Down by the Tracks by Holly Rees

The railway was a huge part of the historic East End, with trains travelling down to the docks in Hendon. We spoke to community member Ronnie, who told us an altogether more personal memory of the railway: travelling in the cab of the train with his train-driver dad when he should have been at school and cooking breakfast on the hot shovel. Many of the residents we spoke to talked about their ambition to be a train driver as young boys, and so this story captured that and the closeness of families in the East End.

Lyrics I can escape here I always have You can find me heading down to the tracks Whisk me away on the southbound train oh Gives me the strength to face the world when I get back Yeah you can find me finding peace down by the tracks

Verses: My old man, drove the J-27s From the south docks, slowed into the station Carrying coal trucks He’d pick me up And put me on the foot plate That’s how I’d spend my skipped school days

Of course those days I didn’t own a watch I timed it all from the old school clock make sure I knew when To slip through the school fence Catch her steaming into view What better way to have spent my youth

Watching the world and getting into trouble eating Bacon and eggs from the hot coal shovel cooked quick it was so hot Straight from the fire box With a flask of tea on the hot plate These are the memories that stay