Paul Farley is one of Britain’s best-respected poets, and we have been lucky to have him National Poetry Day’s poet in residence for 2008. In keeping with our theme of ‘work’, we sent him into three unusual places to see very different kinds of workplace.

The sequence of three poems that resulted show how Paul reacted to the Anderton Boat Lift in Cheshire, Ratcliffe on Soar power station in Nottinghamshire and to Jenner’s apple farm in Kent.

	The Submerged Canal Paul Farley at the Anderton Boat Lift, Cheshire. © British Waterways
	The Power Station Paul amongst the cooling towers of Ratcliffe on Soar power station. © E.ON
	The Apple Orchard Paul Farley talks to farm worker Simon Smith about the fine points of apple picking. © Colman Getty

National Poetry Day would like to thank E.On, British Waterways and Ken Jenner for their kind invitations and for their hospitality on the day of Paul’s visit.