The end of the 2018 outdoor Wrestling Season

On October 13th, the Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling season ends with the twin jewels of Alwinton Show in the Cheviot Hills of Northumberland and Wasdale Head Show in the Western Lake District. After that it’s Winter.
But Winter is not blank and sterile for it also means rebirth and nurturing for the following year. For Carlisle Wrestling Club that means that indoor wrestling begins next week, but with the significant change of a new venue.

Linda Scott, Chairman of the club and the CWWA, put out the following statement: “It is with regret that following a lengthy discussion at our recent AGM we have cancelled our weekly winter training sessions at Currock House for the foreseeable future. We will move to Low Hesket Village Hall and start with our first training night on Wednesday 17th October 2018 at 7.45pm.

This has not been a decision we have taken lightly as Currock House Community Centre has been a good home for our club for the last 25 years. However, the proposed change from our usual Wednesday night to any other night of the week caused us great concern for the future of our club.
Most parents voiced their concern that their children have other commitments/sports clubs etc throughout the rest of the week, no other night suits all of our members and as we constantly struggle to attract new members to the sport, we cannot afford to lose the ones we currently have.
The Village Hall is easy to find. Follow the A6 towards Penrith and it is signposted to the right once past the Rose & Crown pub in Low Hesket. The main room of the Village Hall has a larger footprint than the Currock House gym and there is more than enough parking space. We think it will be a great home for our club and we hope that everyone is happy with this decision.”

One of the other main considerations was the availability of the three coaches who have kept the club on its toes for so many years. The number of championships gained by Tom Harrington, Alan Jones and latterly by Andrew Carlile is eye-watering, but far more important is their rapport with the young wrestlers and the friendly ambience in training sessions.

Since Carlisle Wrestling Club was formed by Ted Dunglinson, Tom Harrington and me in 1970, it has only had two main homes in the city, and both of them originally dependant on Judo Clubs. At first, we shared the Judo Room at the Strand Road Sports Centre, a County Council facility which used the old drill hall for the Territorial Army. I still remember climbing the dark stairs to the Judo Room where a wall-to-wall mat was permanently laid and watching Ted get over-excited, take his shoes off, and, at a ridiculous weight and age, proceed to do an exuberant full somersault.

I remember also when Donald Dayson appeared some weeks later, about to step on the pristine mat with his work boots from the farmyard. “Git your boots off,” we shouted. Then we realised our mistake. “Put them on again,” said we.

Closure of the Sports Centre made us homeless with a spell at the nearby Technical College. Then Tom Harrington pushed to move to the Currock Community Centre where a pile of redundant judo mats remained in the Gym. After a fire at the Centre, the old mats were condemned, and new mats were purchased. For twenty-five years the Centre has been a perfect venue for the club with mats stored handily for use, with a larger hall for special occasions and smaller meeting rooms when appropriate.

The move to a new venue has not been taken lightly, but we look forward to the next quarter century at Low Hesket Village Hall.

(Written by Roger Robson ..... ©All Photographs on this site are the copyright of Roger Robson, Jill Robson, Julian Richardson, Linda Scott or Webmaster. Unauthorised usage is forbidden {2018} ©)

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