‘I thought I would paint this scene where the blue cranes used to stand tall and proud, they were iconic reminders of the Salford past, but sadly they are now gone, so I thought I would pay tribute to the Salford Dock workers and what it used to be like by doing a story about the blue cranes.’

Salford Quays blue cranes by night

The blue cranes

Stood tall and proud

A historic reminder of the past

When dockworkers

Toiled away

day in day out

Bringing booty in from the ships

Ships from around the world

Used to sail in

With cargo piled so high

Tea, fruit, oil and petrol

Lots of goodies to be seen

From the Salford scene

But now today the blue cranes are gone

So I’ve painted a picture

To remind you of the past

And present

Hard graft of the day

Has now turned into

leisure for your pleasure

A modern view of

Salford Quays blue cranes by night

Yeah the blue cranes

Stood tall and proud

A historic reminder of the past

And boy did it last

Listen to Andrew Alan Matthews poem