Poetic Writing of Robbie Kennedy Bennett

Poetic Writing of ROBBIE KENNEDY BENNETT © www.rkbpoetry.co.uk Born in Wolverhampton of English and Scottish parentage. He grew up on the Rough Hills Estate area of the town and his Scottish ancestral roots are in the Kingdom of Fife and Dundee. The author is now residing in Codsall, Staffordshire. Drawings, pictures and writing are copyright of the author Robbie Kennedy Bennett. THE GROOVES IN THE OLD CORNER BRICK. A poem about spending time in my young days on the towpaths. I lived within half a mile of the Wolverhampton to Birmingham canal and there my friends and I would be fascinated by grooves from ropes that were still there from bygone years.

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In July of 2007 I returned to the towpaths near where I had grown up to see if my memory had served me correct. This was the first day of the school holidays and most parts of the country was suffering torrential rain. My first stop with brolly in hand was on the Bilston Road of Wolverhampton where I was greeted by a suspicious swan who followed my every move.

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Keeping a careful eye on the swan I searched with no luck for rope grooves in the bricks but found some in the steel corner sanctions.

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I decided to keep faith in my search and not to be defeated by driving to the next canal bridge at Horsley Fields. There, as plain as they were many years ago were the grooves in the old corner brick. Again as I had done all those years ago, I imagined the horses pulling the barges laden with heavy loads.

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The canal in those days were an important part of the countries industry with many companies setting up alongside. Answering my question in my poem, I do now know that the grooves are still there today, and obviously, man relied on the old trusty horse.