UNIT The Bridge Over The A339.

Note: all tracks recorded under the names Academy 23 or UNIT are the property of DNA Records and protected by copyright, regardless of who wrote the works concerned. This is a track from Trains Run On My One Track Mind, our 55th album, recorded in 2025.

In 1968, British Rail demolished the lovely red brick arch that spanned the A339
between Basingstoke and Alton. Part of my childhood was destroyed with it.

A week earlier I stood on the old rail bed and peered over the parapet
at the road below. Perkins stood next to me, perplexed yet curious.

We wore our PE strip: rugby shirts, scanty cotton shorts, ankle socks and trainers,
the bare expanse of our calves and thighs scratched by brambles and nettles.

The bridge appeared indestructible, solid and eternal, a testament to Victorian ingenuity.
The arch spanned a road down which vehicles trundled 130 years after its construction.

I said to Perkins ‘imagine how many men it took to build this arch, brick by brick.’
He replied ‘the trouble with you, Martin, is you think too clearly.’ What did he mean?

Perkins and I indulged in truancy, using our cross country run to escape from school,
its incessant tyranny a blight upon our lives. He never laughed; he rarely smiled.

One morning Perkins did not appear in school; I never saw him again. He vanished into air,
as vacant as that space, like a missing tooth, where the bridge once spanned the A339.

Andy Martin – Vocals, Church Organ, Birds.
Rachel Greenberg – Vocals.
Karen Elliot – Vocals.
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Birds – Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Linnet & Jackdaw.

Text & Music – Andy Martin.

You may be interested in these other tracks by UNIT, all of which are available on our Rumble channel.

The Earth Is Finite.
Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes.
Osaka Boy.
Barbara’s Bridge.
A Study Of Alkaline Metals.
The 613 Mitzvot.
The Unwanted.
A Song For Eric Cooper.
Amery Hill School.
Realise Your Potential.
1985.
Resonance Rocks Out.
The 4th Horseman.
The Noahide Laws.
Hup Soon Heng.
Eagle.
When We Were Friends.

In addition we have 11 books available in PDF format free on request.

Chinese Cinema 1905 – 2005
The Essays – Articles, Essays & Monographs on science and culture
Not In Front Of The Children: A Study Of Grange Hill 1978 – 1993
Fast – Clean – Cheap (A Compendium)
Civil Disobedience – A Collection Of Short Stories For Children
Behind The Bike Shed – A Novel For Children
Grange Hill 1994 – 2008
The No Nation Interview
Birds, Bridges & Boys – Short Stories For Adults
Questo Temporis – Short Stories For Adults
School Report – A Novel For Adults