If you have any photos of the late Bill Norris or photos of Bill Norris Gym, people training etc, please submit them for possible inclusion. CONTACT STAN:

Photos courtesy of Colin Norris & Malcolm Whyatt, secretary of the Oscar Heidenstam Foundation.
These wonderful Photos of Bill's Gym below are courtesy of Steve Truglia.
A TRIBUTE TO OUR FRIEND BILL NORRIS WHO RAN ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS GYMS IN ENGAND. BILL NORRIS GYM.
Webpage layout by Stan of Stan's Gym Upminster as a memorial to Bill Norris.
Bill is greatly missed.
BILL NORRIS GYM 10 LEADER AVENUE LONDON. by Stan Earle.

Bill Norris became a friend about 30 years ago. I was to pass my instructors course under Bill's supervision in around 1980. Bill used to encourage me when I was competing in shows. I remember watching Bill full squat a huge weight in front of 500 people, and won the world record squat for the over 60s and over 70s at a London show. Bill full squated 347 1/2 1bs. Years latter when Bill was nearly 90 years old, I remember speaking to him on the phone. I asked Bill if he was still training, Bill said that he had recently stopped training. Bill and I went on to talk about our faith in Jesus, Bill told me how he had been born again of God's Holy Spirit a number of years ago. We praise Jesus together. Bill clearly loved Jesus. It was the last conversation we had, the next time I tried to contact Bill, I was told that Bill had died. I was saddened. The world has lost a great man. I thought to myself, Bill's not dead, Bill was alive in Jesus, saved, washed in the sinless blood of Jesus that Jesus shed at Calvary. Bills faith was in his risen Lord, Bill had simply fallen asleep in Jesus, and now serves Jesus face to face in God's Kingdom. I know that it was Bill's desire to see all men and women come to faith in Jesus, have their sins forgiven, and to end up in Heaven with him. Written by Stan of Stan's Gym Upminster.

 
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY PHOTOS OF BILL NORRIS TO ADD TO THIS SITE. PLEASE E-MAIL ME STAN EARLE. THANK YOU.

I would like to take this opportunity to offer my condolences to Bill's wife and his family for their great loss.
Here is an article found on the Internet.
I am not sure who by. It read like this.
Hi Michael,
Hope it's all going well with the NPA mate. I am certainly training very hard. On the subject of BB history in the UK, I have another little gem. In about 1976 I trained for a while as a schoolboy at a little know about gym run by a guy called Bill Norris. This is his history from muscle memory:
Bill Norris,
1954  Mr Britain - HSL, Masters, 1st
1955  Mr Britain - HSL, Masters, 4th
1957  Mr Britain - NABBA, Masters, 1st
1958  Mr Britain - NABBA, Masters, 4th
1959  Mr Britain - NABBA, Masters, 1st
1960  Mr Britain - NABBA, Masters, 2nd
1961  Mr Britain - NABBA, Masters 40+, 3rd
1962  Mr Britain - NABBA, Masters 40+, 3rd

The amazing thing about this guy was that his gym was in the garage beside his house. He pushed us to do deep breathing, slow, high rep squats and loved it when one of us threw up, usually in his front garden. He would roar with laughter and shout, "Sick Job, Sick Job!"
Last week I decided to go see if he was still alive. I drove around the streets trying to remember the route I'd walked 33 years ago. I almost gave up when I tried one last road
and a neighbor guided me to the house. I instantly remembered it and tentatively knocked on the door. Unfortunately Bill passed away last year aged 92, but his wife Irene is still alive and very well. I asked her what became of the gym in the garage and to my utter amazement she said, "It's all still there!" Well I opened the door and there it was, exactly as it was back then, and a few guys still train there. I'm looking forward to doing the odd workout there myself for old times sake. I thought you guys might like to see these pictures I took last week.

It's an incredible little place.
Artical written by Steve Truglia.
Photos of Bill's Gym to the left are also courtesy of Steve Truglia. Thankyou Steve.
Bodybuilder Mike Williams
Bill Norris’ name is synonymous with bodybuilding,
he also opened
his gym just after the Second World War. Bill’s gym was on a much smaller scale
in comparison to Wag’s and minus those intimidating photos (thank God), that’s one of the reasons that I started training at Bill and the other was because from the first time I met him in the mid–seventies I was mesmerised by the man. He was living proof that if you worked hard, you could achieve whatever you set your mind to.
He by then had already won the senior NABBA Mr Britain title no less than four times, first time was in the fifties, and he was also a BAWLA multi title holder.

Even though I was not well educated I was still astute enough to know that I was on to a good thing in being in this man’s company. He must have seen something in me (or felt sorry for me) because he was much more stricter with me than he was with the other two lads (Linford Webb and Alphonso White). He started me on a programme that required me to train three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) doing all my body parts each session - one exercise and three sets per body part. I did this religiously for about a year though there  were a lot of  times when I felt like quitting, it was not because I didn’t like the gym. No it wasn’t that simple, as I have already said, I loved the gym. But there were three guys at the gym, who made it their God given right to take the mickey out of the three

black lads in the gym. Our three tormentors were Terry, Keith and last but certainly not least Mick Ferris. These three use to make our lives a misery with their constant bigoted comments. With hindsight I have a lot to thank these three for, because on those cold and dark gym nights back then, the more they use to take the piss out of me the more I would train, I would think to myself I am going to show you guys one day, but it still wasn’t’ nice at the time. I have met these three on numerous occasions since then and I they know that I haven’t got any ill feelings towards them. I said earlier that there were only three black lads in the gym at the time which is not quite correct, there was another but I would not describe him as a ‘black lad’ for he was more like a Man Mountain, Barry O’Brien.

Not many people out side the world of Power-lifting would have heard of him, but I was one of the lucky ones. When Barry was in the gym training everyone would stop and watch him.  Every one was in awe of him (including my three tormentors). He was as strong as he was intelligent, he was British Light Heavy Champion more times than I can remember and used to lecture at Brunel University. When Barry trained everyone would stop and look, he like myself would train Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and I always used to make sure that I was training the same times so if I went earlier I would wait until he had arrived.

Needless to say I wanted to be like him, and the closest I got to remotely being anything like him was when I graduated from being one of his watchers to being one of the people he’d ask to spot him when was doing one of his lifts that required him to use all the weight in the gym (yes, he’d use all the discs available). Before he retired because he was fed up with all the drug abuse in the sport, Barry came second to Larry Pacifico in the World Power Lifting Championships in the late seventies  - then he retired from the sport. I missed his presence in the gym but as you can gather I have never forgotten the strongest man I have ever met.

Bill Norris treated me like a son and it wasn’t because he didn’t have any, he had two sons, Collin and Terry, they both competed in Power lifting and Bodybuilding in the late sixties, seventies and eighties. They are both still involved in the administration side of bodybuilding. Bill used to enter me in power lifting events and through his fate, belief and persistence I became Junior Home Counties Power Lifting Champion in 1975, and I held the title for three years. I gave up the title when I became twenty, because I had to go in the seniors and I felt the gap was too big. The only way I could bridge the gap at the time was if I had taken drugs and that was out of the question.

I turned to Bodybuilding, and I found the training quite different in comparison to Power Lifting, and I had to do more sets and reps.. Needless to say I wasn’t enjoying my training as much anymore but I persevered with it.

Bill Norris in 2003 at a charity dinner where Joan Rhodes was the guest speaker.
Photo taken by Malcolm Manning. Malcolm.Manning@xtera.com

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