Cherry in Sackville Park...

In spite of the cold and the wet, grey weather, Spring is beginning to stir. We have snowdrops and crocus (croci? I’m never sure) and this early flowering cherry tree was in full bloom in Sackville Park in the city centre. We’re having an El Niño winter. That’s means we aren’t getting a lot of cold and snow but we are having some vicious Atlantic storms blowing in bringing high winds and heavy rains and floods. They have names now which seems to give them personalities as well. Gertrude and Henry blew in the weekend before last and made life difficult in Scotland. And Imogen arrived this weekend and blew in along the English Channel causing havoc in Wales, southern England and France. Apart from the bit of flooding on Boxing Day, Manchester has got off (fingers crossed) relatively lightly. We are awaiting Jake now but he’s not shown any signs of arriving just yet.

You can just make out Alan Turing (he of the Enigma Code and the world's first programmable computer) sitting on his bench from where he can see the comings and goings on Canal Street. I wonder what he would have thought if he could see the freedoms that gay people have today compared to his times that led to his suicicde? And what would he have achieved if he had lived?

I've discovered that these gardens, and the buildings behind them in the picture, were built on the original Manchester docks. There was once a canal basin here leading off the Rochdale Canal. It was filled in after the canals declined with the coming of the railways.

Extra picture is blue sky through cherry blossom on a cold, Manchester day.