Blaydon Race runners to set off with 1861 hand bell

The Blaydon Bell is usually on display in the Newcastle Story Gallery at the city's Discovery Museum

Thousands of runners are preparing to set off for a six-mile race immortalised in a folk song.

The Blaydon Race - from Newcastle to Gateshead - was marked by a 19th Century folk song of the same name by George "Geordie" Ridley.

The event - originally a horse race - was held from 1861 to 1916 when it was cancelled because of riots.

The hand bell which started the races 162 years ago will be used to set off 4,500 runners from Newcastle Quayside.

The brass bell which has "Blaydon" inscribed on it is usually on display at the city's Discovery Museum.

It will be rung by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle Veronica Dunn.

Ms Dunn said: "I am thrilled at the prospect of ringing the bell that started the very first Blaydon Race over 160 years ago.

"It's an important artefact in the proud history of the North East."

The painting The Blaydon Races - A Study From Life was completed in 1903 by William Irving

The original Blaydon Races and Fair was a major event on Tyneside in the 19th and early-20th centuries.

Artist William Irving captured characters from the Geordie anthem at the boisterous event on canvas in 1903.

His artwork depicts a large open carriage being pulled by a team of white horses, acrobats or boxers, card games, big tops and revelry.

Kylea Little, keeper of history at Discovery Museum said: "The ringing of the bell to signal the start of the race has become an important part of the heritage and tradition of the much-loved event.

"It is the very bell that the town crier of Blaydon - John 'Broon' Brown - would have rung all those years ago, in 1861."

The bell was given to the former Municipal Museum of Science and Industry in 1945, which then became the Discovery Museum in 1993.