It has been immortalised in song and its words known to every true Geordie - but what do we really know about the Blaydon Races?We know it was on the 9th of June, eighteen hundred and sixty two, on a summer’s afternoon when a bunch of lads and lasses set off from Newcastle to see the event.
The song, written by Geordie Ridley, mentions Geordie celebrities of the time and real locations. And the Blaydon Races became a Geordie anthem with a well-deserved place in the life of the region. See the full lyrics here. Ahead of this year’s event, we take a look at the origins of the famous lyrics and things you might not have known about the song.
Do you have to know the words to be considered a Geordie?
The first verse and the chorus, yes, but we’ll let you off for the rest. Not for nothing has the song been adopted by Newcastle United fans, and later Newcastle Falcons rugby fans as a rousing singalong to get in the mood for walloping the opposition.
It must have been a famous road race then?
What are you blathering on about? The modern Blaydon Races may have been about runners but this Blaydon Race was a horse race. It was, however, a highlight of the social calendar with thousands of spectators converging on the track at Stella Haugh, the later site of Stella Power Station, with the last recorded race held in 1916.
“There were lots of lads and lasses there, all with smiling faces, going along the Scotswood Road to see the Blaydon Races” best sums up the carnival atmosphere of a trip from Newcastle to Blaydon.
So all those places really existed?
It’s no accident that the bus trip starts from Balmbra’s Music Hall in Cloth Market, Newcastle, as this was where Geordie Ridley first performed the Blaydon Races to a no doubt appreciative audience.
The Blaydon Races is rooted in music hall tradition rather than folk music tradition and Ridley was not averse to name-checking himself in the lyrics with a cheeky reference to selling tickets for “Geordie Ridley’s show at the Mechanic’s Hall in Blaydon.”
The trip really happened then? They really did get on the bus at Balmbra’s and away they went along Collingwood Street?
Alas, the account of the trip is fictional although the bus route may well have taken in Collingwood Street.
The song mentions real places such as Armstrong’s factory at Elswick, the Chain Bridge across the river, and Paradise.
Paradise sounds nice but it was actually a reference to the local dump, no longer with us, so our happy band of revellers would have been anxious to get to Blaydon as quickly as possible.
What does seem to be true that the rain poured all the day and an appeal to find out who stole the cuddies really did happen, as reported in the local press at the time, so what we have is a fictional account based on a real event.
Video: Indonesian Newcastle United fans sing Blaydon Races - in Indonesian
So those people in the song, they really existed?
Coffee Johnny was a blacksmith in Winlaton, a bare knuckle fighter in his spare time, and a member of the Winlaton brass band.
It’s the very tall Coffee Johnny who wears a white hat in the famous painting of the revellers by William Irving which also features other Geordie notables of the time.
There are two stories about how he got his name - one is that he liked a cup of coffee and the second is that he was of mixed race and it was derived from the surname of his mother, Sarah Koeffer. The song also mentions Dr Gibbs and Jackie Brown, the lad selling tickets to one of Geordie Ridley’s concerts.
Geordie Ridley has earned his place in Geordie history.
He most certainly has although there was a suggestion the Blaydon Races bears a resemblance to an earlier Pennsylvania folk tune called On the Road to Brighton, written by Lon Morris in the 1850s, which was also about the adventures of a group of people on their way to a horse race.
But we know which song is the best one, don’t we, and it’s not the American one.
Didn’t I hear a version mentioning Bobby Robson?
You most certainly did. It was made for the Bobby Robson Foundation in November 2009 Jimmy Nail, Kevin Whately and Tim Healy of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and included an additional verse which went: “And now a word for Bobby Robson, hero of the Toon; A football man, a gentleman, who never let we doon, a friendly word, a cheery smile, and brave right to the end; We’re proud to say your one of wors, Sir Bob... Auf Wiedersehen.”
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