A good read (joe mallen chain maker )

Mickeyg · Sep 19, 2012

A friend found this and posted it on another forum I thought some of you staffy lovers would like it to ...

Black Country Bugle (1973) said:

Joe Mallen is a throwback to a past Black Country era! At 82 years of age, he is remarkably agile in both mind and body, living proof that “hard work never killed anybody”, for Joe was a “Big” chainmaker for over fifty years, working in an environment beside which “Dante’s Inferno” pates into a gentle glow. He wielded a hammer, which few men could handle, with a dexterity which made him a legend in a town of tough chainmakers — but it was his dogs, Crossguns Johnson, Gentleman Jim and The Great Bomber which made his name a household word wherever men talk of Staffordshire Bull Terriers. The oldsters will tell you that Joe was a hard man, and his dogs were hard, for in his heyday “the Stafford” earned his keep or wasn’t worth keeping. The pampered pets who perform in today’s parade rings may look the part, but as Joe says:
“There’s still some good dogs about — but they’n bred the guts out on ‘em.”

THE CORINTHIANS OF
THE BLACK COUNTRY
Joe was born in Cradley Heath in 1890, as close to the heart of the Black Country as you can get— a mere 82 years ago, but as distant as the Dark Ages from the town today. Like the hamlets which clustered its boundaries, Cradley Heath was a thriving, thrusting “boom town” of the New Iron Age, populated by tough chainmakers, colliers and quarrymen who worked hard and played harder!
Their status symbol was no shiny car or colour TV. but a dog, whether it be bull-terrier or whippet and a man was usually judged by the canine company he kept. Joe became licensee
of “The Cross Guns” in 1921 — with his kind of thirst it was just as well he had a pub of his own—and the “local”, off -Five Ways, Cradley Heath, became a sporting club for “dog men” from miles around. Like the Corinthians of the previous century, who embraced the blood sports, particularly the prize ring — Joe Mallen’s cronies admired, above all else, raw courage whether it be in man or beast. Unlike the Regency dandies, they dressed in moleskin trousers, heavy boots and the proverbial cloth cap with a muffler, or silk scarf if the occasion demanded it, wound flamboyantly over a collarless flannel shirt. It was said that they didn’t make collars big enough for chainmakers’ necks in those days and the tradition still lingers among the few tough, old characters who survive from that era.

OLD DAYS GONE
The busy canals of Joe’s youth have become silted spectres of the great arterial waterways which pumped the blood which kept The Black Country’s heart beating! The pit-men are a dead tribe and the hand chainmaker is a very rare species in the ‘ jungles of the “Dark Land” today. A great era is dead but its ghosts still haunt the diminishing pit mounds and antiquated “pubs” which have survived 20th century "improvements”.
The Act of 1835 placed the “blood sports” outside the bounds of the law, but old customs die hard and Joe Mallen early days were spent in the company of a ‘"hare-coursing, dog - fighting” fraternity into whose midst he was born. His father bred whippets but later turned his interest to bull terriers. With such legendary oldsters as Steve Bannister and Jack Garratt, he formulated “The Rules” which were rigidly adopted whenever matches were made between the fighting dogs of The Black Country. They were remarkably similar to the Old Prize Ring Rules, which had governed bare - knuckle fighting a few decades before. Reproduced on the opposite page, they prove
Book” to prohibit dog fighting.
Joe was already well versed in the breed, a quick-witted lad with a hunger to learn more. Thus began the apprenticeship in breeding which was to make him the greatest authority in the game in later years. His tutors were his own father, Old Steve Bannister and Jack Garratt, men who had spent a lifetime in the game and passed the lore accumulated on to Young Joe.
He tried his dogs with the best he could find. They didn’t merely have to “look the part” but possess, in full measure, the innate courage and fighting fervour for which the bull- terrier was famed. The old Black Country adage, “An ounce tew a fowl, is a pound tew a dog, an’ a stoon tew a mon,” had governed the blood sports from the first and Joe followed the old tradition — training his dogs to a hair and never over-matching them. He built up a great reputation which even the old men in the game had to admire — gradually producing a strain of fighting
that bull terrier matches were no mere impromptu, back-street brawls but carefully organised trials of strength, determination and courage fought out under a code of conduct as explicit as it was hard.
Although Joe held such store in the pedigree of his dogs, he never had the inclination to trace his own lineage. But it is generally accepted that the Mallens, Maleys and Males of The Black Country sprang from the loins of the wild, Irish boyos who came “across the water” to work as “navigators” when our canals were built at the end of the 18th century. The O’Malleys settled in various places along the new waterways and there is little doubt that Joe could trace his ancestry back to this line. He still has the “blarney” of his
Hibernian forebears and an impish sense of humour. The passing generations have hardened the soft Irish burr into the distinctive dialect of The Black Country. In his youth, he was a sudden man with his fists and just as quick to make up a quarrel.
So much for the melting pot from which the iron in Joe Mallen’s character was forged. We find him, in the early years of this century, already a young giant, wielding a hammer with the ease of Thor, and possessed by raging thirst to purchase a bull-terrier of his own. He bought his first dog from Jack Challoner, a Salvation Army man who found nothing in the “Good
as a non-breed at Crufts in 1936. Joe went along with his dog, “Cross Guns John son” and got the “Best Dog” award. One of Tom Walls’ eleven entries was made “Best Bitch” — but Joe’s dog beat her in the final to emerge “Best Exhibit”.
Unfortunate Cross Guns Johnson was “run over” shortly after returning to Cradley Heath but Joe already had “Game Bill” in the pipeline. He took this dog to Crufts in 1937 and won two “firsts”. However, other local breeders were striving for perfection and Jack Birch, from Old Hill, beat Joe in the final with his dog “Vindictive Monty”.

GENTLEMAN JIM ARRIVES
How Joe came by “Gentle man Jim” — the greatest Stafford of them all — is a story in itself. Jack Dunn, from Quarry Bank, was a workmate of Joe’s at Griffins. Joe had given him a bitch called “Triton Judy” who produced a litter, sired by Brindle Mick — the founder of the “M” line. To cut a long story short, the future champion was
dog which had no equal in the land.
Bull-terrier men came from miles around to put their champions down with Joe Mallen’s breed but, like their canine contestants, usually left Cradley Heath with “their tails between their legs” and pockets empty.

Left to right: Jack Barnard, Joe Mallen (Judge) and Mr I. Johnson pictured at a Three Counties Show.

FOUNDING THE CLUB
With Joe Dunn, from Cradley, and a few other enthusiasts, including Harry Pegg (owner of Fearless Joe), Jackie Birch (Vindictive Monty), Joe was responsible for forming The Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club at The Cross Guns in 1935. Mr Tom Walls, the actor, was responsible for “The Stafford’ being shown
“left in the nest” and Joe bought him from Jack Dunn for £1. He named his new pup “Gentleman Jim” and it was the start of a wonderful partnership.
Joe took Gentleman Jim to Crufts in 1938 and got two “seconds” in the puppy class. Despite his obvious potential in the show ring, Gentleman Jim was no pampered show dog. He had to earn his keep and reputation in the time-honoured manner, fighting and defeating any challenger who turned up at The Cross Guns. Joe recalls that he fought and defeated three game dogs in one afternoon and lost a fang in the process. All this went on in the months leading up to the
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Source:

SBT Fun[/quote]

Mickeyg · Sep 19, 2012

Joe the chainsmith

[youtube]_KMU1OS5vGw[/youtube]
Part 1
[youtube]gHkSYZMefHY[/youtube]
Part 2

Taken from an old BBC documentary featuring Joe Mallen and some of his Staffordshire Bull Terriers......[/quote]

lil mayhem · Sep 19, 2012

Nice read, thanks

MCS · Sep 19, 2012

Great read, thanks

AGK · Sep 19, 2012

Very interesting read. Thanks for sharing!

david63 · Sep 19, 2012

Love reading anything on joe mallen and 1 hell of a dog man too. Hey thanks for sharing.

redrumdog · Sep 19, 2012

You guys ever notice how those old timers dressed? They always wore suits and overcoats.

Mickeyg · Sep 20, 2012

Glad ya like it peeps I talk to a old boy who is a terrier man he went and got some dogs from joe many moons ago and says he was a good man and loved his dogs and his game cocks

Herodog1 · Sep 20, 2012

Good read,

I seen the clips on youtube before. Very interesting. I think he was quoted as saying that a good stafford should hate the sight of every other dog.

Gregp · Sep 20, 2012

Thank,s Mate for Posting it.

tommy1985 · Sep 24, 2012

thaks for the post, enjoyed that

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A good read (joe mallen chain maker )

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A good read (joe mallen chain maker )

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