Miles and Miles of Poly

by Chris & Julie Lloyd, Peter Dodds, Anne Peters

If you fancy a bit of boatin’ now and then,
Take our tip, doe goo on the BCN,
’Cos it may be years before you are discovered we assure you,
And they doe tek pris’ners round by Windmill End.

Chorus:
We’ve got miles and miles of poly round the blades,
We’ve got miles and miles of poly round the blades,
We’ve got miles and miles of poly, a battered yellow brolly,
and a supermarket trolley round the blades.

Got a rusty old Lambretta round the blades,
Got a rusty old Lambretta round the blades,
Got a rusty old Lambretta and a purple mohair sweater,
And a six foot long French letter round the blades.

We’ve got an eight mil porno movie round the blades,
And we want to watch it quick in case it fades,
Down to Titford we will fly, in the middle we will tie,
Safe as houses from Constabulary raids.

There are bags and bins put out by Council men,
But the local folk prefer the BCN,
All the rubbish they have chucked in this great big linear dustbin,
But it could do with being emptied now and then.

We’ve got an orange vinyl armchair round the blades,
And to get it off we struggled round to Brades,
But the steering was affected, ’cos on the way there we collected:
12 yards of cable,
11 nylon stockings,
10 Castrol oil drums,
9 Dunlop tyres,
8 pairs of trousers,
7 push chair handles,
6 twin tub washers,
5 sleeping bags,
4 mattresses,
3 dead dogs,
2 washing lines
And another mile of poly round the blades

Tune : She'll be Coming Round the Mountain.

I am indebted to Tony Gregory for providing the original lyrics and the following information : "Miles & Miles of Poly" was written on ex GUCCo "Merope", circa 1982, in Icknield Port Loop by Chris & Julie Lloyd (ex "Iron Butty") with Peter Dodds and Anne Peters. They spent the weekend searching for Merope's lost propellor! The song was premiered and sung around by "Gasworks Revival" (Glyn Phillips, Peter Dodds and Tony Gregory) at the Black Country Museum and Ellesmere Port working boat gatherings throughout the 1980s.