My good friend Harry Boardman and Roy Palmer, both sadly deceased published a book in 1984   simply entitled "Manchester Ballads". As it's title suggests, it was a collection of songs gleaned from various sources detailing Manchester's history during the industrial revolution and beyond.Songs about cotton, coal, war,love and a host of other topics, which had a link with Manchester and Lancashire. The collection of songs was originally published by the history dept of Manchester Education Commitee and to my knowledge was never available generally and for a period a number of copies were in our home gathering dust, before being returned to Lesley, Harry's widow, where as far as I'm aware, they remain to this day.
As I say,I become very close to Harry and his family during the seventies and was involved in folk clubs in various locations in the city. Most were, like many a club, short lived until 1977, when Harry opened a club at The Unicorn in Church Street, Central Manchester which ran until his shock demise in 1984.
In common with many people,notably Harp and a money, I always held that Harry gained the recognition he deserved, whereas people like Bernard Wrigley, The Oldham Tinkers and in particular, Mike Harding went on to gain national fame
I had virtually given up and resigned myself to the sad fact that the book would lie in Lesley's house for ever.
Enter Edward 2, a band I have always admired from their very brave early efforts to fuse English folk dance and song with rhythms of the Caribbean. The band has recently embarked on a project which they have christened "Manchester's Improving Daily"after the title of a song in Manchester Ballads and as I understand from a conversation I had with Simon Care, the intention is to release a full cd of songs from the cd, from which a sampler has already been released.Naturally, I
am delighted that Harry's enormous contribution not only to the heritage of his native county,but the national folk scene are finally being recognised. I mustn't forget however forget the hard work that Mark Dowding has put in over the years to keep Harry's name alive.