Tired as old folk were, always crossing river? (6)
I believe the answer is:
aweary
'tired as old folk' is the definition.
'aweary' can be an answer for 'tired' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'as old folk' bit.
'always crossing river?' is the wordplay.
'always' becomes 'ay' (archaic term for 'always').
'crossing' indicates putting letters inside (to cross can mean to go over or around).
'river?' becomes 'wear' (river in the north east of England).
'ay' going around 'wear' is 'AWEARY'.
'were' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for aweary that I've seen is " tired".)