The Murder of Tom Pudding by Gezz Overington Recorded by Gezz Overington Oh what cares I for it’s only skill that dies And man can change so quickly to another way of life Just think of gold and profits and the money that you save Forget about our heritage that’s sentenced to the grave Year on year beneath the Yorkshire soil Our coal is being won by the miners’ sweat and toil Then carried to the Humber thoughout many’s the working day Along the path that you know well the inland waterway Tom Pudding that is the name for a giant snake of steel That makes its way slowly to Goole with skilled hands at the wheel The pans all chained behind the tug maintain our steady line By the skills the Yorkshire skipper gained throughout his working time But soon it seems these things can be no more For coal they say has lost the race to provide a nation’s power The canal will help no more Tom Puddings ply their coaly trade And the skills of the English working man go with them on their way So all you men who in your glass and steel cages sit Just think of the English working man on boats and in the pit Their skills are worth far more than your new and your better way May the thoughts of killing these greatest skills haunt you for all your days 'Tom Pudding' was the name given to the tub boats on the Aire and Calder Navigation, introduced in 1863 and used until 1985, which were a very efficient means of transporting coal from the open cast collieries of the South Yorkshire coalfield to the port of Goole. Recorded on :