Seasonal Roads?

The study of British and Irish roads - their construction, numbering, history, mapping, past and future official roads proposals and general roads musings.

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Tom
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Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2001 19:06
Location: Ely

Seasonal Roads?

Post by Tom »

Can anyone think of any Christmassy roads songs?? The best I can come up with is
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay roundabout
Deep and crisp and even

Deviation (within reason) from the real words permitted. I suppose this is I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue-like. But I'm sure there must be better examples...
Happy hunting!
Rupert
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Post by Rupert »

'Driving Home for Christmas' by the hated Michael Ball would seem like an obvious choice. Also includes the words 'freeway', 'tailbacks', 'red lights' and probably others.
Guy-Barry
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Post by Guy-Barry »

<< Can anyone think of any Christmassy roads songs?? [...]
Deviation (within reason) from the real words permitted. >>
Oh well, in that case:
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
A12 drummers drumming, A11 pipers piping... (sorry!)
<< I suppose this is I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue-like.>>
Did you know that there's an old music-hall song that mentions Mornington Crescent? It's called "the night I appeared as Macbeth", about a very bad actor, and the lines are "they made me a present of Mornington Crescent, they threw it a brick at a time".
(What do you mean, off-topic? Mornington Crescent's a road, isn't it?)
Actually it would be interesting to catalogue any references to British roads in songs. We've already had the A13 and the A303, and there must be others, even if the roads aren't mentioned by name. Wasn't Chris Rea's "The Road to Hell" about the M25?
Guy
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Pagan_Brad
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Post by Pagan_Brad »

And he's back!
Not exactly a road, but scrapes in by being a part of a road - Boothferry Bridge. This is a bit of the A614, slightly north of Goole, and very important before the M62 came along in the 70s. In 1972, top notch folk singer Harvey Andrews penned a nice tune about it, something along the lines of:
Boothferry Bridge, Boothferry Bridge, My gateway,
To Home Again,
I have recently come into the mp3 version of this song, and when I find out more of the words will bore everyone to tears with a spirited rendition.
Boothferry Bridge itself plays a big part in my motoring life, as I had to cross it every day twice when my wife worked on the other side. In nasty weather the motorway bridge is closed to high-siders and then they descend upon the old iron n asphalt erection, causing tremendous local disruption. Whinge moan etc.
In fact, the A614 has just enjoyed some serious lengthening. Back in the old days, according to my post-war atlas, it connected Nottingham and Selby. Then at some point, the A614 was lengthened to Holme Upon Spalding Moore, which meant that the A1041 took up the Selby connection, and the A161 was absorbed between there and Goole. The A1041, which once lay between Goole and Holme, became the A614.
This is how it was for ages, until a couple of years ago, when out of the blue, all the signs changed. Previously, all signs said "Bridlinton A614 (A163)" as the A163 was the route between Holme and Brid. Now, the (A163) has been stickered out of all signs, and the A163 now ends at Holme. No-one seems to know anything about it, it just happened suddenly. Mind you, as an A614 fan, a bit of lengthening is always welcome.
Cheerybye,
Brad.
Eeh! What did we do before the M62?
-- Bennett, Alan. Father! Father! Burning Bright (1982)
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