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Telford's Bridge

from Who Was Here by Walters & Warner

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about

The navigation canals that criss-cross England are magnificent feats of engineering and recall a gruelling but picturesque lifestyle. Typical of adventurous Victorian engineers, Thomas Telford chose to take his canal in a flying leap of iron 120 feet above a river.

John did NOT cross this bridge in a canoe, he walked across holding Margaret's hand.

lyrics

Her age might be forty, though wrinkles tell lies
And long years of labour are drawn in her eyes
She puffs her old pipe, leaning outboard to see
Where Telford's great bridge spans the vale of the Dee.

Her husband's asleep in his close, narrow bed,
After 15 hard hours, he could scarce raise his head,
It's seventy feet from the helm to the bow,
She leans to the tiller, it's her turn right now.

Chorus:
So butter some bread, Sally, brew us some tea,
For it's cold on old Telford's Bridge over the Dee.

It's a fine narrowboat that she handles with skill
On the Shropshire Canal as it weaves through the hills,
With coal for Llangollen, or roof slates for Chirk,
Three children to manage and long hours of work.

Her Sally's below brewing tea hot and strong.
If she's owt like her ma, she'll be courting e'er long.
Aye, then there'd be childer before you could know,
And small enough room in the cuddy below.

(Chorus)

She's painted the buckets with rich love and care,
Wild roses and castles run riotous there,
But there's no time for fantasy, dreams & such stuff
For the cut's narrowed down to the Bridge's lean trough

The aqueduct's channel is seven feet wide,
With a stout iron rail on the broad towpath side,
On the off side there's nothing, no shelter at all,
She steers from the hatchway, 3 feet from the fall.

The Dee's foaming waters roar distant below
The wind up the valley will bluster and blow,
And six-year-old Ted sits up high on the horse,
But she's seen it before & she steers a true course.

(Chorus)

Captain, the Clydesdale, bows his noble mane,
And plods proudly on through the fierce scuds of rain,
The towline curves upward, wind-snatched to the lee,
And ninety-five tons rides high over the Dee.

The steam engine's coming, or so she's been told,
But she'd not trade old Captain for all the Queen's gold,
And there's Tom a-waking, he'll soon want his tea,
Where Telford's great bridge spans the vale of the Dee.

(Chorus)

credits

from Who Was Here, released March 30, 1997
John Warner (1994)

license

all rights reserved

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Margaret Walters image

Margaret Walters Sydney, Australia

Rock solid, Margaret's voice is right where it needs to be, whether delivering a clarion call for social justice, a tender lullaby, a lively or poignant folk tale, an uplifting hymn to Mother Earth, a rousing work song of the yardarm or an up-yours from a feisty lass. Margaret usually sings unaccompanied, favouring the folk tradition and some select contemporary writers. ... more

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