Blaydon Races

From the album 'A Legend Evermore'. This is a collection of nineteen songs telling the history of the Blaydon/Winlaton area of Tyneside. 'Winlaton Coal' is the first song then carry on through the playlist to hear the full story, ending with Summerhill Sunset.
The 'Blaydon Races' legend and song are a matter of great pride to Tyneside folk. The song lyrics, written by Geordie Ridley (1835-1864), tells of the five mile journey from Newcastle west to Blaydon on race day, 9th June 1862, and of the characters and incidents along the way.
The history of the actual horse race meetings is a fascinating and chequered one. It is believed the races go back to 1811, first on Newburn Haugh then on land near where Blaydon railway station is now situated. The Hoppings, a travelling village fun fair, visited Blaydon Haughs (The Spike) at the same time time as the races, so it was all quite a big social event. Sadly, the building of the Newcastle to Carlisle railway, which opened in 1835, brought these informal ‘point to point’ meetings to an end.
In 1859 plans to revive them at a new site came to fruition and after a successful trial period the first official meeting was held in 1861. It was now an accredited meeting on the British Racing Calendar. The circular track, of about one mile circumference, was on Blaydon Island (also known as Dent's Meadow). This was a large island in the River Tyne, situated between Blaydon, on the south bank, and Newburn Haugh, on the north bank. A unique location! The 1861 meeting ended with an evening dance at the Mechanic's Hall in Blaydon. The great success of the event resulted in a repeat the following year, on 9th June 1862, when the arrangements were similar. Music Hall artist Geordie Ridley performed his new song, The Blaydon Races, at Blaydon Mechanic's Hall that same evening. The first performance had been at Balmbra's Music Hall in Newcastle just a few days earlier when it was used to exhort people to attend. The meetings then continued on annually until 1865 but by then Geordie Ridley had gone. Tragically he passed away in 1864, aged only 29. He had never recovered from the serious pit accident he suffered as a young man.
Blaydon Island ceased to exist after improvements to the river by The Tyne Improvement Commission. The TIC was created in 1850 to improve the navigability of the river which had been badly neglected. It set about improving river depth by dredging, smoothing out some bends in the river and removing some river islands. There were a few islands between Dunston and Blaydon, one being Dent's Meadow (aka Blaydon Island), the site of the races.
Finally the races were revived once more in 1887 and held on a track a little further west, on Stella Haugh. Initially they thrived but by the late 1890's they were in decline. Despite this, they continued up to 1916 when civil disorder, caused by a dubious race result, caused the authorities to close down the meeting. There were concerns about misbehaviour and security, it being war time. The song meanwhile had been fervently adopted as an anthem, sung at public gatherings and at Newcastle United football matches. It was of such universal appeal that to this day it remains synonymous with Tyneside and the Geordies, and is known throughout the world.
A big celebration of the races took place at the centenary, 9th June 1962, with a huge parade starting at Balmbras and ending at Blaydon. It included decorated floats, vintage vehicles and so on, also lots of ancillary events. Thousands of folk turned out to see it. A similar event was organised by an enthusiastic committee on 9th June 2012, to celebrate 150 years. For many years now there has also been a five mile road race over the route, which attracts elite athletes as well as enthusiastic joggers. It too is very well supported. So in these activities, as well as the continued popularity of the anthem, the Blaydon Races legend lives on.
www.rolyveitch.20m.com

[@seanohartaigh2209]

This is really good footage it gives a great insight into great sunny days of the past. A lot of families from Pomeroy settled there and Elsie Daly used to bring the horses over to sell. I'm not sure did they sell them over the the course of the festival or just in general. Does any one have a video of the races?

[@BlaydonAces]

Hello Sean. Thanks for your comment. That's interesting about Pomeroy, I never knew that. Somewhere along the way I've seen a very short movie clip of the actual races, only a few seconds of very grainy cine. I've just been searching for it on CZcams to no avail. I think it must be a very small part of some longer video. If I find it I'll let you know. Best wishes. Roly.

[@TynesideLife]

Hi, I love your version of the song and I’d like to use it for a video I’m doing about the Blaydon races on my channel. What do you think? Eddy 😊

[@BlaydonAces]

Hello Eddy. Thanks very much and sure you can use it for your video if you wish. Shall I Email you an MP3? I see you have an Email contact address on your channel. I've subscribed and will have a look at your stuff. PS. Nice to see Eddie Howe doing a great job. Roly.

[@TynesideLife]

@@BlaydonAces that’s great Roly thank you very much! I’ll credit you in the description.
Thank you for subscribing too 👍🏻