The church of St James at Gawsworth

Lovely walk around Gawsworth with lunch in the local pub. This a carving on the church of St James from late 15th century. It's a Cheshire bagpiper!
A good friend of mine and a self-confessed bagpipe enthusiast, tells me that English bagpipes are thought to have been the most popular musical instrument in the country in the Middle Ages, with Cheshire becoming the by-word for fashionable tunes by the 1700s!
People just think it’s a Scottish instrument but they were brought back from the Middle East and North Africa by pilgrims or Crusaders.
King Henry VIII owned five sets of pipes, one set being made entirely out of ivory!
Roll the New year :)