A Boy in Darkness-Big Big Train

Part 1: Brookbottom Colliery, Heanor, Derbyshire, 1842 Extract from Sub Commissioner’s report, 1842 on the conditions of children and young people employed in the collieries. “His name is Godfrey Fletcher Eleven years old Worked these pits for nearly three years Does not know the alphabet Cannot read in the least” The pit shall keep him body and soul But better that than going to school Or ploughing the field Hot as any fire and brimstone Methodist’s sermon down here In the awesome stillness of the deep black A Boy in Darkness The seam they work is more than a yard The headway here is nearly four feet He hears the eerie sound of the whistling wind Deep down here in the dry and the heat A Boy in Darkness Part 2: The March of Progress, Enlightenment and the Passing of Time Part 3: Present Times Once upon a time A secret shared Threatened not to breathe a word To a living soul Especially mother... He was just a boy But even though It wasn’t the way it’s supposed to go Needed a father Not this hunter To speak of the unspeakable Takes guts and nerve It’s going to disturb He can’t bring himself to say the words Misplaced blind faith In church and state Tied up in too much red tape If help comes, pray not too late We face ourselves Look long and hard Make the difference A safer place But most of all Don’t be afraid To shine Light Into the dark A Boy in Darkness