2011 Streak 91/365:
Walking - 4.6 miles, Time - 1hr 35 min, Weather - broken cloud cover, slightly cool
There are a number of public sculptures in the town but this is not one of them. It just an old plough made in about 1900, in Hemel, mounted on a brick plinth,but it pleases me more than most of the pieces deemed to be art.
Firstly the hand plough is an incredibly sculptural object, never mind that its only purpose is practical, and is therefore satisfying to look at. However there is more to it than that. It was actually manufactured in Hemel and as such is a reminder of a local industry that existed before the coming of the New Town. (There is a description of the Boxmoor Ironworks here).
As such it is also a more general reminder of a time when many things were local and the country was full of small manufacturers. It is also true that the resulting products were rougher hewn and less sophisticated but I rather like the fact that you can see both how it works and how it was put together. It is not a shiny mysterious box like so many of today's objects.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it is a reminder of how hard work was 100 years ago. To use and control that plough would have taken considerable skill and physical effort which would have taken its toll.
I have to remember that as I go out and about each day. What I do is physically easy - a pleasure, with none of the back-breaking drudgery that characterised work in previous times. Some times it is good to be reminded of why it is good to be alive now rather than in times gone by
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