Blaydon Races
The earliest mention of horse racing in Blaydon was on Shrove Tuesday 1811 when there was racing at Newburn Haughs for a plate of £12.The keelman would go around sword dancing in the surrounding villages and the money they collected was either given as prize money or used to buy prizes. These races were held at the same time as the hoppings which were held at the ‘Spike’ ( Blaydon Haughs) with foot races run on the Turnpike between Blaydon and Swalwell.
The race course was on a stretch of ground alongside the river called the ‘Guards’ or the ‘Sands’, however when the first Blaydon railway station was built on this land in 1835 racing at Blaydon ended.
But a day at the races is too good to lose and the races were revived in 1859, and of course the railway made travel to Blaydon so much easier.
It was such a success that an official meeting was organised for 1861. Early June was becoming Tyneside’s unofficial holiday week. The Northumberland plate staged on the Town Moor was a racing classic – the Blaydon races were more fun and rarely graced by ‘The Fancy’. The Hoppings were really the main event with the races as an added attraction. The new race course was on ‘Blaydon Island’ which was about a mile in circumference, level and oval in shape and for the first time the fixture was listed in the British Racing Calendar, which put it on an official basis.
Buses with outside seats ran every hour from Newcastle and steamers brought passengers from North & South Shields. From the railway quay there was frequent service of ferry boats bringing the railway passengers to the course and people from the south bank crossed over by pontoon bridge which was made from keels lashed together. In this way the crowds converged on Blaydon intent on a good day out!
The meeting was a complete success and at night the streets were crowded with people enjoying the festivities – apparently without any evidence of drunkenness! At 9pm there was a ball held at the Blaydon Mechanics Institute with music provided by the Blaydon Amateur Band.
more info here
winlatonhistorysociety.btck.co.uk/OLDBLAYDON/BlaydonRaces