Jack the Carters lad

I was in Eccles this morning.

I heard my first mistle thrush singing - for me the first real sign of spring - on a house roof, close to the M602. So a very gritty location, but they can be gritty birds (one of my favourites).

At the end of the morning I found myself on Church Street, and came across this unexpected sight. An irish singer playing the fiddle (very well) and singing something about Jack the Carters lad (also very well). And operating a puppet with his foot - who says that men cannot multi-task !

The yellow ribbon around the lamp post is in remembrance of Alan Henning, the Eccles taxi driver killed last year. There are still flowers around the cross at the bottom of the street, very sad, very poignant, and still upsetting - the killing of the Jordanian pilot today is yet another reminder of the brutality of it all.