Going my Nan’s old slide and was told a story about this guy…

Jimmy Silk – Ironman of Hotwell’s, Bristol

The guy on the right is my grandfather and worked from Pooles Warth, Hotwells, Bristol.

Jimmy Silk could carry two Hundred Weight [Long] bags of coal or cement. Thats about 100kg 😯 all day long. Not the now Spanish Health & Safety size of 25kg 😉

Date circa 1970

Jimmy Silk – Ironman of Hotwell’s, Bristol by SGMTB, on Flickr

Yeah, right. 😆

That little skinny bloke could carry 100kg all day long? Let alone lift what would be I’d imagine nearly twice his own weight?

Do you still believe in Father Christmas?

That little skinny bloke could carry 200kg all day long?

2 cwt [as the man said] is ~102kg

There was a speedy edit uplink. Speedy, and sneaky.

EDIT: in the OP

Yeah but he’s only 35 in that picture, he’s been worked to exhaustion 🙂

Yeah, hasty edit shh don’t tell no-one…

Still a load of cobblers though in’t it? Come on; 102kg is a colossal amount. Almost 16 stone. So, that little bloke could heft nearly 16 stone baygs, all day long? No chance.

Gotta love old wives’ tales though. 🙂

Going my Nan’s old slide

Is that a euphimism?

BTW, 25kg is not a limit, it’s a guide.

Almost 16 stone

BTW – 2 cwt is exactly 16 stone

Still a load of cobblers though in’t it? Come on; 102kg is a colossal amount.

Only for a londoner, where a skinny latte* and an ipad is a taxing load.
Out in the country it’s chicken feed.

* I don’t actually know what a skinny latte is. I’m guessing a low fat milky nescafe, but if anyone can help me out I’d be grateful.

Apparently there was an article in the Bristol Evening Post and I’m still looking for it.

Ok, I weigh 62kgs or thereabouts; just under 10 stone.

I’ve just lifted a bar with weights, a combined 50kg. Heavy, but I’m sure I could lift another 10-15kg at least.

So, not impossible for that skinny bloke to lift 102kgs, if he was ‘in training’, but not to heft that amount around all day. Not a chance in hell. He’duv had heart attack within the hour.

I don’t actually know what a skinny latte is. I’m guessing a low fat milky nescafe, but if anyone can help me out I’d be grateful.

Pfft. Don’t ask me mate, I’m not a ponce. 😐

I’m pretty sure that this summarises perfectly what the World was like pre ‘elf ‘n’ safety..

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QMiCBJ7yRM[/video]

Probably the all day bit is an exaggeration. But my Nan swears black and blue that he could lift carry that weight on his shoulders.

The place was Poole Brothers and Galbraith, Hotwells. All it is now is trendy flats and 911’s.

Mind you some of them dockers were strong as ox’s.

I’ve just lifted a bar with weights, a combined 50kg. Heavy, but I’m sure I could lift another 10-15kg at least.

Pah! Victoria Pendleton weighs the same and can do 120Kg.
And she’s a girl.
A country girl mind.

I had a job once [late 70s sometime] unloading peas as they came in from the farms, these were in 12 stone [75kg] hessian sacks
we used to lift them between two off us of the truck and tip them down a hopper

I was only a kid then but most of the blokes there took one each off the truck, it was all piece work
They did this all day long with just a couple of breaks

Depends on how they need to be lifted too though. Off the back of a lorry is one thing, off the floor is something else.

But he’s only 35…

Depends on how they need to be lifted too though. Off the back of a lorry is one thing, off the floor is something else.

I thought I said – off the lorry

They had to walk around 25yds with them on their back lean forward and cut the string and empty them over their shoulder
All day long

If you think that it’s easy because it’s not off the floor, there you go

I used to throw 20kg blocks of cheese around all day, not quite the same weight, it’s all in the technique, innit?

If you think that it’s easy because it’s not off the floor, there you go

Did I say it was easy? I said it was easIER.

Blessed are the cheesemongers.

😉

If you think the guys unloading the trucks were tough, you should have seen the farm girls that loaded them 😉

Don’t be fooled by a slight stature, it used to be said of coal miners that the physical nature of the work would turn some men into beef and others into wire. Some guys would get bulky and muscle bound from the work and others would instead become scrawny, but they’d both be just as strong.

100 kg over the shoulders of a strong man is not that heavy as a one off. Don’t know about all day long, but an ‘Iron man’ could probably heft that weight numerous times in a days work. Sounds reasonable tbh.

I’ve known a lot of very strong weedy blokes. I think size has very little to do with strength. Therefore I believe Redthunder’s nan’s story.

and…

How does this content get on Goolgle so fast ?

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ironman+of+hotwells&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a#sclient=psy&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=fy8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB%3Aofficial&source=hp&q=ironman+of+hotwell&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=4556e706bf640e28&biw=1920&bih=860

SEO?

SEO?

I know that… but it’s like greased lightning 🙂

I can see how he done it, the clues in the pic.

Just spoke to my 96 year old nan. She reckons she still has the news paper cutting. I’ll get it tomorrow and scan it in.

I can see how he done it, the clues in the pic.

No, those donkey’s are drunk, Jimmy Silk is carrying them home to sober up, look at the eyes of the one on the right – he’s totally munted. Those hay bails are the donkey equivalent of a post pub kebab.

Sounds reasonable enough to me.
Used to work for a marquee firm and would carry the bags of roof canvas on my back, ~80kg dry, over 100kg wet. I’m about 75kg.

Plenty of heavy shifting in that job. As above, the guys that could do the work were either big (few front row rugby lads) or lightweight guys.

Quite funny watching new guys think they can lift them and then getting flattened as the bag comes off the van.

No, those donkey’s are drunk, Jimmy Silk is carrying them home to sober up, look at the eyes of the one on the right – he’s totally munted.

It’s the 70’s he’s a hippy Donkey.

Actually – he looks a bit like Boris Johnson

That’s one hell of a spliff.

That’s only a 100kg of feathers not hash, 100kg of hash is heavier than 100kg of feathers ;-).

2 cwt of your finest Mary-Jane in that one.