MEN OF IRON

MEN OF IRON

 To the country at large

They sounded and spoke funny.

But, these men of iron

Worked so hard for their money.

 The searing, blistering heat

Was a dark ‘Hadean’ ordeal.

Black Country muscle and sinew

Forged the links of British steel.

To quench them through the toil

Deep in the Devils lair.

Foaming ‘Banks’s’ ale,

In jugs of cracked earthenware.

Hour after hour of hammering links

For the mighty ships chains.

These men of iron

Earned a pittance for their pains.

Walking miles to their labour,

Past the cut in the sun.

With the Great War approaching

Holding hammer instead of gun.

They came from Netherton and Cradley

Lye, Gornal and Halesowen.

Short cut through the ‘Brewus’

“That’s where us am a gooin”.

The pride of the Black Country,

Iron deep in their soul.

God fearing and white hearted,

Though black as Tipton coal.

It’d be remiss not to mention

In fact really quite wrong,

The hardened women,

Who worked as hard and long.

The Iron ladies of Cradley Heath

 Withdrew their labour in 1910.

To strike for fair wages,

So, as to compare with the men.

The strain on their muscle,

The effort the Black Country gave.

We’re forever in their debt,

For helping Britannia rule the wave.

Phil Hall  March 2013