Aad Radcliffe
Aa went for a waalk the other day
and stopped and gazed at the heaps of claay
Aye, this was where aad Radcliffe stud
Here amang aal this clarts and mud
And for a while
Aa started t’ smile
Thinkin aboot the way it waas
In Lang and Cross And Centre Raas
Leslie and Styebble Raa,
Dandsfield Places
Nowt their noo but open spaces.
Nae Club
Nae Pub
Nae Post Office or store
No, there is nowt left any more
Gone wor aal the gardens full of tetties
Gone wor aal the middens and the netties
Aye, nae mair hen or pigeon crees
And nae mair youngins climbin trees
Nae mair lads playin snooker in the ‘tute
Nae mair wives hingin weshin oot
Nae mair singin in the Chapel
Nae mair youngins pinchin the Manager’s apples.
Aye, aal them daays are past
There’s nowt there noo but opencast
But still aah think of yisterdaay
An aal the games we used ti plaay
Doon in the claay park
Runnin roond till it waas dark
Aa can still see the men
Quoitin at the end of the raaw
Aye and youngins plain muggies
There an aa
Wives seekin waater wi their pails
The Postie on his bike wi the maail
The aad wives gannin ti the store
And standin takin for an oor or mair
Aye, it was a grand place for a crack
But some folk went… and forgot t’come back
Aa wonder if it will iver be the syem a-gen
Are aal them folks happy where the’ve gone
Livin in Amble wiy aal their mod cons
Aa still think it waas an aawful pity
When they pulled doon Radcliffe
The Holy City.
John Griffiths
(Mid 1970s)
