It's the weekend again ... so what you see is what you get.

Sidney Merridew ... stood alongside the swan and smiled. Inspite  spending all his life in the rural county of Suffolk he was wordly wise. He was aware of the frantic days spent on the River Thames dealing with the annual audit  of the Queen's swans known to the knowledgable as SWAN UPPING( see notes below).

Locally he was acknowledged as the the Master of Swan Upping (Suffolk version) ... In fact, Alf Jenkins and  Herbert Cartwright had even written to the queen to suggest he should take over the role nationally. They had happily sent their speediest pigeon with the message ... but they had failed to get a reply. Alf muttered to  Sid and  Herb', as they sipped their daily pint of Adnam's in the White Lion, that  '' ... it was her loss.''

The best they could do was to engineer more publicity for Sid. This is the picture that the ''Suffolk Evening Gossiper''  eventually published hoping that his technique would be recognized more widely. Sid is in the background, having just 'upped' Margery the Mute swan.

Swan Upping is an annual ceremonial and practical activity in England in which mute swans on the River Thames are rounded up, caught, marked, and then released. This takes place during the third week of July.Traditionally, the Monarch of the United Kingdom owns all unmarked mute swans on the River Thames. This dates from the 12th century, during which swans were a common food source for royalty. Swan upping is a means of establishing a swan census. Under a Royal Charter of the 15th century, the Vintners' Company and the Dyers' Company, two Livery Companies of the City of London, are entitled to share in the Sovereign's ownership. They conduct the census through a process of ringing the swan's feet, but the swans are no longer eaten.