Photos of strongmen decorate the bare brick walls above frames full of gold medals – blackened by the passage of time. Men and women with flexed muscles and puffed cheeks, straining to push huge iron dumbbells over their heads, have been a familiar sight at the legendary Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club for a century.
But those grunts and groans seem even more determined today.
For the drafty hall in the heart of London’s East End – probably the oldest powerlifting club in the country – is under threat.
Established after the First World War in a nearby building to give soldiers something to do, the world renowned club has produced hundreds of champions and legendary lifters.
Head coach Martin Bass claims Tower Hamlets council have refused to engage with his club
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Image:
Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
Today, however, its members are preparing for a contest like no other – against being evicted from the building on January 31, by its owner Tower Hamlets Borough Council.
No reason was given to end the life of the 99-year-old club – a community-run non-profit organisation – which now has a petition going to save it. But, amid the clatter of weights and machines in the gym tonight, there is a united resolve not go down without a fight.
Head coach Martin Bass points to some of the pictures on the walls, as he tells The Mirror: “Thousands of people have passed through this gym in the last 100 years and some have written their names in the history of weightlifting.
“It’s the people who have made this place. There are gyms with much better opportunities, but this one is known around the world.
“It was a real shock when we got the letter from the council. The Section 25 notice provided no reason for the eviction, and they still haven’t given us an answer, except for saying the area is to be redeveloped.
“We’ve been requesting a face-to-face meeting ever since, but they haven’t returned our phone calls. But we ain’t going to roll over. If this place closed down after a century it would be a disaster.”
The earliest register of the weightlifting club is a photo from 1926, but Martin believes it first sprang to life in 1918, in a nearby Working Men’s Institute.
Head coach Martin Bass after he first joined the club in 1970 aged 22
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Surviving World War II, it moved to its present location, close to the famous curry houses of Brick Lane, 77 years ago in 1948.
Many of the weights and equipment in the club are just as old. And the space itself has hardly changed – apart from the ever-growing number of names and accolades won by members, displayed on its walls.
Certificates showing world records they have broken adorn an entire wall – so many, admits Martin, that ”we lost count years ago.”
Among them is Eddie Pengelly, or ‘Little Eddie’, one of only four Brits in the International Powerlifting Federation Hall of Fame. A multiple world champion, he set over 30 world records before his death in 1994, aged just 45.
Another former member, George Manners, represented Britain at the 1964 Olympics and won two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games, dying in 2021 aged 83.
He was famously photographed lifting aloft Diana Rigg, who played Emma Peel in The Avengers, at the height of his 60s fame.
Then there is Ernie Parks, a lifelong member who is still lifting weights today, aged 82. Ernie, who joined in 1966, then a sprightly 22, followed on from his grandfather, an instructor at the club from 1931.
Among Ernie’s records are the world unequipped deadlift record and the British dumbbell swing record.
Photos of the club’s trophy-winning members adorn the club’s walls
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Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
He says: “I joined a few years after I left the army, and within four years I was competing at the 1970 Commonwealth Games.
“The thought of the club closing is just awful. It has produced many of the world’s greatest powerlifters. But whether you are a record holder or just an ordinary person wanting to get better, there’s no difference. You get the same help and the same encouragement.”
Martin, who was also 22 when he joined in 1970, says the ethos of the club – set up to help soldiers struggling to get back to normal life – survives today. Those who can pay a membership fee. But anyone struggling can train for free.
“It’s a safe space,” says Martin. “You can be white, black, fat, thin, any sexuality. When you come through the door you’re welcome and we treat you with respect. That’s what we’re known for, being a welcoming gym where people can just come in.
“And if anyone’s in trouble we rally around and help them.We’re a community and everyone buys into it.
“Many people come with different stories. One fella served in Afghanistan, others have felt suicidal. We don’t ask them though, it’s none of our business. I want to produce good lifters, but if that helps people in other ways, that will do for me.
“One day a woman came in with her little son, she’d just arrived from Ukraine. She didn’t know anybody, and no-one here spoke Ukrainian, but you don’t need to speak the same language, you just need to be nice to people and make them feel comfortable.
Charlotte Macauley said she cried when she first heard that the century-old club was being evicted.
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Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
“Her little boy just used to look at the floor. I don’t know what happened to him but it’s probably not something nice.
“But this is a happy place and his mum is still with us two and a half years later. She recently came fifth at the British Championships.”
The club is full just half an hour after opening time and doesn’t feel like a place that could close in two weeks.
Those training tonight vow to use the willpower they apply to powerlifting to resist any move by the council to turf them out.
Charlotte Macauley, 27, one of a growing number of women who train there, says she cried when she first heard that the century-old club was being evicted.
She joined after being struck down with Guillain-Barré syndrome in 2022 which left her paralysed for months. With the support of the gym community she was able to build back her muscle mass and regain her confidence and mental health.
She says: “If you just came in here and looked around you might not think it is so special. The showers aren’t great, it’s too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. But it is so special and I owe it so much. Women here are treated the same as the men, there’s so much respect.
“I was devastated at first, but now I’m just determined to fight. The club’s got such an amazing history and I’m inspired by all the great weightlifters who’ve passed through here.”
Paralympian powerlifter Ali Jawad set a world record to become World Champion in 2015
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Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
Also at the club today is Paralympian powerlifter Ali Jawad – another record breaker. Born without legs, he came forth in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, and in 2014 set a world record to become World Champion in his -59kg class.
Ali, who is training for the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles, says: “If this place closes I’ll have nowhere to train. Potentially, that means I’ll have to give up and stop completely.
“There should be more places like this in the community, rather than it being in danger of closing. It’s such an incredible place, where you really make new friends, who are in line with your goals and your dreams. It’s not just a gym, it’s a community.”
Arthur White, 76, agrees. A seven-time British powerlifting champion, four-time world champion and six-time European champion, he’s back at the gym because – he wants to make a comeback!
Arthur, who first joined the club in 1967, aged 19, points to another photo on the wall, showing the British powerlifting teams in 1979 and 1980
“Half the men competing came from this club. That’s how important this place has been,” he says.
Four-time world champion Arthur White wants to compete again in his 70s
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Image:
Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
“Its track record is phenomenal. It’s probably the most successful weightlifting and powerlifting club in the country, and it’s known around the world. It’s a no-nonsense gym that has helped many people, including me, become the best in the world.
“I have great memories of this place, there’s great camaraderie. That’s why I want to start training again and enter the over-70s competition.
“Look how busy it is right now. I could understand it if there were just a few people coming here, but this place is more popular than ever. It would be a great tragedy if this place is forced to close.” The club’s lawyer this week requested a suspension of the Section 25 eviction order, claiming correct procedures were not followed and is awaiting a response from the council.
Still hoping it’s just a misunderstanding, whether it is or not, Arthur speaks for everyone when he says: “We ain’t going.”
A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council said: “We understand and appreciate the club’s importance to the community and are keen to work with them to offer support and ensure they can continue as a valued organisation in our borough. We have reached out to the weightlifting club and offered them a meeting with senior officers to discuss next steps and are hopeful that a positive resolution can be agreed.”
- Sign the petition to save Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club here