Saltwell Road

Up and down the Saltwell Road

In and out the houses

Knockie nine-doors in the fog

All spotty frocks and trousies

I can hear the steam trains on the Old Tyne Bridge

Rumbling under cover of the night

Hauling colliers treasure to the corners of the land

Bringing light and life to every woman, child, and man

Up and down the Saltwell Road

In and out the houses

Knockie nine-doors in the fog

All spotty frocks and trousies

I can see the pedlars in the Quay-side dawn

Crying out their chorus in the morn

Stottie Bread and Hinnies Singing set you on your way

But forever is forever been and gone

Up and down the Saltwell Road

In and out the houses

Knockie nine-doors in the fog

All spotty frocks and trousies

Oh, the nights were coal black darker then

And the collier’s shifts were long

The docker lads were pig iron tough

And the steel men big and strong

But the factory girls along the Tyne

Knew how to string the lads along

And dance into the willing hours of night

Up and down the Saltwell Road

In and out the houses

Knockie nine-doors in the fog

All spotty frocks and trousies

But now the pits are gone, the shipyards gone, the founderies gone

And the factory gates are closed for good

Those days are done and dusted

But the trees and flowers of Saltwell Park are brighter than before

As if the past was only yesterday

But the faces and the voices and the laughter have all faded away

eeee!

eeee!

eeeh ay oh!