36 Miles Away from the Sea by Chris While and Julie Matthews As recorded by The Albion Band The decline of the city was cruel But not for the lack of the tools What broke the back was the lack of the means To transport her trade away to the sea Daniel Adamson nurtured a dream To build a canal the likes never seen And as Liverpool traders they scorned In Manchester town, a vision was born Chorus : 36 miles away from the sea Building a dream, a gateway, a quay From the sea to the city, a sight to be seen 36 miles away from the sea Well the money and time it was tight But Manchester rose to the fight And as the deadline dissolved into days Resolved to the cause three million was raised Boys and men 16 thousand in all From town and country they answered the call To work 60 hours a week for a pound Removing the earth to channel the ground Chorus Bonfires and flares turned the night into day 160 lives lost on the way But the toil it was never in vain And the months turned to years, till '94 came And how Manchester gathered with glee When Victoria opened the quay Manchester city would rise once again City of dreams, your ship has come in Chorus This was written for a BBC radio documentary called 'Tales from the Towpath' about Daniel Adamson's vision and the building of the Manchester Ship Canal. It was recorded by The Albion Band with a brass arrangement by Goff Richards and included on the compilation CD 'The Acoustic Years'. Chris While and Julie Matthews website contains details of all their songs and recordings. In the YouTube recording above it is sung by Chris and Kellie While. The audio recording is by The Albion Band. Recorded on : The Acoustic Years (1993-97) - The Albion Band, HTD CD74 Records (1997); Transatlantic TRACD313 (1999) Too Few Songs - Chris and Kellie While, Fat Cat Records FATCD018 (2006)
36 Miles Away from the Sea by Chris While and Julie Matthews As recorded by The Albion Band The decline of the city was cruel But not for the lack of the tools What broke the back was the lack of the means To transport her trade away to the sea Daniel Adamson nurtured a dream To build a canal the likes never seen And as Liverpool traders they scorned In Manchester town, a vision was born Chorus : 36 miles away from the sea Building a dream, a gateway, a quay From the sea to the city, a sight to be seen 36 miles away from the sea Well the money and time it was tight But Manchester rose to the fight And as the deadline dissolved into days Resolved to the cause three million was raised Boys and men 16 thousand in all From town and country they answered the call To work 60 hours a week for a pound Removing the earth to channel the ground Chorus Bonfires and flares turned the night into day 160 lives lost on the way But the toil it was never in vain And the months turned to years, till '94 came And how Manchester gathered with glee When Victoria opened the quay Manchester city would rise once again City of dreams, your ship has come in Chorus This was written for a BBC radio documentary called 'Tales from the Towpath' about Daniel Adamson's vision and the building of the Manchester Ship Canal. It was recorded by The Albion Band with a brass arrangement by Goff Richards and included on the compilation CD 'The Acoustic Years'. Chris While and Julie Matthews website contains details of all their songs and recordings. In the YouTube recording above it is sung by Chris and Kellie While. The audio recording is by The Albion Band. Recorded on : The Acoustic Years (1993-97) - The Albion Band, HTD CD74 Records (1997); Transatlantic TRACD313 (1999) Too Few Songs - Chris and Kellie While, Fat Cat Records FATCD018 (2006)
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