Richard Thompson OBE, a multi-award-winning singer-songwriter, has written a song about Elstree and Borehamwood station assistant Siggy Cragwell BEM.
Siggy is Thameslink’s oldest employee and has been in the job since 1962.
He arrived in Britain as part of the Windrush generation and started work the day after his ship docked in Southampton.
The song about Siggy was aired on national radio this week as part of BBC Radio 2’s 21st Century Folk.
This is a week-long celebration of folk music and the lives of people changed by trains, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway.
Siggy will appear on The Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2, alongside Thompson, today (Wednesday, July 30), between 12pm and 2pm.
He has been delivering customer service on the railway for 63 years, having tried to retire once but found life too dull without work.
The 85-year-old has also received two lifetime achievement awards, one by popular vote in his north London community, and a British Empire Medal (BEM) for his services to the railway.
He said: “It’s such an honour to have this song written about me.
“I could never have dreamed when I came to this country that I’d still be working for the railway 63 years later and be receiving all these accolades.”
The station assistant also played cricket for the England over-70s and still takes wickets of players in their 20s.
Like Siggy, Thompson is a cricket enthusiast.
The Fairport Convention co-founder recorded the song with Siggy’s cricketing colleagues as backing vocals at their club, Holtwhites-Trinibis, near Gordon Hill railway station.
He said: “It was fascinating to meet Siggy and learn of his life on the railway with Thameslink.
“Recording this song about him at his cricket club has been great fun.”
BBC Radio 2’s Folk Show host, Mark Radcliffe, said: “Folk music tells the story of everyday life, with melodies and lyrics that are passed down through generations of families.
“It’s been amazing to see these listeners’ stories take on a life of their own with these special compositions, written and performed by some of the folk world’s most loved artists.
“I can’t wait to share them with the Radio 2 audience.”
