"A Mr. Harding sort of England, hanging in there by a thread."

Mr Harding was the subject of an earlier song by Maggie Holland, "A Proper Sort of Gardener". A retired brewery worker, he was the gentle gardener in the house she grew up in in Alton, Hampshire, the head brewer's house.

From Mainly Norfolk; Maggie Holland sang her own song A Proper Sort of Gardener. on her 1992 album Down to the Bone. She commented in the album's sleeve notes: "I was exclusively a singer of other people's songs who didn't believe she could write, until 1987 when Jon Moore persuaded me to do so through a combination of nagging and encouragement. Initially, he also wrote tunes for my words; included are Sandy Hill, Never Too Late, and A Proper Sort of Gardener. The latter is, like all the best once-upon-a-time stories, completely true; the Bass beer factory still stands on the site of Mr Harding's garden in Alton, Hants. Mr Harding was recently laid to rest in the same graveyard as my parents."

And now the brewery too is no more than a memory. In 2014, Heineken announced that it would not be renewing the contract and, as a result, Molson Coors embarked on a review of its UK brewery network. That resulted in the brewery's closure in May 2015 to end 52 years of brewing on the Manor Park site, and the loss of 108 jobs. According to CALA Homes, it will be working closely with Molson Coors and East Hampshire District Council "to deliver a sustainable, residentially-led, mixed-use scheme that will provide much-needed housing in the area".