Poem: Beckindale In The '80s

Amos Brearly and the newly arrived Walter in 1980.

The Beckindale Bugle is getting verse! Many thanks to Mrs Violet Howes for e-mailing her poetic tribute to Emmerdale Farm in the 1980s! I'll drop you a line to answer the '80s cast queries you raised later today, Mrs H!

1980 was a year of change,
Our Jack returned to a home on the range
He had a new face, Dolly did too,
Whilst from Malt Shovel to Woolpack
Seth Armstrong flew

A busy year for Amos
With new allotment and Courier reports so true
And sitting at the bar was
Walter Mark Two

1981 - Pat was Jack's only one
A love so strong, so pure, and good
Did Pat's kids approve?
If only they would!

1982 - a child was born
Dolly and Matt had good news
As did Pat and Jack -
A wedding day
Free of blues

At Home Farm, Alan Turner arrived
Which worried Seth not
At work he still skived

'83 and Joe was in a trance
In love with Barbara
And then off to France

Archie appeared -
Socialist slob
And redundancies loomed
Was John out of a job?

1984 - Sam Pearson died
How we missed him
I cried and cried.

Jack bedded another
Marriage vows he did flout
But Pat found out
They were reconciled
Have no doubt

At Home Farm,
Mrs Bates was on draught
Sensible woman - she found Alan daft
Whilst he blustered and ranted
She just laughed and laughed

1985 - midway through
And lots and lots of news for you
Seth's donkey ran amok
Whilst Amos kept bees
And Mrs Bates' marriage break-up
Almost brought her to her knees

1986 - terror for Matt
Harry Mowlam murdered
Now WHO did that?

Eric Pollard at the market
And Pat Sugden in horror crash
The year was thunder and lightning
But not over in a flash

1987 - nuclear fears were rife
No Nukes In Beckindale!
A threat to land and life
The cry seemed to be ignored
But won through in the end
A happy ending and a safe future
For many a Beckindale friend

1988 - Kathy and Jackie did marry
Their happiness was untapped
But Dolly was untrue to Matt
And so the Skilbecks' marriage
Began to come unwrapped

At Crossgill disaster came with fire
For Annie Sugden the house
Almost became her funeral pyre

1989 - the decade was on the fizzle
But the affair of Rachel and Pete
Gave its dying months some sizzle

Home Farm was sold
The Tates moved in
Mrs Bates departed
Alan's future looked grim

Goodbye to Matt, the Reverend Hinton too
The 90's would see stories
Which seemed silly and untrue