Here’s a nugget of historical information for you. Most people are familiar with the Geordie anthem ‘Blaydon Races‘ but I bet not many people can claim a link to it, even if it is a bit tenuous.
Here’s the second verse…
We flew past Airmstrang’s factory
and up to the ‘Robin Adair‘
Just gannin’ doon te the railway bridge,
the bus wheel flew off there.
The lasses lost their crinolines off,
an’ the veils that hide their faces.
An’ aw got two black eyes an’ a broken nose
in ga’n te Blaydon Races
Well, my great grandfather William Heads (1859-?) lived in a house marked on the 1861 census as No.7 Robin Adair public house, Scotswood Road. It is possible that the pub had rented rooms, however it is more likely that there was a row of unnamed houses next to the pub, quite a lot of streets didn’t seem to have official names in those days.
The famous ‘Blaydon Races‘ song was first performed by George Ridley on 5th June 1862. He performed it at the Wheatsheaf Inn in Newcastle’s Cloth Market which was owned by a gentleman called Bambra (the name the pub holds today). As the first line of the song points out, the date of the event was the 9th June, so it is historically assumed that George was writing about the previous year’s race event – the year of the 1861 census.
I wonder if little William Heads, his father Christopher and mother Jane actually saw the bus wheel fly off?
Oh, and would you believe that little William Heads grew up and married Mary Ann Ridley, thats her on the far right of the website banner! (no link proved though….yet!)
update : go here and click on the 2nd link for a nice downloadable brochure on the history of the Blaydon Races song including all the verses!
