Rakewood Remembered

Renee M Clark, Littleborough

I grew up in a hamlet at the back of a lake
As a child a joy to behold,
My memories are fall of laughter and fun
And there my future did mould

We all grew up as one big family
Our troubles and joys we would share
How happy we were in those days long ago
Beryl and me, what a pair!

I recall in this hamlet a cotton mill stood,
Where most of the villagers went,
The noise was tremendous when you were inside,
But that’s how their days were all spent.

There was Aunt Susie’s small shop, a hut and Co-op
Where most everything there was to hand
Sam’s wooden hut was a cafe as well
Where t’mill girls would all seem to land.

The Butterworths, the Whiteheads, the Smiths all dwelt there
All the names I remember so well
There were Farrars and Eccles and Cleggs up the road
And Nutters the farmers to tell.

There were Johnsons and Greenwoods, and a family called Wild
A gradely collection of folk
But my memories of all, when my mind travels back
Were of happiness each day I woke.

To the old village school each day we would go
Cross the fields we all had to walk
Children from four to fourteen would be there
Then go home with our books and our chalk.

A Methodist Chapel, a lovely old place
Stood next to the Co-operative store
Where each Sunday we’d go to pray and to sing
And we’d always come out wanting more,

In that lovely old church we’d have concerts and shows
Anniversaries, fruit banquets galore
And we’d go to these functions so full of glee
To the oldies they were never a chore.

There was Higher Abbots, Lower Abbots, Antioch too
Those biblical names of yore
Gilead Lane where the Hurst family lived
And I can think of many names more.

As we grow older our minds wander back
And we think f those days long past
And we cherish the people, the fun that we had
But only the memories last.