Tyldesley town was terraces
Coal mines cotton mills
Rows and rows of red brick
Red step and polished sills
Two up two down narrow streets
Back yard outside loo
Rag and bone on cobbled streets
Nothing there to view
When the war was over
Wimpeys came to town
Or rather came to Shakerley
Opened up new ground
Houses built on farmers’ fields
Gardens back and front
Open sky and happy days
Wages knew no want
Tyldesley then was skyline
Manhattan now for me
Highrise on the Tyldesley bank
All that I could see
Shakerley was freedom
Fun and sweet fresh air
I lived in a post war world
Far from anywhere
David lived in Henry Street
Old town Tyldesley style
I lived in the countryside
Outside about a mile
Now David lives in Monaco
I in Stirling town
But fondly I remember
The place I call Home Ground
Brian Fahy
2 February 2022
Erris Poetry 