Weightlifting in Pembrokeshire started in the 1930’s with Tommie George, an old time strongman who lived in the Letterston area. As part of his strongman act he would perform feats of strength with barbells and dumbbells, lift an anvil with his teeth and then bend an iron bar over it, pull a bus or locomotive with his teeth and break 6” nails. He formed a troop of strongmen, acrobats and balancers, which performed many strength and acrobatic shows all over Pembrokeshire. The troop was joined by Yorrie Evans and his brother Lyn in the late 1930’s. Lyn was the top balancer and Yorrie, also a good gymnast, went on to specialise in Olympic weightlifting. He bought his first set of weights from Ludgate Circus in London, they were delivered by train to Letterston station and Yorrie carried them from the station to his home in Blaenllyn, some 5 miles away, in several trips, on his pushbike. Training in the cowshed of the family smallholding, he was largely self-taught, picking up tips from the Health and Strength magazine and his first competition was a British Championships held in Shrewsbury in 1947. Yorrie travelled there by train with his brother Lyn and Yorrie won, wearing a pair of black daps and a pair of shorts which his mother had made out of blackout curtains (WW2 had finished only 2 years previously).
Yorrie went on to become British Olympic Weightlifting champion four times, was twice all-round weightlifting champion (an event which comprised 40 different lifts), and he held the British record for the one hand dumbbell swing with a lift of 165lbs. He competed in the 1952 Olympic Games and was team manager and coach of the Welsh weightlifting team at the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1974. In those days the British Weightlifting Championships was a very different affair from today. As well as the weightlifting competition, the Mr Britain and Mr Universe bodybuilding competition was held and there would be acrobatic and balancing acts and a band. The event provided a variety of top class entertainment and competitive excitement and would pull in a big audience in a top London venue. Many of the competitors would enter both the bodybuilding and weightlifting events and some also formed the acrobatics and balancing acts.
Yorrie moved to Haverfordwest in 1952 and became caretaker of the Secondary Modern School (Sir Thomas Picton School), where he had his weights and trained in the boiler house and ran weight training evening classes on the stage in the main hall. He started a gym behind Tom’s Sports shop in Market Street and also developed a weightlifting section in Toddy Williams’ Boxing Club in Merlins Bridge. A number of lifters from this club, including Jim Codd, Jim Campbell, Barry Moore, Garnett Roach and Bob Thomas competed in national championships. In the early 1960’s Yorrie started a weightlifting club in Milford Youth Club, and in the 70’s the centre for weightlifting became the old science laboratory behind Tower Hill Youth Club (formerly the Taskers School for Girls). When Tower Hill closed down the gym moved behind the library, and Yorrie continued to run it until he was 75 years old.
Yorrie’s son Stephen began weightlifting in his early teens, and ran a weightlifting club in the changing room of Haverfordwest Grammar School, which sent 10 competitors to the Welsh Schoolboy championships in the 1970’s. Martin Ladd, John Mitchell and Stephen himself became Welsh champions and Stephen went on to become British Schoolboy, British Junior and British Student champion, becoming British Junior record holder in the clean and jerk.
The next chapter of weightlifting in Pembrokeshire will be published soon..
