Half a Sheep, and Vaisakhi

Coffee shop in Hanwell

The weather was windy yesterday -- somehow related to Storm Kathleen, I think. I woke up in the wee hours of the morning and went to the living room to read (and let me tell you, reading The New York Times is not a good way to get back to sleep), when suddenly I heard a tremendous CRASH! I looked outside and found the avocado tree had blown over. Amazingly, the pot didn't break, but it's topped with a layer of terra cotta and stone chips and that's what made all the noise.

I went out to right it, which was surely a spectacle in the middle of the night. I gave it some water to make it heavier and braced it with a heavy patio chair. I'm sure the Russians were amused.

ANYWAY, I decided yesterday to take a windy walk. Rather than do the rest of the Dollis Valley Greenwalk right away, I decided to try something new. Not long ago I was scanning Google maps when I noticed a location marked "sheep statues" in a field near Southall, a suburb of West London. I decided to go check out the sheep.

I got off the Elizabeth Line in Hanwell, and made my way through town. I eventually reached the Grand Union Canal, and walked the towpath along the water. The canal in this area features a series (or "flight") of picturesque locks, connecting it to the River Brent and eventually to the Thames. The Canal & River Trust says there are seven locks; the London Canal Museum says there are eight, and will give you more information than you ever wanted to know. I guess I should have counted them myself, but anyway, I enjoyed walking past and taking pictures of the locks and the adjacent lock-keepers' cottages.

I reached an area called Three Bridges, yet another engineering marvel from the fertile mind of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Victorian-era engineer for the Great Western Railway. The railroad, in this spot, goes beneath both a roadway and the canal itself. Brunel designed a tiered bridge that carries the canal over the tracks and the road (which I'm standing on in the photo above) over the canal.

From there I walked a bluebell-lined path through Tentelow Wood and Meadow and finally came to the wooden sheep statues. There are ostensibly two, but one of them is missing its head and the upper half of its body, and the other has a large chunk out of its right rear flank. I found that if I photographed it from this angle, it looks pretty much whole.

I don't know the history of these sculptures or who made them, but they look similar to sheep by chainsaw sculptor Mick Burns, who has worked in this area. Maybe they're his? I belatedly learned there are three more in another location nearby that might be in better condition.

Having seen the sheep, I decided to walk to Southall station to catch the tube home. But the day's adventures were not over!

Southall has a large South Asian community, and apparently the holiday of Vaisakhi is coming up. I stumbled into a huge street festival celebrating Vaisakhi and a procession that makes its way from one temple in Southall to another. I didn't see the procession itself, but it was fun walking among all the participants, who were eating from streetside food stalls and listening to lively music.

I liked this guy's t-shirt: "Powered by Punjab, Serving Britain."

Here's a two-minute video to show you what it was like:

You'll see the Punjab t-shirt guy wandering past, as well as men in colorful turbans and women in bright, flowing saris. In the background you can also see the temples (one partly covered with scaffolding) associated with the procession. It was quite a scene!

After navigating the crowds I got myself to the Southall train station for the journey home, where I mowed the lawn and took our surplus clothes to the charity shop. Today, back to work!