DOWN TO EARTH in The City

  Whilst this image above is not of Birmingham, the scene, setting and statement are easily qualified for any major city in the UK. We get a sense from this beast market scene of the hustle between traders, customers, and local authorities, together with the imagined yet pervasive odours, noise and organised chaos from the herded beasts. An earthy atmosphere indeed,  surrounded by inner-city dwellers, living with the weekly incursion of out-of-town droves, including people, cattle, sheep, pigs and geese as well as numerous other livestock. Prior to the railways in Birmingham, around 1838, these animals would have travelled hundreds of miles in some cases, especially the cattle from Anglesey, an arduous task for man and beast, but a necessary one that had occurred and prevailed over many hundreds of years. I envision a somewhat hostile setting with people striving by fair means or foul to make a profit and/or a living, hoping for a top price or a bargain using wit and banter an...