Wishington Green (the fire)

There’s an olden day feeling in Wishington Green,
Where the men tip their hats when they greet,
And the women buy flowers and gossip for hours,
And kiss passers by that they meet.

There’s a mayor of this town his name’s Mr. Stern,
And he lives just above the town hall.
When addressing his people he stands on a box,
Because frankly he’s not very tall.

P.C Blue is the law and he lives by the station,
His police car has rarely been used,
Law and order in this town is all about trust,
P.C Blues trust is never abused.

If you walk down the main street you’ll see Mr. Toms
He’s the grocer and his fruit have won prizes,
He’s got carrots and onions, kiwis and grapes,
And melons of all different sizes.

Young Mark is the postman; you’ll see him about,
On his scooter or sometimes a bike,
He’s only a lad and is known as the postie,
You can call him post Mark if you like.

There’s a general store that sells papers and more,
And its run by a man they call Stan,
He’s exceptionally tall, and his head hits the ceiling,
So Stan stands outside when he can.

Now Dusty Mc leod he sweeps the streets,
And the park where the children are playing,
He was born up in Glasgow and the Wishington folk,
Can’t understand what he’s saying.

He’s Scottish and proud, wears a kilt all year round,
During snowstorms and summers blue sky,
When the cold north wind blows who knows where it goes,
But it must bring a tear to his eye.

At the local launderette the girl Sally Suds,
Can wash clothes, she can even dry clean them,
You can’t really hide what your underwear’s like.
Because the chance is that Sally has seen them.

She can clean the men’s shirts, iron woman’s skirts,
Remove stains from the tea that was spilt,
She’s good at her job and is trusted enough,
To wash Dusty Mc leods precious kilt

Jennifer Gossip sometimes helps with the washing,
If she’s not folding washing, she’s sewing,
Everyone’s business is Jennifers’ business,
What she doesn’t know’s not worth knowing.

When the folk want to eat they quite often meet,
At the Café, where old Mrs. Fry,
Serves breakfast till two and there’s always a queue,
If you eat there you’d understand why.

The butcher and baker are next to each other,
On the Wishington Green main street.
Ernie Flowers the baker he bakes the bread,
Frank Cutter the butcher cuts meat.

Just on the corner stands the gleaming fire station,
And an engine the firemen call flash,
There’s firefighter Scarlet a cat they call Moses,
And chief fire officer Ash.

Moses the cat was rescued by Scarlet,
From the mill when it burnt last July,
Poor Moses got hurt in the heat of the blaze,
And now wears a patch on one eye.

Father Priestly’s the vicar of Wishington Green,
To the locals he’s called Father P.
He’s eighty years old and the damp in his church,
Gives him terrible pains in his knee.

Though the church of Wishington Green’s damp and cold,
Each Sunday from nine ‘till eleven,
The people meet here, full of good cheer,
And sing for a place up in heaven.

Alan O’Toole is a builder by trade,
And he’s constantly covered in dust.
He drives an old van; that used to be white,
But is now turning red with the rust.

An odd looking man he’s not very tall,
And his clothes are all covered in plaster,
His shirt is too small his trousers are torn,
Poor Alan’s a fashion disaster.

He built the school wall in less than a day,
And fixed the town halls doors from creaking,
As soon as he finds a long enough ladder,
He’ll stop the old church roof from leaking.

At the bottom of town is the primary school,
Mrs. Stern is the only school teacher,
The kids often laugh at her changing hairstyles,
They’re probably not her best feature.

There are only ten children who go to this school,
Only ten children live in this town,
Andrew, Jules, Joe and Jake, Ben, Lisa and Finn,
George, Vicky and Jonathan Brown.

Directly behind the school you will find,
The playing fields of Wishington Lower,
To keep the grass neat and cut once a week,
Pete the gardener comes here with his mower.

Peter Moss is his name and he once achieved fame,
Mowing Kensington lawns for the Queen,
‘This man should be praised’ said her majesties aide,
‘These lawns are the best that we’ve seen.’

If you’re in need of a bus in Wishington Green,
Lenny Wheeler’s the man you should stop,
He drives that red bus ten times a day,
From the bottom of town to the top.

Now one day when driving his bus down the hill,
On the way back to Wishington Lower,
He could sense that his bus was picking up speed,
So he pressed on the brakes to go slower.

To poor Lennys’ horror this did nothing at all,
The bus just went faster and faster,
He was out of control, heading straight for the school,
This was now a potential disaster.

As he flew down the hill in the run away bus,
‘I can’t stop’ Lenny Wheeler was crying,
Poor Mr. Toms had to jump for his life,
As Lenny sent vegetables flying

Lenny feared more and more approaching Stan’s store,
That he’d never be able to stop,
The newspaper stand was ripped from Stan’s hands,
As he carried it outside his shop.

Ernie Flower and Frank Cutter were discussing a matter,
When Len and his bus hurtled by,
‘Good grief ’ Ernie gasped, ‘old Len’s driving fast’,
‘It’s lunchtime that’s probably why’.

Lenny carried on going with no hope of slowing,
His bus rocked then started to lurch,
Peter Moss shook his fist, he was narrowly missed,
Crossing the road by the church.

Len was shaking with fear as he zoomed very near,
To poor postie Mark on his scooter,
Lenny turned to his right; Mark shut his eyes tight,
Giving Lenny a blast with his hooter.

Jennifer Gossip was hanging out washing,
Pegging out woolens and tights,
All of a sudden the bus crossed her garden,
And rumbled down hill with her whites

How bad could this be, Lenny now couldn’t see,
Going faster than ever before,
Len screamed out loud as he crossed the playground,
And smashed through the school library door.

There was a terrible bang and the twisting of metal,
Then the tinkle of shattering glass,
Mrs. Stern looked up through her bi focal lenses,
At the runaway bus in her class

‘There’s no need to worry’ said Mrs. Stern calmly,
‘Bring your books back here one at a time,
Jonathan Brown put that wing mirror down,
Grab your pencils and form a straight line’.

Lenny, though shaken had cleverly taken,
The decision to roll up in a ball,
He fell to his knees and got thrown off his seat,
As the red bus demolished the wall.

You could hear a pin drop as the door opened up,
The children stood silently watching.
As out stepped a figure hunched up and limping,
Covered in white dust and washing.

Back up the hill Jennifer Gossip was mad,
And was ready to kick up a fuss,
She phoned P.C Blue, who was kind of bemused,
To here of the runaway bus.

‘Good grief, oh my word that’s the first that I’ve heard’
Said P.C.Blue ‘I’ll phone Scarlet and Ash’,
Scarlet said ‘uh! a runaway what?
We’ll be there in a minute with Flash’.

Ash hit the alarm, puts Moses under his arm,
And they roared off to find P.C. Blue,
With both sirens wailing, their fire hoses trailing,
Off down the main street they flew.

Back at the school things were out of control,
There was smoke and then suddenly flames,
Mrs. Stern led the children out to the yard,
Sat them down and then called out their names.

The firemen arrived and not before time,
Their beautiful fire engine gleaming,
By now Mrs. Stern was starting to panic,
And was running in circles and screaming.

Now thick smoke was pouring from the library door,
And flames were engulfing the bus,
‘No need to panic’ announced P.C. Blue,
‘Stand well back and leave this to us’

A crowd was now forming outside the school,
To spectate this incredible scene,
Scarlet and Ash tackling a blaze,
At the school of Wishington Green.

The hoses came out, the water was on,
Directed straight at the seat of the fire,
The blaze had now taken hold of the books,
And the flames leapt higher and higher.

Postie Mark shouted out ‘Mr, Toms we can help’
‘But we’ll have to go up to your store’
So they rode up the hill and emptied the buckets,
Of potatoes and sprouts on the floor.

The fire now roared and Scarlet and Ash,
Were doing the best that they could,
Alan O’Toole was getting concerned
As the library was built out of wood.

A tired Mr. Toms arrived back on the scene,
And shouted ‘grab one of these’
‘We’ll all lend a hand and fill up these buckets
From the stream that runs down past those trees’.

A chain quickly formed and buckets were filled,
And passed hand to hand up the hill,
To young postie Mark who sat on Stan’s shoulders,
Dousing the blaze at his will.

Father priestly too frail, to pick up the pails,
Had his own sense of duty and pride,
He wanted to help so he limped to his church,
To get a few prayers on their side.

Scarlet and Ash kept hosing the blaze,
And the buckets of water kept flying,
The mayor had arrived and was shouting advice,
‘This side men, it looks like it’s dying’.

He was right thank goodness, and with all that water,
And effort it wasn’t surprising,
The flames fizzled out, the smoke died down,
And clouds of steam were now rising.

Poor Lenny Wheeler peered into the school,
At what was once his beautiful bus,
‘You’ll be back on the road in a week Mr. Wheeler’
Said the mayor ‘just leave it to us’.

The children were delighted and Mrs. Stern so excited,
That she danced on the firemen’s hoses,
‘We’ve saved the school,’ she shouted with joy,
Then stumbled and tripped over Moses.

The mayor gave a speech of such high emotion,
Beads of sweat on his forehead were glistening,
He was praising the people for saving the school,
But I don’t think the people were listening.

So what could have been a terrible scene,
Fortunately wasn’t to be,
This proves to us all, when your back’s to the wall,
Teamwork is often the key.

In less than three weeks a new bus arrived,
And Alan O’Toole proudly stood,
In front of the library that he’d rebuilt in steel,
It’s an awful lot stronger than wood.

So once again Lenny drives ten times a day,
From the bottom of town to the top,
And he’s had safety brakes fitted on just in case,
Now he’ll always be able to stop.

©RS2011

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