Today, waiting for my appointment, I cycled along the canal between Three Bridges and Southall. I talked to two people who have visited Poland. One was a boatman taking his daughter's boat through Norwood Lock. He had driven a lorry across Poland on the way to Iran and Iraq in the 1960s! Next time he went to Poland in the 1990s and was highly impressed how much the country had changed in the meantime: it became very colourful and the people looked happy.
The other man was a volunteer at the big Sikh temple in Southall. Very proud of the building, he told me it cost 18 million pounds to built and the money came from voluntary contributions. Working at Heathrow Airport he had an opportunity to visit Poland. he liked Warsaw and Krakow very much, I heard. I delicately asked him if he was a Sikh and he confirmed explaining to me that not all the Sikh men have long hair and wear turbans.
The highlight of the evening for those who are into local history was a lecture on the Ealing churches by my compatriot and local historian, Piotr Stolarski, PhD. I got there to hear only the last part of this most interesting talk followed by many questions from the audience. The Green Room at the Ealing Library was full, you may like to know. It made me feel... well... proud of the fact that a Polish historian was so well received here in West London. To my very pleasant surprise Mr Stolarski presented me with a copy of his recent book: "Christian Ealing". Recently published, it can be purchased at 10 ponds from the Ealing Library, the local Waterstones bookshop and the atmospheric local bookshop in nearby Pitsanger Lane which has recently won the the competition for London's best high street!
Last Sunday, like every year, the street was closed for the traffic while eager volunteers were preparing the Christmas street lights. They had to fight against a really heavy wind. I saw them from my bike.
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