HISTORY OF BRITISH GYMNASTICS PRE 1939
1900 – 1939
1900
The second Olympic Games are held in Paris. Lloyd Phillips from Newport, South Wales, takes part along with four other gymnasts, William Pearce from London, William Connor, Broadbec, and Hiatt. Lloyd is recognised as the first Welsh athlete to compete in an Olympic Games.
Above – Welsh Olympic Gymnast Lloyd Philips
The Adams’ Shield National team competition takes place for the first time. This is the men’s club championship and is open to all UK clubs. Clubs from Scotland, Ireland, and England competed with Dundee being the winner. The event is held at the new premises of the Dolobran Athletic club whose membership, having grown to 700 members, required a new facility. This is made possible with the help of the Cadbury family. The Friends Institute on Moseley Road in Birmingham is still standing.
Above – Early winners of the Adams Shield – this is either Leith Gymnasium or Carnegie Dumferline probably with Councillor Adams by his shield. The Scottish Shield first competed for in 1891 is seen left.
Gymnastics now takes place in schools and even orphanages.
1902
The Welsh Amateur Gymnastic and Wrestling Association was formed.
1903
Wales holds their first competition – The Senior Challenge Shield for men’s club teams.
The photo shows St Saviours winning in 1909. The Welsh Shield is still in use for the men’s Welsh Team Championships.
1904
A ladies’ Club competition is instituted by the Birmingham & District Amateur Gymnastics Association. Lozells Athletic Club wins this first title. This is the first recorded ladies’ event. The Yorkshire AGA followed in 1906 when Halifax R.E.S. won the Silver Rose Bowl.
This is the Bradford Gym Club with what is presumed to be the Yorkshire Rose Bowl. This photo is circa 1909 to 1912 when Bradford won the trophy.
1908
1908 LONDON OLYMPIC GAMES
Walter Tysall (Birmingham Athletic Institute) – SILVER. The first Olympic medal for GB. 45 gymnasts listed in the team that came 6th
Photo of Walter Tysall – courtesy of Linda Russell
The International Gymnastics Board is set up to assist the organisation of the London Games. It went on to be known as the Amateur Gymnastics Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. Lawrence Levy acted as the Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, a post he held until 1911 when it seems that the AGF of Great Britain and Ireland disappeared.
The AGF and the British Olympic Association agreed a programme for the individual competition for the London Olympics. The programme was known as the Heptathlon, there were 7 disciplines for the games. Rules and timings were agreed upon for the team competition and displays. The displays are non competitive and are open to women. The organisation was not without problems. Levy records that Lord Desborough President of the British Olympic Association was heard to mutter between his teeth, “This show will be the greatest fiasco the world has ever seen” However it seems that order came out of chaos although Levy compared the 1896 Athens Stadium classical look, with that of Shepherds Bush Arena resembling a glorified football stadium.
The Carnegie Gymnastics Club, Dunfermline became the proud winners of the Adams Shield and the Scottish Shield.
Carnegie Gymnasium Club – 1908 winners of the Adams Shield and the Scottish Shield
It is recorded at this time by the European Gymnastics Federation (the forerunner to the FIG) that Great Britain was made up of 4 federations, had 200 societies and 60,000 members.
1909
The English Championships are held in Birmingham. 12 gymnasts compete from England and Wales. 4 disciplines only make up the event, parallel bars, horizontal bar, pommel horse, and a choice of jump or rope climb. This does not conform with the Olympic programme, which in 1908, also included rings and in 1912 it was the same minus the Rope Climb. Only one judge officiates at this event. It seems that everything is marked out of 20.
Above – Programme – 1909 English Gymnastics Championships
Above – Results sheet – 1909 English Gymnastics Championships
The AGA is described as ‘The only legislative Gymnastic Body in England recognised by the Amateur Athletic Association’, and the only English Gymnastic organisation working in cooperation with the Scottish, Irish, and Welsh Amateur Gymnastic Associations. The war with the NPRS has ended. See 1890 entry.
Bertie Stell of Luddenden Foot Congregational Gymnastics Club was suspended by the Yorkshire Gymnastics Association for accepting a job as a physical education teacher with the Hebden Bridge Education Committee.This is just one example of the implementation of the AGA’s amateur rules. He was later reinstated and became a YGA judge.
1910
The AGA headquarters move back to London and Charles West becomes the Honorary Secretary for the next 20 years – seemingly keeps the association going from 1910 – 1930.
Charles West honorary secretary of the AGA. Photo courtesy John West & ADTRV videos.
The 1910 – 11 Adams Shield rules. For this event 6 gymnasts are required for each team which can be a club team or town team providing each gymnast is a member of a club within the administrative area of the town. Performance on the apparatus for the event will be divided between the six, so each gymnast performs only 3 events.
1910 – 11 Adams’ Shield rules
1911
Ireland and Scotland are unable to provide teams for the International Teams Championships due to be held in Belfast. This is the end of these championships which had been an annual affair since 1899.
All of the members of AGA agreed that for the English Championships instead of the rope climb being judged by distance it is to be judged by speed; 21 feet in 10 seconds to score 10 points, if 12 seconds then only 8 points.
At this time, nearly every gym had ropes hanging from the ceiling; the Ushaw College Gym in Durham is no exception.
Above – 1890s Ushaw College Gym displaying their ropes – Catholic Priest College, Durham
1912
Stockholm Olympics
6th – 15th July
Individual competition included High Bar, Parallel Bars, Pommel Horse and Rings.
Team GB 23 men Albert Betts, Harry Dickenson, Samuel Hodgetts, Alfred Messenger, Edward Pepper, Charles Vigurs, Samuel Walker, John Whitaker, Sidney Cross, Bernard Wallis Franklin, Edward Potts, Reginald Potts, George Ross, Henry Oberholzer, Charles Simmons, Arthur Southern, Ronald McLean, Charles Luck, Herbert Drury, William McKune, William Titt, William Cowhig, Leonard Hanson.
Above – Men’s Team – BRONZE; the first British team to win a medal at the Olympics.
Above – The team officials were Charles West, Honorary Secretary, Rudolf Oberholzer coach and P W Nicholson assistant honorary secretary.
In this year, several gymnasts were suspended for breaching amateur rules; a section had to be signed by each competitor to declare their amateur status.
1912 Conditions and the Entry Form for the English Championships
1913
A 1d subscription per gymnast is approved by the AGA Council, the Capitation Scheme, estimating that it could bring in a total of £36 with the addition of monies from Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
Above – The 1913 Capitation Scheme
The minutes record ‘that the AGA be recognised by all four home countries as the body governing gymnastics in all Olympic Games events and other international matters and competitions and that a board be formed for this purpose, consisting of 2 delegates from each country who shall have equal voting power’ This is when the AGA takes on the role of the governing body for Great Britain and Ireland.
A British team takes part in the 12th Turnfest in Leipzig.
Above – A British team taking part in the huge Deutsches Turnfest in Leipzig alongside 62,700 participants
1914
July war is declared – the AGA members respond. A letter dated 24th September from the AGA is sent to all Branch secretaries, saying as follows:-
“Having due regard for the strenuous time we are experiencing, and likely to experience for some time to come, my Executive strongly urges that special facilities be afforded for training men who have offered themselves for service, and have been rejected in consequence of their physical development not being up to the required standard. I am further requested to point out to you the advisability of making special mention, in any notice you may contemplate circulating to your clubs, that the gymnasium is one of the very best places to obtain physical fitness”.
Bromley Gym Club writes, “All our men and their instructor joined up, our boys and girls filling places in town or going to work on Munitions, other members joining the special constabulary. The club itself was kept going by our Ladies section which gave displays for Club Funds and for the Prisoners of War Fund”
So many men are killed in WWI including Frank Bellamy seen here, back right, with his team. Photo courtesy of the Bellamy family.
German gymnasts living in Britian. With the outbreak of war, there was a huge anti-German reaction by ordinary people with the destruction of German shops etc around the country. The German Gymnasium in London closed its doors, never to open again as a gymnasium. German men living in the country were rounded up and sent to internment camps, the biggest being the Knockaloe Camp in the Isle of Man. There, sport was encouraged and gymnasts were once more allowed to practise their sport.
1915
It is unanimously agreed by the AGA that there would be no attempt to run the usual competition programme during the war crisis. The AGM of the AGA is held at 80 Gracechurch Street London; London is always the place for AGA meetings. The balance presented to the meeting is £2 4 shillings and 5 pence. A report to the AGM concludes with the following paragraph:-
‘The large number of active members of affiliated clubs of all our Branches having joined His Majesty’s Forces it has been quite impracticable to carry on gymnastic work as energetically as one had hoped for, the high percentage, in many instances 90 percent of the members of individual clubs having responded to their Country’s call.‘
1919
1919 Peace at last
The first meeting following the war was held at 41 Threadneedle Street London. on the 25th June. The chairman, Mr Mears, records with deep regret the death of one of the committee members, Mr W Woodman, killed in action in Palestine on the 9th December 1917.
1920
Antwerp Olympics. British Men’s Team competed.
Photo shows – GB 1920 Antwerp Squad of 24 performing a group exercise with coach JJ Cook at front.
1921
The 11th Congress of the European Gymnastics Federation is held in Brussels. The Americans ask to join the only international body for gymnastics. The name of the Federation is changed to the International Gymnastics Federation, the FIG.
On the 21st May, a demonstration of gymnastics is given at the Queen’s Club West Kensington. Nearly 1000 gymnasts take part. HRH The Duke of York, patron of the AGA is in attendance.
Above – The Duke of York from 1920-21 AGA year book
1923
London and Metropolitan Counties AGA publish The Gymnast magazine. After 4 issues the AGA takes it on.
THE FIRST NATIONAL COMPETITION FOR WOMEN’S TEAMS
The proposed programme for the first Women’s Team Championships is as follows.
1. Indian Clubs. 2. Callisthenics with or without hand apparatus 3. Skipping, however, this was later withdrawn. The time duration is to be, between 2 – 2 ½ minutes for Indian Clubs and between 4 ½ and 5 ½ minutes for callisthenics. Male judges are asked to officiate.
The 1st Women’s Team Championships are held at the Northampton Polytechnic Institute Clerkenwell London. The Marchioness of Bute presents her trophy to the winners, the Northampton Polytechnic Institute. Bradford Gymnastics Club is 2nd and Catford Gym Club 3rd. Lady Bute makes a speech on this occasion concluding, ‘Go on train yourselves to be healthy and happy, and so make others happy. Keep before you high ideals and remember that it is a woman’s privilege to make others happy’
Above – The NPI with the Duchess of Bute trophy and their trainer Rudolf Oberholzer. Left to right, Kit Bickley, Ethel Seymour, Alma Barnard, Marjorie Allen, Lucy Desmond. front Anne Brian, Rudolf Oberholzer, Cissie Lindsill winning the first Women’s British Team Championships in 1923
In May a British party of approximately 180 gymnasts, 30 of them women. attend the 45th French Federal Fete at Rouen. Gymnasts represent Wales, Scotland, and many parts of England. Supporters and gymnasts travel by boat from Newhaven to Dieppe and on by train to Rouen on May 18th. The Duke of York contributes £200 to the British team.
1924
1924 Olympics Paris – British Men’s Team competed.The British Men’s Team competed coming 6th.out of 8 teams. The individual British gymnasts are way down in the results table.
1924 Men’s team left JJ Cook coach extreme right Charles West Leigh brothers Ernest & Stanley centre front.
First British Championships held for Women in Swindon.
A suggestion is made that lady judges officiate at the forthcoming English Women’s Individual Championships. Executive representatives from the Birmingham & District AGA and the Yorkshire AGA do not approve so 3 male judges are appointed for the task.
A trophy is donated by the Honorary Secretary’s wife. The Mrs. Charles West trophy is still awarded each year to the women’s British champion. Dorothy Billson of Bradford wins. The women compete in set and voluntary exercise on parallel bars, swinging rings, vault with pommels plus Indian club swinging. 10 marks are awarded for parallel bars, rings, and clubs, and 3 for vault. The parallel bars and ring exercise to be no more than 1 minute and Indian clubs are between 2 – 2 ½ minutes, music is optional.
Above – Dorothy Billion wins the championship with a mark of 157 ½. The AGA decides that in the future marks will be awarded using decimal places instead of fractions.
1925
At the Women’s 2nd English Championships, the gymnasts compete on Parallel Bars, Swinging Rings (the set exercise contained a still section), Pommel Horse, and 1 ½ minutes of Free Exercise (Floor) without hand apparatus.
In the men’s English Championships, the gymnasts compete on Parallel Bars, Horizontal Bar, Pommel Horse, Rings, and Long Horse Vault. Ten is awarded for each apparatus except for the vault, which is given a mark of 3 by each judge. In addition, one mark is awarded for approaching the apparatus and the same for retiring from the apparatus. There is a time limit for each apparatus, no more than 2 minutes per exercise, except pommels, a maximum of 1 minute.
Above – 1925 British Champion H.J. Finchett from Birmingham YMCA
1928
The Olympics are held in Amsterdam
Women compete in gymnastics for the first time. GB Ladies Team (12 gymnasts) – BRONZE (team event only for women). They subsequently receive bad press for ‘baring too much of their legs’, albeit wearing tights
Above – 1928 GB Olympic Women’s Gymnastics Team in the headline-grabbing outfits – photo BG ARCHIVE
Above – 1928 GB Olympic Men’s Gymnastics Team, comprising gymnasts – E. Warren, H.J. Finchett, Gilbert Charles Raynes, W. Cronin, E. Walton, T.B. Parkinson, A.J. Whitford and S. Humphreys.
It’s decided that all men competing in the Individual Championships must use the steel bar provided. There will be no wooden bar from now on. The 1912 entry on this was just a recommendation.
Arthur Whitford of Swansea YMCA & Sketty wins his first national title, to be the first of 10.
Above – Gymnast magazine of the time shows a great variety of adverts for gymnastics apparatus. T M Gardiner has been making apparatus since 1876.
1930
The question of women’s dress is spoken of again. Women must wear knickers to cover the top of their stockings with a long-sleeved loose sweater to cover their seat when standing or a long-sleeved blouse with a short tunic and knickers to cover the top of their stockings. Tights without knickers are not permitted.
Above – The NPI ladies with their new look. Lucy Desmond was to later write on the back of the photo – ‘Our first shorts. Very daring in them those days’.
1931
At the ladies’ team championships, Mrs Metson of London is one of the judges; she is the first lady to judge a national championships.
1932
In January, it was confirmed that there would be no competition for women at the Los Angeles Olympics. There will be exhibition work for women of 16 plus members. It would not be possible for the UK to take part in this due to the cost. It was decided that the men would not compete also due to the cost.
At the AGM, the executive members are usually voted in en bloc. Mr Billson, husband to Dorothy Billson, the first lady champion, nominated MIss JM Shaw for the executive. Voting took place, but there was no change in the usual members: men only.
1933
During May a national team competes against Holland and Belgium in Rotterdam. The team is composed of Stanley Humphreys, T Parkinson, W Walsh,, and George Whitaker, all from England, plus Arthur Whitford and Harold Davies from Wales. The result is Holland 603.75, Belgium 572.50, England 538.5. (It seems as though Great Britain was always known as England).
Stanley Humphries writes,
“The hall where we competed held about 4,000 persons. It was the longest competition I was ever in, starting at 7.30 pm, and I remember it was about 1 am before I got dressed, after keeping up the prestige of old England by showing what good losers we were”
The Adams Shield is repaired and renovated with the addition of bands on the front to accommodate future years’ engraving.
Above – The new Adams Shield as featured in the Gymnast Magazine
1934
The affiliation payment to the International Gymnastics Federation is raised from 100 francs to 2000 francs. Consequently, the FIG 100-year celebration book, published in 1988, records that Great Britain did not join the FIG until 1936.
1935
The English Championships are held at the Ardwick Lads’ and Men’s Club in Manchester. Bovril is supplied to all competitors in what is likely the first sponsorship of a gymnastics event.
Above – Poster for the 1935 British Gymnastics Championships with sponsorship of Brovril.
A report is given on the men’s Summer training course at Sutton Coldfield. The primary object was to start men’s training for a team to go to Berlin for the 1936 Olympic Games. The two-week course was mapped out by Walter Standish of Swansea, the Olympic coach and assisted by Alfred Bradley, English champion 1901 – 1903. The playing field and the gymnasium of the Bishop Vesey Grammar School made an ideal spot for a training course. The British men train for 2 weeks at the Bishop Vesey Grammar School in Sutton Coldfield in preparation for the 1936 Olympics.
Above – The British hopefuls trained at Sutton Coldfield. Alfred Bradley and Walter Standish flank Mr Widdowson (centre with moustache). In the end, they do not travel.
1936
Team GB compete at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Read full report on the 1936 Olympics. Last Olympics before outbreak of World War II.
The photo shows Edna Earl competing on the Uneven Bars.
The Gymnast magazine ceases.
1937
The annual report presented to the AGM shows the nine London members, one of which was Miss Taylor. One member from each of the affiliated organisations is included on the Executive Committee. All 28 Vice Presidents are men.
Above the 1937 annual report showing nine London members inc Miss Taylor
1938
In June, two teams of lady gymnasts totalling twenty one travel to Ostend for the Belgium Festival. One team represents the north and the other the south of England. Various elements are in the programme; five apparatus for the individual competition, team exercise in rhythmic exercise, national dances, and fancy dress. Mrs Carrie Pollard, North and Mr Bill King South are the two instructors.
Above – 1938 Ostend gym festival R5 Winifred Taylor Clarice Hanson 5th Dorothy Smith R3 2nd Joan Watnough 4th Pat Hirst. R1 Mary Hoddy, Edna Gross Phyliis Ellis Front Carrie Pickles
1939
A men’s international contest takes place between Wales and England in Swansea. England wins, but Wales is handicapped as multiple British Champion Arthur Whitford is injured and unable to complete his routines.
Above – This programme is part of the Harold Davies archive. All of the English team have signed the back page with Harold’s signature on the front.
Pre 1900 | 1900 to 1939 | 1940 to 1980 | 1981 to present
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