'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog

Subject: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: Mark Dowding
Date: 19 Jul 09 - 10:33 AM

Chris Harvey Pollington and I have just finished a documentary about the days before and after the ending of the steam age on the railway.
It can be heard on the Music Well HERE

The documentary was inspired originally by the 40th anniversary of the end of regular steam operation on British Railways. It serves as an aural record of music, poetry and recollections of railway workers and enthusiasts alike and offers a balanced view between the romantic and the realistic standpoint held by those who cared for what now seems a lost way of life.

The contributors are Dave Goulder (and some of his songs), Stanley Accrington and Les Barker. These are the people folies will be aware of. We also interviewed people that we knew or were introduced to who had worked or are still working in the railway industry. These people are Trevor Howson, Jack Heaton, Arthur Bennett, Warren Eastham, Mary Goulden, Tommy Leatherbarrow, Frank McLoughlin, Lol Thorpe and Paul Mackenzie who we also asked to narrate the script for us. There's a fair bit of music in the show illustrating the stories that are being told which makes an interesting link between folk music and the railway industry.

As usual we have hours of recordings that we made of everybody talking to us that we had to leave out - most of which is as interesting as what we eventually used - but it's still available for another show or if anybody just wants to listen to it.

Hopefully you'll have a listen and let us know what you think.

Cheers
Mark

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: Ian Hendrie
Date: 19 Jul 09 - 11:25 AM

'Blue clicky' hyperlink won't work for me.
What's the web address?
Ian

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: Ian Hendrie
Date: 19 Jul 09 - 11:29 AM

Found it : http://www.themusicwellhome.co.uk/

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: Leadfingers
Date: 19 Jul 09 - 09:36 PM

Mark's Clicky worked for me and took me straight to the relevant bit !

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: Eric the Viking
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 01:00 PM

Tried it twice but no luck. Site opens but stays silent.

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: Eric the Viking
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 02:37 PM

Aha. Got it to work. Really excellent stuff. Thankyou.

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 02:51 PM

Being a Yank, I couldn't always understand some of the broader accents, but I hung around for the songs. I really loved the music! Nostalgia for the heyday of steam locomotives is something that Americans and British share in common. I'm guessing it's the same in many other parts of the world as well. When I was 15 I rode the overnight train from Rome to Paris and I can still feel the rhythm of the rails as I watched the sun setting over the Mediterranean from the carriage window. I remember my clothes being covered in soot from leaving the window open all night as well. ;^)

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 03:16 PM

A couple of the people we interviewed are in their nineties - Jack Heaton is 94 I think and Tommy Leatherbarrow is 93, Frank McLoughlin is coming up for 82 and they've lived in the West Lancashire area all their lives and retain the accent. I know it can be a bit difficult to listen to if you're not used to the accent but stick with it - any questions let me know and I'll translate!

Glad you're enjoying it.

Cheers
Mark

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: Mark Dowding
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 03:17 PM

That was me above - had to reset the cookie!
Mark

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: topical tom
Date: 21 Jul 09 - 11:12 AM

The link worked fine for me. Can't listen to it all right away but I certainly will. Thanks! It's a fine programme.

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: Mark Dowding
Date: 24 Jul 09 - 02:50 AM

Refresh

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: Ian Fyvie
Date: 28 Jul 09 - 04:25 PM

We have a Railway Song theme night at Brighton Cellarfolk every summer.

The next one is SOON - 11th August (Tuesday fortnight - and why am I not at the club tonight.....).

It's loose of course, as we'll have the City of New Orleons from one of our regular supporters; and I expect some other singers will dive into the US railroad tradition - as that's what most people know.

But the idea is to highlight the fact that the UK has a substantial clutch of songs about our national railways - and we'd particularly welcome anyone with songs about 'Black Fives', the L&NER, Saltash Viaduct?; etc.

So... August 11th, Cellarfolk Song Club, Round Georges pub, Sutherland Road, Kemptown, Brighton. we start by 9pm.

Ian Fyvie

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: GUEST,jeremygharrison
Date: 21 Nov 16 - 06:35 PM

Blundering around the interweb I found this thread, and sought the prog - but with the apparent demise of the Music Well, it is no longer at the link above.

So wondering if it is available anywhere else?

Jeremy

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: maeve
Date: 21 Nov 16 - 06:38 PM

Jeremy- I encourage you to contact the owner as he asks at that same link. Worth a try! http://www.themusicwellhome.co.uk/

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 22 Nov 16 - 09:25 AM

Ah - the dreaded PRS - wtf has PRS got to do with folk?

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 22 Nov 16 - 10:58 AM

It is on mixcloud at the moment, without a track list


https://m.mixcloud.com/boolong/lost-days-of-steam-radio-documentary/

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: GUEST,jeremygharrison
Date: 22 Nov 16 - 07:11 PM

Thanks, just what i was after.

Jeremy

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: GUEST,CJB
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 11:32 AM

They had one about Harry Boardman too.

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: GUEST,CJB
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 11:35 AM

The Lost Days of Steam

http://www.themusicwellhome.co.uk/programme.aspx?path=LostDaysOfSteam

A programme about various aspects of the railway industry featuring stories from railway workers and songs from folk singers who have an interest in railways past and present

A Job for Life - Start at 14 and finish at 65.

Stories of railway life - Life as a fireman on the footplate and how to handle runaway trains.

An accident at Parbold station in Lancashire as told by an eye witness porter and two signalmen.

'The Romantic View' and 'The Rundown to Privatisation' - Stories and songs about trains such as Altcar Bob and how the Beeching Axe affected workers in the railway industry.

====

Welcome to 'The Lost Days of Steam', a documentary inspired originally by the 40th anniversary of the end of regular steam operation on British Railways. It serves as an aural record of music, poetry and recollections of railway workers and enthusiasts alike and offers a balanced view between the romantic and the realistic standpoint held by those who cared for what now seems a lost way of life

Folk music has always had a resonance with the railway world. There are those who have lived in both worlds and through this medium drew on their experience to create classic songs, some of which we include in this presentation.

Railway workers themselves recount tales which are never mundane but can be humorous or tragic. Their work was often a job for life and we talked to those in signal boxes, on the stations or on the footplate to grasp a clear picture of those far off days.

The programme:

"A Job for Life" – This was a phrase that came up on many an occasion when we were talking to people and is illustrated by the song 'A Servant of the Company' by the late Paul Connor of Manchester and sung here by Mark Dowding and Chris Harvey from their CD "The Old Potts Railway"

Dave Goulder - one time fireman who wrote many songs about life on the railway
"Footplate and Runaways" – Dave Goulder and Arthur Bennett recall stories of how working on the footplate wasn't always the best job in the world if the fireman didn't get on with the driver – especially if it was your first day on the footplate and you couldn't raise enough steam to keep the engine rolling thus delaying all the traffic behind you or hanging on to the brake for dear life whilst a hundred tons of engine tried to resist gravity going down a steep incline and coming off worst. A couple of Dave's songs are used here – "The Footplate Song" and "The Day We Run Away"

"Accidents" – Parbold is a small station on the Southport to Manchester line and in 1971 a freight train ran through the gates taking a car up the line with it. This story is recounted by the station porter who was on duty at the time and two of the signalmen who worked in the signal boxes in the area – but not on this day. Another song of Dave Goulder is used here sung by Mark Dowding and arranged by Chris Harvey Pollington – "Ais Gill" – which tells the story of a tragic accident on the Settle-Carlisle railway on Christmas Eve in 1910.

"The Romantic View" – There has always been a rose tinted view of the railway in some people's eyes but the Axe wielded in the wake of Dr Richard Beeching's controversial report "The Reshaping of British Railways" published in 1963 brought into sharp focus the amount of jobs that would be lost and also produced some of the best songs including Michael Flanders' and Donald Swann's "Slow Train" (sung here by Mark and Chris) and more lately "Altcar Bob" by Paul Mackenzie, "Midland" a poem by Les Barker and "Last Train" by one-time station master and now folk singer Stanley Accrington.

"Rundown to Privatisation" – Railway workers from stations, signal boxes, footplate and engineering works tell how the effects of the Beeching Axe and the subsequent rundown to privatisation in the 1990's made its mark on their lives. "In the Sidings" by Cyril Tawney is a song he wrote about the Beeching Axe in contrast to the more usual songs about his Naval career.

The Programme Makers

Chris Harvey Pollington and Mark Dowding have been collaborating on folk music projects for several years now. Their first project was about the songs of Lancashire folk singer Harry Boardman which resulted in a CD called "A Mon Like Harry". This led to their first programme for the Music Well "Harry Boardman - The Man and His Music" which is available to listen to on the archive section of this website.

Their mutual interest in railways led to a CD commissioned by the Shrewsbury Railway Heritage Trust featuring a song written by the pair of them called "The Old Potts Railway"
The 40th anniversary of the ending of the Steam Age inspired them to record conversations with working and retired railway workers and folk singers with an interest in railways with a view to putting together this programme which they hope you will enjoy listening to.

Chris Harvey Pollington and Mark Dowding
The Lost Days of Steam ©2009 Cock Robin Music

For more information about this programme email Chris on [e-mail] or [e-mail]

Subject: RE: 'Lost Days of Steam' - Music Well prog
From: GUEST,CJB
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 11:37 AM

Harry Boardman "The Man and his Music"

Presented by: Ali O'Brien

A look back at the folk music career of Harry Boardman as seen by some of his many friends and colleagues in the folk world including Mike Harding, Alan Bell and Bernard Wrigley

The programme starts in the early days of the folk revival then goes through the Golden Age of Lancashire Music highlighting Harry's contributions and influences over the years.

Discussion is made of the LP recordings, Radio and Television work that he did by the people that were involved such as Bill Leader, Alan Bell and Baz Barker.

Finally there is a retrospective look-back at the memories of Harry and the legacy that he has left us since his untimely death in 1987.