There Once Was a Long Vanished England

There once was a long vanished England;

Of well-spoken presenters

Of the BBC Home Service,

Light Service, and Children’s Favourites,

Of coppers and tanners, and ten bob notes;

And jolly shopkeepers, and window cleaners.

 

I remember my beloved Wolf Cub pack,

How I loved those Wednesday evenings,

The games, the pomp and seriousness of the camps,

The different coloured scarves, sweaters and hair

During the mass meetings,

The solemnity of my enrolment,

 

Being helped up a tree by an older boy,

Baloo, or Kim, or someone,

To win my Athletics badge,

Winning my first star, my two year badge,

And my swimming badge

With its frog symbol, the kindness of the older boys.


Author's Notes/Comments: 

 There Once Was a Long Vanished England originated partly in the early 2000s as some kind of unfinished short story which was subsequently versified, and partly as an earlier short story, begun when I was 21.

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S74RW4RD's picture

Superb eloquence!!!

Superb eloquence!!!


Starward

Carl_Halling's picture

Thank you!

It was born of love of and nostalgia for the England I knew in the 1960s, now long vanished.


Born London, residing London Metropolitan Area.