A Mountain to Mourn
The words of the song are by Gerry Kearns but the tune is the Irish air to ‘Mountains of Mourne’.
Vocal: Gerry Kearns
Instruments: John Howarth whistle, Dave Howard mandolin and Gerry Kearns guitar.
They say that this Glodwick’s a wonderful sight
They call it the lows but it’s really at height
The rocks here are special and old to be sure
And the brickworks is high up on the geologist’s tour
The boulder clay entrance holds pebbles of all kinds.
Brought south by the glaciers in Pleistocene times
I hope they preserve them when they fill the space
With some soil or some rubble and landscape the place.
The strata before you has coal and some shale,
The Blenfire sandstone and a length of iron rail
From the days when the thick Oldham Grate was mined here
But there’s not been much coal dug for many a year
The roots of the trees from subtropical swamps
Can be found from the sands where old reptiles did romp
Some three hundred million or so years ago
When subtropical waters round Oldham did flow.
The fossils of fresh water mussels are seen
With names such a Carbonicola pulled clean
From the shale with their shells still in tact and shut tight,
And their growth lines so clear, all rusty and bright
The people of Oldham are caretakers now
Of this natural history upon Glodwick’s brow.
Those privileged to see Glodwick’s relics in stone
May have only the memories and a mountain to mourn
Vocal: Gerry Kearns
Instruments: John Howarth whistle, Dave Howard mandolin and Gerry Kearns guitar.
They say that this Glodwick’s a wonderful sight
They call it the lows but it’s really at height
The rocks here are special and old to be sure
And the brickworks is high up on the geologist’s tour
The boulder clay entrance holds pebbles of all kinds.
Brought south by the glaciers in Pleistocene times
I hope they preserve them when they fill the space
With some soil or some rubble and landscape the place.
The strata before you has coal and some shale,
The Blenfire sandstone and a length of iron rail
From the days when the thick Oldham Grate was mined here
But there’s not been much coal dug for many a year
The roots of the trees from subtropical swamps
Can be found from the sands where old reptiles did romp
Some three hundred million or so years ago
When subtropical waters round Oldham did flow.
The fossils of fresh water mussels are seen
With names such a Carbonicola pulled clean
From the shale with their shells still in tact and shut tight,
And their growth lines so clear, all rusty and bright
The people of Oldham are caretakers now
Of this natural history upon Glodwick’s brow.
Those privileged to see Glodwick’s relics in stone
May have only the memories and a mountain to mourn
Glodick Lows, just over a mile from Oldham centre is the site of an old quarry which although unsightly was of great geological interest and the quarry face was declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1989. The fear by the writer of the song was that these features would be lost in the reclamation and landscaping in the nineteen nineties. However on last visiting it was a much safer, pleasant and biodiverse place while retaining some geological features and so probably much more useful to the local community.
The words of the song are by Gerry Kearns but the tune is the Irish air to ‘The Mountains of Mourne’.
The words of the song are by Gerry Kearns but the tune is the Irish air to ‘The Mountains of Mourne’.
A MOUNTAIN TO MOURN.
‘A LANCASHIRE GRACE’ LFCD031
THE OLDHAM TINKERS
LIMEFIELD
Recorded by Dave Howard at his studio in Bury, Lancashire
Mixed and mastered by John Ellis and Will Falkiner at Limefield Studio, Middleton, Manchester
The words of the song are by Gerry Kearns but the tune is the Irish air to ‘Mountains of Mourne’.
Recording:- Dave Howard (Bury Lancashire)
Vocal: Gerry Kearns
Instruments:- John Howarth whistle, Dave Howard mandolin and Gerry Kearns guitar.
‘A LANCASHIRE GRACE’ LFCD031
THE OLDHAM TINKERS
LIMEFIELD
Recorded by Dave Howard at his studio in Bury, Lancashire
Mixed and mastered by John Ellis and Will Falkiner at Limefield Studio, Middleton, Manchester
The words of the song are by Gerry Kearns but the tune is the Irish air to ‘Mountains of Mourne’.
Recording:- Dave Howard (Bury Lancashire)
Vocal: Gerry Kearns
Instruments:- John Howarth whistle, Dave Howard mandolin and Gerry Kearns guitar.