Member News
‘Blaydon Races’ is one of North East England’s most famous anthems, a folk song dating back to 1862, written by George ‘Geordie’ Ridley to celebrate the horse races held at Blaydon in Gateshead.
Written in local dialect, it is now synonymous with the annual Blaydon Race, organised by North East harrier and athletics club Blaydon Harriers. It is held annually on the 9th of June since 1981, a date signified in the famous line ‘twas on the 9th of Joon’ (sic) from the original song.
Over the years, hundreds of thousands of people, including a number of Commonwealth and Olympic athletes, have run the 5.8 mile route. Starting in central Newcastle, the run takes in Scotswood Road, before heading over Scotswood Bridge and finishing near Shibdon Road, Blaydon.
Now the race logo, which features that immortal line, ‘twas on the 9th of Joon’ has been trademarked by the club. Blaydon Harriers and Athletics Club worked with our dedicated trademark attorneys at Ward Hadaway, which included partner and chartered trademark attorney and head of intellectual property, Bill Goodwin, trademark attorney Sonia Burgess, with support from trademark paralegal Jowita Koloda.
Speaking about the work to trademark the race logo and famous lyrics, Sonia said; “Ward Hadaway has offices in Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle and we’re dedicated to supporting the local communities in those areas. A number of our people are members of Blaydon Harriers, which organises this iconic annual race. So when we discovered the race name and logo weren’t trademarked, we wanted to put that right and help protect the heritage of this beloved event.
“We undertook the work as a pro-bono project, so that for as long as the race is in existence, The Blaydon Race logo including that famous line associated with it, ‘twas on the 9th of Joon’ will be forever entwined and protected.”
Trademarks are essential for safeguarding brand identity, preventing unauthorised use, and maintaining a competitive edge in the market. Ward Hadaway's trademark services are designed to protect and strengthen an organisation’s brand. To learn more about how Ward Hadaway can help in registering and protecting your trademarks, please contact Sonia Burgess on sonia.burgess@wardhadaway.com for more information.
To find out more about the Blaydon Race, visit https://www.theblaydonrace.co.uk/
