{"id":1758,"date":"2026-01-01T06:59:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T06:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=1758"},"modified":"2026-01-01T06:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T06:59:14","slug":"end-of-an-era-as-world-famous-black-country-gym-set-to-close-after-67-years-with-all-equipment-going-to-auction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=1758","title":{"rendered":"End of an era as world-famous Black Country gym set to close after 67 years &#8211; with all equipment going to auction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Jim Charles is calling it a day &#8211; three months after hosting his last bodybuilding show at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bhillcivic.com\/\">Brierley Hill Civic Hall<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Sign up for our FREE weekly Nostalgia Newsletter &#8211; with scores of archive pictures and exclusive features on the history of the West Midlands &#8211; all sent to your inbox every Friday. Sign up <a data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.shropshirestar.com\/newsletters\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1764848838244000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0z02L_l-OXui8Ic9ARbEuq\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shropshirestar.com\/newsletters\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>:\u00a0<\/strong><a data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/expressandstar.com\/newsletters&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1764848838245000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0K-GlmkGofx0IZLjZSnzHg\" href=\"http:\/\/expressandstar.com\/newsletters\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>expressandstar.com\/newsletters<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The 86-year-old grandfather of five has decided it\u2019s time to ditch the heavy lifting after 67 years of running his renowned community gym in Lye, near <a href=\"http:\/\/expressandstar.com\/news\/local-hubs\/dudley\/stourbridge\/\">Stourbridge<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It will be the end of an era for Jim, who lives in Quarry Bank, after a lifetime of dedication to the sport of bodybuilding &#8211; training, championing and promoting aspiring athletes and fitness fans some of whom have trained with him for 50 to 60 years.<\/p>\n<p>The legendary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jimsgym.fitness\/\">Jim&#8217;s Gym<\/a> has over the years welcomed big names in bodybuilding including Bill Pearl, John Brown and Edward Kawak. Former GB Olympic hockey player Sally Walton also trained there before winning a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympic Games.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"w-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/resizer.nationalworld.com\/4d5ae014-d8a0-4120-afce-71c3aa09239c.jpg?tr=w-300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/resizer.nationalworld.com\/4d5ae014-d8a0-4120-afce-71c3aa09239c.jpg?tr=w-300 300w,https:\/\/resizer.nationalworld.com\/4d5ae014-d8a0-4120-afce-71c3aa09239c.jpg?tr=w-600 600w,https:\/\/resizer.nationalworld.com\/4d5ae014-d8a0-4120-afce-71c3aa09239c.jpg?tr=w-900 900w,https:\/\/resizer.nationalworld.com\/4d5ae014-d8a0-4120-afce-71c3aa09239c.jpg?tr=w-1200 1200w\" sizes=\"@media (min-width: 1024px) 65vw,95vw\" alt=\"Jim Charles, legendary Lye bodybuilding gym boss and show organiser for NABBA, is retiring. He's been running his iconic bodybuilding gym for 67 years. Photo: Tim Sturgess\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"w-full max-w-none\"\/><figcaption>Jim Charles, legendary Lye bodybuilding gym boss and show organiser for NABBA, is retiring. He&#8217;s been running his iconic bodybuilding gym for 67 years<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The biggest name in bodybuilding &#8211; Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger &#8211; never actually made it to the gym but stories about Arnie\u2019s early days on his journey to becoming Mr Universe have been told and retold countless times within its walls.<\/p>\n<p>Jim has spent many hours recounting tales of how he met the young Schwarzenegger in London when he first arrived on the bodybuilding scene in the UK in the 1960s and how the young Austrian took the industry by storm.<\/p>\n<p>The veteran gym boss was among the officials at NABBA (the National Amateur Bodybuilding Association) watching on as Arnie posed his way to success &#8211; winning the NABBA Mr Universe class 1 title four times in a row from 1967 to 1970.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.expressandstar.com\/news\/business\/2025\/12\/03\/end-of-an-era-as-jims-gym-in-lye-set-to-close-after-67-years\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jim Charles is calling it a day &#8211; three months after hosting his last bodybuilding show at Brierley Hill Civic Hall. Sign up for our FREE weekly Nostalgia Newsletter &#8211; with scores of archive pictures and exclusive features on the history of the West Midlands &#8211; all sent to your inbox every Friday. Sign up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[270],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1758","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-international-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>End of an era as world-famous Black Country gym set to close after 67 years - with all equipment going to auction - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=1758\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"End of an era as world-famous Black Country gym set to close after 67 years - with all equipment going to auction - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jim Charles is calling it a day &#8211; three months after hosting his last bodybuilding show at Brierley Hill Civic Hall. 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