In 1887, at the Northern ground behind Jesmond Church, Tynedale appeared for the first time in blue and white jerseys and beat Northern by a goal, a try and three minors to a try and three minors. News of the victory was relayed to a large crowd outside the Post Office in Beaumont Street in Hexham.
The Mechanics Band greeted the players and the trophy at the railway station at Hexham as the special train steamed in. To the strains of “Here the Conquering Hero Comes” the procession set off up the hill to Priestpopple, then turned into Fore Street which was so packed that the team could scarcely force a way through to the White Hart entrance.
The captain, Tom Robson, was carried shoulder-high into the hotel; the cup was brandished from an upstairs window, and the excited crowd cheered again and again until the captain made a speech to those massed below.
The team toasted their triumph inside at the celebration supper and the crowd only dispersed two hours later at eleven o’clock when the National Anthem brought festivities to a close.
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In 1906 at the North Road ground, Newcastle, Tynedale beat Percy Park by 11 points to nil. The crowd at Hexham station, jubilant and vociferous, harnessed themselves to the brake and hauled the team up to the market-place, where the popular captain, George Spencer made “the speech of his eventful lifetime”.
The members of the victorious team were all later presented with gold medals subscribed by 137 supporters.
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In 1911 Tynedale were victors by 7-6, again against Percy Park, at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle ground. Jack Scott, the stand-off for Tynedale who dropped a four-point goal to see Tynedale home, was later carried shoulder- high to the club’s ’headquarters’ in the North Eastern Hotel.
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In 1914 after a pointless draw with Percy Park, who were the opponents once again, Tynedale won the replay by a penalty goal and two tries to a penalty goal. The match was played at the County ground, Gosforth. The Northumberland Rugby Union had taken a 15-year lease on the Gosforth Cycling Tracks at a cost of £80 per annum in 1912. (The County finally purchased the ground in 1923).
A large crowd met the team at Hexham station at 10pm that evening. A brake had ropes attached to it so that the team’s admirers could drag them all in triumph to the Market Place. The home-coming was marred by a tragic accident. More of this later.
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In 1927 the victory over Northern by 5-3 sparked off the usual scenes in Hexham. A band played, a big crowd welcomed the team in the Market Place before they adjourned for a celebration supper at the Royal Hotel. It was thought that the try-scorer Geoff Robson left his horse tethered nearby, all ready for his long night ride home to Bellingham!
For four successive years Tynedale won the Cup, 17-0 v Old Novos in 1933, 9-6 also against Old Novos in 1934, 13-11 v Northern in 1935 and 23-21 v Gosforth in 1936. Played into Hexham by the Excelsior Band fervent enthusiasm had become customary.
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By the time Tynedale won their 10th Northumberland Senior cup final, in 1948, the arrangements had changed. Firstly, the team travelled by bus, not train; the records don’t show that they were welcomed by a band or that they visited the White Hart, the North Eastern Hotel or the Royal Hotel. However, a little later there was a ‘Celebration Dinner’ at the George Hotel, Chollerford, so they may not have all have been teetotal.
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TRAGEDY
After their fine victory in the Senior Cup in April 1914 a brake meeting the team at 10pm at the station had ropes attached so that it could be hauled up to the Market Place.
The brake had only gone 30/40 yards on the journey when a little boy aged 9 years was found to have been knocked down. The boy, Thomas Marmion, was injured, in great pain, but conscious. He was taken home where a doctor attended to him. He was diagnosed as having a fractured thigh and internal injuries, from which the poor boy died soon after midnight that evening.
The boy’s mother was a widow. Her husband had been killed in an accident twelve months earlier at Hexham Gas Works.
The inquest could not establish whether Thomas had been run over, as his brother who had been nearby, thought, or whether he had fallen and been trampled on or kicked in the crush of the crowd, as the doctor who attended suspected from the nature of the injuries.

We are indebted to Robert Macfarlane for this piece of history, as it does not appear to have been recorded in Tynedale’s club records. He found the details in the Hexham Courant.
Robert has a special interest in this tragic fatality because Thomas’s mother was a Featherstonehaugh, and the sister of Robert’s grandfather. That makes him Robert’s first cousin removed.
Robert tells us that he is now chasing John Clark to get his castle back!
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