We all meet up at glazebrooks orchard
There’s a good gang of us today
Off we go across the sconce
Down the river to staythorpe bay
We get down to the lock, early morn
There’s a barge just pulling away
Shout to the skipper, a lift to the weir
Then pile on board, happy days.
Against the current up the Trent
The river winds and bends its way
The throb, throb of the engines
Powering it up the waterway
Takes half an hour to get to the weir
It’s just around the next bend
We’re all ready in shorts and vest
Great start to the weekend
All standing at the back of the barge
One of the lads says l’ll count to three
We all know we’ll be gone on two
Waving goodbye to the bargee
Everyone shouts jump well out
Keep away from the prop
By the time we’ve all hit the water
The barge is yards away, chop, chop
We’re swimming hard towards the bank
Feeling the pull of the weir
A couple of me pals get swept against it
Its okay, its only three foot deep here
Wading along the front of the dam
It’s only up to our waist
With a gravel bottom to walk on
All day we’ve got no need for haste
There’s a concrete ramp thirty feet long
Hundreds of yards wide
Water teems over only inches deep
Flows into rocks and pools the other side
This is the overspill Averham weir
Our playground every summer
Don’t sit at home and mope
There’s tons to do for every newcomer
We mess about on the weir top
Keeping well away from the flume
The waters fast and furious there
It makes our ears pop and boom
Lots of small pools at the weir bottom
Some of these are quiet deep
The water here is really warm
With sandy edges, like the beach
We love to come to Averham top
Never see anyone all day
Sometimes the odd fisherman
But they’re always miles away
A couple of lads have piled some rocks
To hold back most of the flow
They sit down then in front of it
Think they’re clever, someone shouts, let’s go
Got to be heading home before long
It’s getting late afternoon
Or we’ll get sent to bend without any tea
Just a rocket and the wooden spoon
We’ll build a raft of bulrush reeds
And float back down to the lock
Big enough for ten of us
We’ll abandon it near the dock
Pulling up hundreds of bully reeds
Pile them into a big float
Rap them round and round each other
It’s our own, home made boat
The raft sinks down as we clamber on
All sat down on the top
It floats just under the surface
The town locks our next stop
Floating down river on a raft of reeds
All freshly picked for the day
Pirates we are all ten of us
Down to the lock and away
Must be strange from the river bank
To see ten kids floating by
No one knows we’re on a raft
We don’t tell them how or why
We pass by a couple of fishermen
Give them the two fingered sign
One waves his rod at us
We shout, stick it up your valentine
Another chap shouts I know who you are
You’ll feel the weight of my hand
We all shout back, come on then
You can’t reach us off dry land
The locks coming up see it now
We’ll have to abandon and run
Everyone knows we’re a cheeky lot
But it’s all, just in good fun
A boat speeds past wrecks the raft
Everyone swims for the shore
We’re back near where we started
But back again next week for sure
We run back down over Mill Bridge
Like ten mad castaways
Drying out as we run up the road
Young days, away days, happy days |  |
