Ballad of the Harecastle Tunnel

The moon shone on the water Dyed ochre by the iron mines. Centuries of men have toiled In trenches and in chines. Carving through the sheer rock face To tunnel under hills Canals to link the land of wealth To the cities of the mills. Airless channels deep below While all above is calm And death could be a breath away Placed in the way of harm. Pick and shovel toiled away Through millstone grit and stone Canals for coal to fuel the kilns Firing plates for every home. And now two hundred years or more Have passed and times have altered For Instead of barges lain with coke Are cruisers strewn with boaters. The working boats have been replaced By holidaymakers vessels And the tunnel stands as testament To the stone masons true mettle.