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T'first motor car up Syke

It wer first big event ah remember,
the news it hed travelled frae afar,
all t'Sykers hed turned airt and wer holding ther breath,
to see Jack Ad, go up th'Aggate, in his car.

This car wer an amazing contraption,
it ud be worth a fortune in antiques today,
it were made airt of all sorts o'pieces,
stuck together in a wonderful way.

Steering wheel wer like that on a steam roller,
it looked like ut'back wheels wer as well,
the horn sairned like a child saying "pap pap",
ah could meck moor noise on mi bike wi mi bell.

It ud nobbut teck one gooing uphill,
but coming dairnhill two were a loud,
owld jack would be sairnding his pap pap,
an' his pal shairting airt "clear the road".

In them days the rooards were all limestoorn,
nair a days tarmacs a must,
Jack ud dash past, at abairt two miles an hair,
an smother us all i'white dust.

But the trouble ud start rairnd abairt fairntern,
it were a struggle to climb onny hill,
an'us kids gooing ter school, we could race him,
To Owld Jack that wer a reight bitter pill.

The engine ud start wheezing un coughing,
an the wheels they'd grunt and they'd grind,
Owld Jack ud shairt airt at the top of his voice,
"give us a push frae behind".

Ah know yer might think ut ahm kidding,
but manny a time we pulled Olwd Jack airt,
an we pushed him till he geet past th'Aggate school gates,
his journey bairt us were i' dairt.

Ah doornt know ter this day what it ran on,
bi the smook it turned out ah'd say coil,
but the stink ut came airt o that engine,
it could have even bin cod liver oil.

Ah'm noorn sure o' t' yer when it happened,
mi guess ud bi nineteen o nine,
but Owld Jack's car were an omen of progress,
despite its fantastic design.

Th'Owd Syker

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

And the picture to mark this occasion

http://www.briercliffesociety.co.uk/Photo%20Archive/Syker%20Articles/Motor%20Service.htm

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Mel

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"but Owld Jack's car were an omen of progress, "

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David
Genealogists do it in the library.

Did I miss something here?

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Mel

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Gloria.....are you getting these from a book? If so, can you give me details on where to get it?
I cannot print these off...and am not goling to ask anyone to send me these in alternate form....but I love to read them out loud to my dad. He is quite Lancashire in his dialect, but not broad like his dad was...and as I remember it from another relative on my mother's side who came ffrom the Oldham area.
Lancashire dialect poems are marvellous entertainment read aloud in a 'foreign' country!! Good for a free dinner or two!

Sue
You can print them off. just copy and paste the words into wordpad /notepad or MS word and save. You can then print it off easily.

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David
Genealogists do it in the library.

Suzy, Th'Owd Syker was my grandad and I have his old exercise books he used to scribble in. He also pasted all his cuttings he had in the Burnley Express in another thick book. The two dialect poem books are no longer about. I have them both, Mel has managed to buy the first one.
I have kept the ones I have put on here in "word" if you want to PM me your e-mail address I will send you some.

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

"Did I miss something here?"

No, you do not miss a trick Being administrator has its perks !

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David
Genealogists do it in the library.

David ---"were an"----old syker language not me. Actually he wouldn't have said that, he would have rollocked me if I had, but that was how he wrote it.

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

No Gloria that was not why I put that. Your friend Mel knows and she has a very good edit button. I feel like you are ganging up on me

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David
Genealogists do it in the library.

I found these notes for "T'first motor car up Syke" on the opposite page in his exercise book. They are as they were written.
The first car up Harle Syke
Jack "Ad"---this was Jack Atkinson--builder---joiner and undertaker.
His premises were on Burnley Road at the top of Talbot St. He built a lot of houses in Harle Syke --including Atkinson St.
His joinery business also built the woodwork which surrounds and decorates the organ at Haggate Chapel.
Jack Atkinson himself had only one hand---so it is probably a good job that his car had such a low top speed.
The person referred to as his pal--who shouted "clear the road" was a local manufacturer Mr Whitham Halstead. Whether he was a partner in the car I am not sure--but he was often in it along with Jack Ad. He had ideas of his own as to when Jack should sound the horn--and for a time he used to keep saying "sound the horn Jack". Eventually Whitham got a horn as well and it was often a case of both horns, each with a different tone---both being sounded alternately. Eventually I believe the car was owned by a man named Sarper NaHall (grandad's spelling)---but I'm not sure of this.

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

David, I plead innocence. I edited nothing!

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Mel

Searching for lost relatives? Win the Lottery!