Where there’s a will, there is a lay.
So starts this wee tale of Roger Dudman Way.
Head west from Domino’s, through the tunnel of love,
Be shaken, if not stirred by rattling freight trains above,
And, flanked by Mick’s Café and the YHA
See the new glory that’s called the Roger Dudman’s Way.
Mick’s Café has shut, I am sorry to say.
‘Twas the jewel in the crown of Roger Dudman’s Way.
As you beat your way towards pastures new,
You’ll see Oxford Station and, this is certainly true,
You’ll see five storeys hove into view.
This is the Great Wall of Roger Dudman’s Way,
Blocking Port Meadow, or that is what they say.
The structure’s for students, and not really for geese;
They will have to soar high to stay in one piece.
Roger Dudman, the man who inspired the route
Was Lord Mayor of Oxford, and a leftie, to boot.
Of Dudman’s life we know little, it’s true,
But he held a grand post so was one of the few
To wear the great chain, and preceded by mace
Trouped through the town with consummate grace.
The latest Lord Mayor fell flat on his face,
For saying the word “sexy” that’s quite a disgrace.
And so we conclude this Dudman paeon,
To celebrate the daze of the Dudman aeon,
With hymns and raptures day by every day
To celebrate Mr Dudman and his now famous Way!
