IN my back yard there’s a tumbledown old shed. It looked on its last legs when I first came here 37 years ago and needless to say it’s now more ramshackle than ever.

A while ago the board above the door fell off leaving a five-inch gap and a pair of blackbirds have nested inside ever since.

I see them going in and out all the time. In fact, they clearly think they own the place (which, of course, they do) and look on disdainfully when I put anything in the bin (God bless them).

It just shows, things ancient, derelict and past their sell-by date (like me, as well as the shed) can still serve a useful purpose.

I mean, if I’d replaced the shed and kept the back yard tidy, the blackbirds wouldn’t have found a home there, would they?

Tony Kelly, Crook.