musings

I went for a walk last week. Just to stretch my legs really, but also to nip into B&Q. I went along the back roads and noticed things I never would have discovered if I had simply jumped in the car. There’s a quaint crescent row of alms houses built at the turn of the last century. A pub with a bowling green down a cobbled street. And playing fields on a raised area of land from which you can see the whole of the town, the majestic railway viaduct which cuts right through it, and the rolling moors beyond.

A footpath links the residential streets with a more commercial area where B&Q is located. I passed an anonymous collection of buildings and half-noticed that they had all their windows boarded-up. The premises were run down but clearly in use, with vehicles parked in the rear yard. A man emerged from double doors at the back. They were protected by those thick transparent flaps which hang down to keep the heat in, or to keep flies out. We no more that glanced at each other as I walked past, but I got a vague sense of furtiveness. I supposed that very few people would use the route I was taking, so he might have been surprised to see somebody on foot.

As I walked on, I saw a man coming towards me. Was he lost? He looked as if he might be a driver trying to find the drop-off address. Again, there was an almost imperceptible look on his weather-beaten face that suggested he did not want me to know what he was doing.

I turned the corner. His lorry came into view and there, looking back at me through a slit in the side was a sheep. Quietly and unknowingly spending its last few minutes taking in this strange new environment. Squashed in with dozens more sheep who had been rounded up that morning from the fields and driven down the motorway.

Here amongst the car showrooms, superstores, depots and small warehouses is a secret place. In a few minutes, the driver would reverse in and unload his cargo. Clattering down the ramp and into the building with no windows.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 5:39 pm and is filed under uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.