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The Treeton Bulldog (and others)
We have one prominent Young Vulcan and a couple of others that came along a few years later.
The most famous and long-lived was said to be a skilful and clean .wrestler from Treeton, a few miles east of Sheffield and south of Rotherham. He weighed around twelve stones. The wrestler obviously thought that Vulcan had more of a ring than his actual name, Frederick Higginbottom. He was born in the Rother Valley on 14th March, 1930.
Young Vulcan started out in the early 1950s, our earliest recorded contest is in April, 1952, wrestling George Goldie in Birmingham.
Opponents around that time included the best of the lighter weight men, Jim Lewis, Johnny Stead, Tony Lawrence and Eric Sands. Three television appearances under his belt and he continued wrestling until the 1960s. On television he wrestled Cliff Belshaw, Alan Dennison and Mel Riss between October 1960 and February, 1963. A regular worker for at least twelve years our last recorded match was against Mir Zaffar Elam at Grantham in January 1964.
A part time wrestler Fred worked at Treeton Colliery, as a blacksmith and later a coalcutter. Fred gave up wrestling following an accident at the colliery when he broke his pelvis. Following retirement Fred and his wife became successful breeders of bulldogs. Fred Higginbottom died in 2006..
We also found a second Young Vulcan, a heavyweight from Brigg in Lincolnshire, working for independent promoters between 1960 and 1963. Seemed to work in a localised area around the east midlands, often for promoter Jack Taylor. Opponents included a young Pat Roach, Dwight J Ingleburgh and Ski Hi Lee.
A third Young Vulcan, a lightweight, was trained by Brian Trevors and worked around Norfolk in the late 1960s.
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