Last Tuesday I rushed out from finishing my podcast Episode 15 and caught the train to Romford, just like so many times on Wednesdays, except this was to visit Romford Folk Club. It’s always on Tuesdays, so not the best fit with the weekly podcasts, but I’ve proven that it can be done in time without even missing the opening number. The guest artists were supposed to be from Yorkshire but because of some hiccup, a couple of musicians who normally host the folk club at Lee On Sea, Mick and Pete stood in at short notice and entertained all with a hearty selection of mostly Irish and Australian folk songs. I’ll be playing a guest spot myself at the Romford Folk Club in April next year, the 5th I think, but on Tuesday I played one Andy Roberts original song, The Last Nail.
The Romford Folk Club meets on Tuesdays at 8.00pm downstairs at the Sun, London Road, Romford RM7 9QA The Last Nail Lyrics Above the stone walled harbour, or down the winding hill That’s where they built the boatyard, and the structure stands there still. Not much boat building happens now, just repairs and fitting out but when the wind rattles the boatmasts, you can hear the old boatbuilders shout: Will you pass the last nail over and I’ll knock it into place, Then with four more coats of varnish, she’ll be ready for the race. Our grandfathers put up the boatyard, to build the fishing fleet, more than fifty boats in the harbour, and shops all down the main street then the steam age brought in the drifters, boat builders became engineers Now the wind blows straight through the boatyard, there’ll be no more boat building here Will you pass the last nail over and I’ll knock it into place, Then with four more coats of varnish, she’ll be ready for the race. With a keen eye for staying in business, they switched over to build leisure craft And the weekend yachtsmen snapped them up, no expense spared fore or aft Then wooden hulls went out of fashion, the order book emptied last year So the bankers foreclosed on the boatyard, and there’ll be no more boatbuilding here Will you pass the last nail over and I’ll knock it into place, Then with four more coats of varnish, she’ll be ready for the race. Now the Vikings invented the clinker for both strength and shallow seas and the herring boats followed the coastline, until the canning ships found the key There’s a regatta here every August, and the whole village turns out again But the Sea Queen’s no real competition, and it’s guaranteed to rain Will you pass the last nail over and I’ll knock it into place, Then with four more coats of varnish, she’ll be ready for the race. Above the stone walled harbour, or down the winding hill that’s where they built the boatyard, and the skeleton stands there still. No more boat building happens now, not even fitting out but when the wind rattles the boatmasts, you can still hear the old boys shout: Will you pass the last nail over, we’ll knock it into place, Then with four more coats of varnish, she’ll be ready for the race.
