WILL THEY EVER BRIDGE THE HUMBER?

In our early history
Julius Caesar crossed the sea
To this island off the Northern coast of France
Then some other Romans came
Just to treat us just the same
And they stayed a litte (little???) just by chance
They came they saw they conquered
All the land that they could see
Then they reached the River Humber
That noble estuary
But they burnt their boats behind them
Not thinking it could be
That the ancient Britons hadn't built a bridge

CHORUS:
Will they ever bridge the Humber
will they ever span it o'er
Is it always an exception to the rule
Is it such a privilege not to have a Humber Bridge
And to have to keep on going round by Goole

In a 100 years or more
There arrived on England's shore
A noble duke who came from Normandy
Duke William was his name and the conqueror he became
Cos he conquered all the land that he could see
But one day he came up north and there to his surprise
When he reached the River Humber he was made to realise
That whilst Romans could build straighter roads
And walls of every size
They had never tried to build a Humber Bridge

In the English Civil War
When they fought on Marston Moor
And the royalists were scattered far and wide
They disturbed the peaceful slumber of the quiet River Humber
But they knew that Hull was not the place to hide
For the city favoured Cromwell
And there they could not stay
So they headed for the river
To cross without delay
But on reaching Hessle foreshore
They found to their dismay
No one had ever built a Humber Bridge

The year of 1966 found Harold Wilson in a fix
With his overall majority down to 2
He just couldn't face rejection
At the Hull North by- election
Barbara Cartland came to see what she could do
There is one thing I can promise
She assured us on that day
You'll get your Humber Bridge
And there won't be much delay
But she forgot to mention that a squeeze was on the way
And we're still waiting for the Humber bridge

NOw they've built across the Severn
And they've built across the Tay
And they've even spanned the mighty Firth of Forth
But an increase on this number
with a bridge across the Humber
Seems to be more trouble than its worth
Gas may flow up from the ocean
oil may flow out from the sea
We would join the common market
if the French would just say oui
Then in Whitehall and in Westminster perhaps they'll start to see
That at last we really need the Humber Bridge


(I have added this verse and final chorus to bring it up to date)

Now in 1973 it was finally agreed
That a bridge would soon be built from shore to shore
The governmental powers ordered
'build two great big towers
And suspend a bridge in three years or in four
But the building was delayed as they sank into the clay
And it took eight years to build instead of four
but in 1981 the queen to Hull did come
and opened up the bridge to one and all

Now they've finally bridged the Humber
They have finally spanned it o'er
It's no longer an exception to the rule
But the tools across the bridge
Make it such a privilege
That many keep on going round by Goole


Sue