Woolston Ferry

©Mike Sadler

I looked over Woolston and what did I see,
Coming for to carry me home,
It was that Woolston Ferry coming towards me,
Coming for to carry me home

If you're ever up in Sholing and you want to go to town,
Don't go via Bitterne, that's the long way round,
Take a trip across the ferry, take a trip cross the sea,
And if you're a pedestrian, you can travel for free

On the Woolston ferry, doesn't travel very fast,
It was never built for comfort, it was built to last
On the Woolston ferry, doesn't travel very fast,
It was never built for comfort, it was built to last

On two steel hawsers across the river it'll creep,
The chain glistens in the sunlight, and flops back into the deep,
And from the deck of the ferry, such a wonderful site,
See shipwrights grafting in Thorney's over on the right….

On the Woolston ferry, doesn't travel very fast,
It was never built for comfort, it was built to last
On the Woolston ferry, doesn't travel very fast,
It was never built for comfort, it was built to last

See the weather-beaten captain with his weather-beaten tan,
He don't wear no gold braid, he's a corporation man,
Now the captains of the ferry, they're a dying race,
There's no ex-tram drivers to come and take their place….

On the Woolston ferry, doesn't travel very fast,
It was never built for comfort, it was built to last
On the Woolston ferry, doesn't travel very fast,
It was never built for comfort, it was built to last

Go and see Lowrey's painting in the art gallery
Of this forgotten relic of a past century
And when I speak of its construction, you'll be surprised to learn
That the bow going one way coming back becomes the stern….

On the Woolston ferry, doesn't travel very fast,
It was never built for comfort, it was built to last
On the Woolston ferry, doesn't travel very fast,
It was never built for comfort, it was built to last