Yeah, so this happened:
We saw friggin‘ Damian Lewis dressed in tweed, poking some sheep across a bridge in Central London!
Complete with men in funny hats and fluffy coats!
ABSOLUTE DELIGHT!
So, let’s begin!
One fine late-September Saturday, Jocelyn and I set out to see some sheep.
Which is probably a slightly weird thing for two Australians to do.
Apparently our country has approximately three-and-a-third sheep per person, while the UK settles closer to just 1/3 of a sheep per inhabitant.
(I assume this means I get three -and-two-thirds sheep, given my current status?)
But the very special thing about UK sheep is that, every so often, a select few come to town.* And when they do, they like to bring celebrities with them.
*(And this, mind you, is a very select few. We happened to chat with a woman from the RSPCA who was there ‘for the sheep’, and she was very quick to explain to us that these sheep weren’t just ‘pulled off a hill in Wales’, but were actually pretty well film- and media- trained sheep, used to the hard city life and schlepping for their feed).
Back in the good old/ actually-really-not-that-good-and-filled-with-pestilence-and-a-whole-lot-of-inequality old days, sheep farmers used to drive their sheep into the City of London, in order to sell them at market.
Unlike standard farmers, those who were ‘Fremen of the City’ didn’t have to pay the bridge toll at they crossed London bridge, in recognition of their status.
The tradition was stopped at some point, but back in 2013, the Worshipful Company of Woolmen restarted the Sheep Drive for all to celebrate!
On the special day in question, the sheep march across the bridge multiple times, but we chose to go down for their very first official march at 10 am.
We milled around for a bit, admiring the multicolored crowds, and then noticed that there was a particularly dense crowd nucleated by one specific man:
Celebrity. Sighted!
There was some waiting, and then the sheep walking began:
A few sheep, one famous man, and a whole lot of pausing, posing, and photographing.
The atmosphere was pretty amazing- everyone seemed really delighted to be there, not least the actor himself, who talked to the sheep, talked to the nice fancy men in hats, talked to the farmer and the dog, and put up with being actually heckled about his sheep-herding skills by my mother.
(Absolutely not kidding)
With all the hullabaloo, it did take quite some time to actually get a move on….
But it was a really fun scene to be a part of.
The people around were all enjoying the show, and generally bemused.
I stood next to a guy who was explaining to his friend that he didn’t really know what was going on but was friends with one of the sheep farmers, so was less there for the actor, and more there for the sheep!
(because they need support too)
At one point, it was decided that a sheepdog should also get in on the action….
.. although it needed a bit of help.
.. and not everyone seemed to always be going in the right direction:
Eventually, everyone made it to the other side.
And Jocelyn and I headed to find something nice to eat.
We passed by crossbones graveyard….
… an old ‘single women’s’ cemetery possibly from as early as the 17th century….
and headed to borough markets. Where we stared lustfully at some cheese, and ate some beef.
There was a detour through an antique market, where Jocelyn contemplated spending all of poor baby Alice’s inheritance, and then then went home for some rest and snacks.
In the afternoon we set back out to look at the various sheep-related items associated with the bridge crossing event….
(they also had lamb sausages, which seemed a bit on the nose?)
.. and spent the later part of the evening doing a little bit of shopping, including contemplating an in-the-style-of-Damian tweed coat:
.. and, finally, ended our day with the best of icecream from Araw:
At some point we trawled through some videos, and later (with help from my dad), some Official Photos from the event.
And found that we had managed to sneak into some shots!
Here is a terrible quality still from a video of the event…
Do you see two fluffy-haired Australians poking their heads out at the far right corner?
And here is me, coffee cup in hand, very clearly aiming my phone at the famous man.
OKOK, final shot:
29th Sept, 2024