Of Mice and Man / Brick and span/ The Angel Gabion fan

 And the angel Gabion

Came down from up on high

And said I want a bridge here

Now get out your pigsty

Put down your hammers

Give the dog a bone

And build me some pillars 

out of rock and stone

But the people at first they built 

Them out of sand

And the good Angel Gabion

He couldn't understand

Why have ye builded me

These pillars of salt?

Do you not know

How the weathers will assault?

And the Lorries rumble

And the bicyclists vault

One crack in these

Will bring on a fault

And the whole bridge will crumble

And the night shall fall down

And heaven will be humble

She will lose her high crown

So if ye are not to let down

The plans of mice and man

Get off your arses

And make that bridge span

And build me some good gabions

Out of rock and stone

And don't put heaven in a rage

But make sure you pack them flatly

Inside their cage

Turn it into a smooth slope

We can follow with our eyes

And see it go gently up over the rise

And then together we'll cross the great divide

of the road to Pilton and reach the other side

But how shall we lay them 

asked one humble Sheptonian

And the man from Pilton he say

Lay man lay, 

lay them like great slabs

That the Cathedral stands on

They were built to last

And they hadn't even gabions

Just the master masons

And hand skills of the past

That surpassed all our expectations

But whose foundations still last

Yet we are not like the ancients

Neither in heroic skill or manner

But something of their way

Still passes on down the spanner

And we can still swing 

mattocks, shovels and hammers

And in the joints and limbs are feeling

At one with creation

And the intention of people to

Build something great

Whether resurrecting a railway

Or correcting a mistake

We'll soon get back on track

While the season lasts

And soon have the wheels rolling

Over the bridge running fast

And the people will be strolling

And admiring the view

And they'll thank their

lucky stars for we happy few

Who had the chance to build it

Or even just lend a hand 

in the spanning of the pilton road

Like in the works of mice and man