The Spike

To listen to Roly singing the song and watch a slidehow of accompanying photographs, click here.

Near Blaydon was a little place

Down by the riverside

No longer there, the houses gone

But memories aren't denied

Of Blaydon Haughs just by the Tyne

The Spike as it was known

The folk who lived there were a clan

And always helped their own 

With terraced rows not much to view

Back yards with outside loo

Yet home sweet home to those inside

Who loved the place, its true

And by the river was Hogg's Field

Where children used to play

While nearby in the factories there

The Spikers toiled all day

They even had a castle there

Its name was Turret Place

A Selby home in bygone times

But then it fell from grace

Sir Joseph Cowen bought the house

By then in sad decline

Made tenements for navvies

Who were working on the Tyne.

What characters they had down there

With strange nicknames indeed

Like Teacake, Sausage, Wompa, Scone

Their wit was quick, take heed

The Spike it was a special place

So often this is said

By those who lived there long ago

These Spikers born and bred  

I’m gonna go down to Blaydon Haughs
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside

Down by the riverside
Gonna go down to Blaydon Haughs
Down by the riverside
But I aint gonna see the Spike no more

Gonna see Townley Street no more

See Cowen Street no more

Won't see the dear old Spike no more

Gonna see Victoria Street no more

Pioneer Street no more

Won't see the dear old Spike no more