fourth tier of the English rugby union system and a high level considering the size of the town. The Crow Trees rugby ground is situated to the east of the town, in neighbouring Swalwell. Blaydon RFC play in red shirts and white shorts. The former England international Mick Skinner played for Blaydon. Their smaller but no less illustrious neighbours, Winlaton Vulcans RFC play in Durham and Northumberland Division 2 and number Ken Goodall, the former Ireland and British Lion International, as one of their former players. They play in black shirts, shorts and socks with the club badge of an arm gripping a hammer over an anvil depicting their heritage being formed from the steelworking heritage of the area. Since 2013 Blaydon has also been host to Blaydon Cycle Club, meeting weekly and throughout the week catering from novice cyclists right through to having a race team competing in local and national events. Notable people Alun Armstrong, former professional footballer with Ipswich Town F.C. and Middlesbrough FC Peter Armstrong, the poet and psychotherapist, was born in Blaydon. Sir Thomas Clavering, 7th Baronet, owner of Axwell Hall Joseph Cowen, 19th century politician and journalist Graham Onions, Durham and English cricketer Bert Tulloch, former professional footballer with Blackpool Gavin Webster, stand-up comedian William Widdrington, 4th Baron Widdrington, owner of Stella Hall Culture Live jazz and rock music is regularly performed at the Black Bull pub near Blaydon Bridge. Although many pubs were demolished during the refurbishment of the town in the 1970s, a number of pubs still exist in and around the precinct, along with the Staffs (formerly the Railway Staff Club). The Blaydon and District Social Club - a former working men's club - and the Blaydon House Sports and Social Club (formerly the Conservative Club), which occupied the house of the nineteenth-century Doctor Morrison, and was reputedly the oldest building in Blaydon, were both demolished in 2020–2021 to make way for housing. The façade of Blaydon House was incorporated into a new building. The Masonic Hall on Blaydon Bank was closed in 2015, with Lodge meetings transferring to Ryton Masonic Hall. See also Ottovale coke works References External links Video and pictures of Blaydon Towns in Tyne and Wear Unparished areas in Tyne and Wear Former civil parishes in Tyne and Wear Gateshead