Cumberland wrestling round-up

By Roger Robson

Wrestling amid the racing at Carlisle racecourse

The signs in Land Rover rear windows say 'Young Farmers Do It In Wellies'; Wrestlers, on the other hand 'Do It Whatever The Weather' and that was particularly true at Carlisle Racecourse last Sunday.

The theory and planning were excellent.

Luck would have it that the day that Carlisle had its richest race of the year, the £40,000 Cumberland Chase, was designated the Countryside Day.

Among the attractions were trail hounds, terrier racing, falcons and wrestlers were to entertain the crowds and especially all the children on this bumper family day out.

Carlisle Wrestling Club had it all meticulously planned. Two training sessions, between races, taken by champion coaches Andrew Carlile and Alan Jones would take place on the club's wrestling mats on a tarmac area near the children's' play area.

Plus a certain Roger Robson was to give an amazingly erudite and entertaining commentary to the massed crowds.

Wrestling after all had been a key attraction at the old Swifts Racecourse down by the Eden since 1809.

The wrestlers would appear from under their umbrellas, immaculate in traditional strip, shake hands, wrestle, and squelch each other into the mud until they looked like rugby league players on a water-logged pitch Roger Robson

So, what happened? Rain, gale, rain, gale, more rain and more gale. That's what happened.

On the day itself the heavy rain would have made the wrestling mats into a skating rink; the public address system was liable to electrocute the commentator, so Plan B was invoked, thankfully.

This consisted of moving the demonstration to a flat, grassy area beside the Parade Ring. The wrestlers were divided into two shifts so that they only got wet and muddy once in the afternoon.

My commentary was heavily abridged to the role of referee and the frequent repetition of "On your guard….wrestle".

The wrestlers would appear from under their umbrellas, immaculate in traditional strip, shake hands, wrestle, and squelch each other into the mud until they looked like rugby league players on a water-logged pitch.

The ring was in an excellent spot for the depleted crowd (no children to be seen), but mostly we had only passing trade as punters moved from parade ring to the bookies, which was a shame, as the wrestling skills of all the junior and senior wrestlers were a joy to watch.

As the soggy wrestlers made their way home, it was good to know that we had been given a good donation to club funds, and an invitation to do the same again on a sunnier day.