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 Post subject: Walverden: A Lament 1894
PostPosted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 6:59 pm 
Spider Lady
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Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 9:23 pm
Posts: 8183
Location: Staffordshire
Burnley Express

Saturday 12 May 1894

Walverden: A Lament

[Walverden was one of the breathing places around Nelson, in fact it was the sweetest vale in our neigbourhood, but ruin and devastation are upon the scene, they are cutting down the trees, and are beginning to build a weaving shed right within the heart of the vale. "Sic transit gloria mundi."]

Oh Walverden! thou vale once fair,
I loved to wander 'neath thy trees,
And listen to the birds' sweet songs,
And feel the fragrant summer breeze.

The murm'rings of the rippling stream,
As onward it persued its way,
Was music to my weary soul,
And never ceased from day to day.

The lark, sweet songster of the sky,
So full of life, so free from care,
Scar'd high above me, till his songs
Broke forth and filled the balmy air.

Thy stately trees so richly dressed,
That point above to heaven's high dome,
With out-stretched branches did provide,
For man a shade, for birds a home.

The gentle breeze brought o'er the field.
The fragrance from thy pretty flowers,
The humming of the busy bee
Winging its way amongst the bowers.

But now there's sadness in my heart,
For where thy beauty reigned supreme
Is now confusion, and thy groves
Are disappearing like a dream.

Aye! as a dream, I may recall
The bridge across the babbling brook,
The hillside with its tall, dark trees,
Where we could read Dame Nature's book.

Oh! could thy beauty once more bloom
In every field, on every tree,
Then would my muse again appear
And sing her praises unto thee.

Nelson, May 6th, 1894. A. Smith

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Mel

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:10 pm 

Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:19 pm
Posts: 13
What a beautiful piece of local poetry, quite obviously a creation from the heart. You can only imagine how beautiful this landscape would have been before they built Valley Mills and destroyed the obvious ancient beauty enjoyed many generations of our ancestors before us.
The nearest we can imagine of Walverdens lost charm is just a picture on a postcard on this very website named 'OLD WALVERDEN'. Its a view taken from an old photograph or painting by the Cat Steps between what is now Cloverhill Rd (Farm) and Southfield St, looking towards Valley Mills/ Jimmys towards Walverden reservoir.


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