The stokehold.

[Trampshipman]

THE STOKEHOLD
.
Standing in the fiddley, looking far down there below,
peering through the gratings see steel ladders downward go.
Catch the pungent reek of ash from the hoist close by,
hear the roaring of the blowers pulling air from up on high.
See men move far below there, lit by fierce light of flame.
Hear clang of firedoor, scrape of steel, curses of toiling men.
Go down ladder after ladder, pause on gratings one by one,
`till at last you`re on the bottom, all trace of daylight gone.
Oh what a world about you, a place of noise and heat,
a place where men must sweat to make a mighty engine beat.
Great boilers tower above you, raging fire beneath each one.
Water being transformed to steam, ton by scalding ton.
Bunkers to the sides of you, steel bulkheads upwards go;
hold coal for feeding hungry fire, in never ending flow.
`Trimmers` with coal blacked faces, pushing barrows in and out.
“More coal more coal, this fire needs coal”, hear that fireman shout.
`Trimmers` dumping barrow loads in heaps upon the deck,
“Just keep that coal a coming”, black river without check.
Fire door hung back open wide, white heat licks at your face.
Fierce fire raging ever greedy, ever forcing frantic pace.
Firemen slicing, raking, shovelling, plying fires with more coal,
bent to their shovels ever toiling,each sweating out his soul.
This then is a stokehold, where men are slaves to fire,
a place of noise and heat and sweat, where the strongest man must tire.
A place away from light of day, deep down from sight of sky;
it`s coal will bow the straightest back, it`s fire dull the brightest eye.
Listen to me sailor, if straight back you`d like to keep;
if you crave sun and sky and like to gaze upon the deep.
If you value your keen vision and would keep it `till you`re old,
then watch that you don`t sign `below`, to work in this stokehold.


Copyright.
Trampshipman.

[Jim Brady]

That was a cracker that Trampshipman I can just imagine the situation as it decribed.The only ship I sailed on with the said "Fidley" was a Lamport & Holt boat the Millais. it was right behind the galley where I used to sit and peel the spuds.It was an oil burner when I was on it but the past was still there. I think the firemen used to hang one of those water cans with the nozzle on it(I can't remember the name of it now
at the top of the "fidley" hoping to get at least a drop of cool water from any wind that might be about.
Regards.
Jim.B.