Prologue

Overcoats squint at black and white prints It's preview night at the Derby Hall Glorybutts coyly rehearse Charley's Aunt And the artist watches his wine disappear Readers turn the page Bury is the stage People's lives unfold There are stories to be told Nagging rain greys the autumn days In Market Street people shoulder on No one runs for cover, no one stays indoors Bury Grammar blazers play football in the rain Readers turn the page Bury is the stage People's lives unfold There are stories to be told Uniforms survey their double line prey From Millgate to Broad Street where musicians browse And chatter at the corner of the music shop While Lionil leaves his salon to strum on a guitar Readers turn the page Bury is the stage People's lives unfold There are stories to be told Anoraks range across the interchange Hoods up, pens poised, to stone the rolling stock Some spill over to the East Lancs line To Breathe in the smoke and ash of our heritage Readers turn the page Bury is the stage People's lives unfold There are stories to be told Tweed coat trippers too old for big dippers Visit the concrete and glass for the day To shelter under canvas and slide from stall to stall To sample black pudding and buy a plastic toy Readers turn the page Bury is the stage People's lives unfold There are stories to be told Flat caps lurch past Bury parish church Sir Robert Peel watches people slither back To their homes where there's always mud on the rug While police dredge the lodge for the body of a man Readers turn the page Bury is the stage People's lives unfold There are stories to be told