium
EDINBURGH Music Hall
EDINBURGH Waverley Market
ELGIN Town Hall
ELLESMERE PORT Civic Hall
ENNISKILLEN Lakeland Forum
ENNISKILLEN Silver Sandal Ballroom
EPSOM Baths Hall
EXETER County Gound Greyhound Stadium
EXETER Civic Hall
EXMOUTH Pavilion
EYEMOUTH Town Hall
F
FALKIRK Ice Rink
FALKIRK Town Hall
FALMOUTH Drill Hall
FARNHAM Drill Hall
FELIXSTOWE Pavilion
FILEY Butlins
FLEETWOOD Marine Gardens
FLEETWOOD Palace Theatre
FOLKESTONE Leas Cliff Hall
FOLKESTONE Marine Gardens Pavilion
FOLKESTONE Pleasure Gardens
FOLKESTONE Skating Rink, Victoria Pier
FORFAR Reid Hall
FORFAR Station Park
FORT WILLIAM Town Hall
FRASERBURGH Town Hall
FRODSHAM Drill Hall
FRODSHAM Mersey View Pavilion
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