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about
This song is about a railway. Not just any railway, but a railway that was unloved and died. However, there is a happy side to this story, as there was a group of people who found out about this dismantled railway, which ran through some of the most beautiful Yorkshire countryside until its total closure in 1958. They decided to re-open the railway, which ran from Malton to Driffield (North and East Yorkshire) and run passenger trains for locals, tourists and enthusiasts. Once again, it is loved.
My song is actually about the Yorkshire Wolds Railway, which is based at Fimber, near Sledmere in East Yorkshire. I am a volunteer on that railway. I am a 'second man' on the locomotive. The trouble is, we only have a few hundred yards of track and no proper station buildings, which we need in order to be able to run our railway. My song tells the story of how Alfred Dickens, brother of the famous author Charles Dickens, built the line from Malton to Driffield in 1865. However, some of the stations were miles away from the villages that they had been built to serve and then road haulage started to take off, after The Great War and this led to the eventual closure of the line. But, as the silent whistle echoes through the forsaken cavern that was Burdale Tunnel and the ghosts of the long-gone railwaymen look on, they now have company in the hordes of volunteers that descend upon the long-barren track bed to bring new life to the railway. The silent whistle will one day be heard from Sledmere and Fimber to Garton, over the Wolds and through that forsaken bore and on past Wharram to Malton. But only with YOUR help.
lyrics
The Silent Whistle
By Ron Mozart
The silent whistle will one day be heard,
From Sledmere and Fimber to Garton,
Over the Wolds through the forsaken bore,
And on past Wharram to Malton.
Hardly a bridge or embankment remains,
Of what was the Malton and ‘Driff’,
What had receded, beyond memory,
Has awoken and stirs into life
The silent whistle will one day be heard,
From Sledmere and Fimber to Garton,
Over the Wolds through the forsaken bore,
And on past Wharram to Malton.
The idea was grand, back in old ‘45,
To link Malton and Driffield by rail,
Navvies descended and building began,
And the permanent way was complete.
The silent whistle will one day be heard,
From Sledmere and Fimber to Garton,
Over the Wolds through the forsaken bore,
And on past Wharram to Malton.
Remote stations too far from their names,
Though four trains a day was its peak,
The Great War brought changes, road haulage began,
And the railways were left up the creek.
The silent whistle will one day be heard,
From Sledmere and Fimber to Garton,
Over the Wolds through the forsaken bore,
And on past Wharram to Malton.
Now the ghostly gasp of the engine’s breath,
Echoes through cuttings long-gone,
Now lost to nature, the quarry lies bare,
While the ghosts of the quarrymen look on.
The silent whistle will one day be heard,
From Sledmere and Fimber to Garton,
Over the Wolds through the forsaken bore,
And on past Wharram to Malton.
Now ‘The Malton Dodger’ has life again,
There’s movement on the permanent way,
No more to be silent, the whistle is real,
On the Yorkshire Wolds Railway.
The silent whistle will one day be heard,
From Sledmere and Fimber to Garton,
Over the Wolds through the forsaken bore,
And on past Wharram to Malton.
The silent whistle will one day be heard,
From Sledmere and Fimber to Garton,
Over the Wolds through the forsaken bore,
And on past Wharram to Malton.
Ron Mozart
credits
released March 5, 2020
Words: Ron Mozart
Music: Ron Mozart
Production/Arrangements: Ron Mozart
Engineering: Ron Mozart
String Arrangements: Adastra Fletcher-Hall
Musicians
Lead Vocals: Ron Mozart
Backing Vocals: Ron Mozart & Katy Bowser
Acoustic Guitars: Ron Mozart
Electric Guitars: Ron Mozart
Fender Bass: Ron Mozart
Harmonicas: Ron Mozart
Violins: Adastra Fletcher-Hall
Percussion: Ron Mozart
Handclaps: Ron Mozart & Katy Bowser
Ron Mozart: I've been a singer-songwriter for over 40 years. My music is a paradox, it is highly original, yet derivative of
the many genres and styles that I have assimilated, over the years.
I write both words and music, generally, although I do like to collaborate with a lyricist, occasionally. I write songs with meanings, characters, events and stories, some true and some false - you decide!...more
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