https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/07/16/swan-upping-on-the-thames-iii/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Fri, 18 Jul 2025 10:58:35 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/07/16/swan-upping-on-the-thames-iii/#comment-1755982 Fri, 18 Jul 2025 10:58:35 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=203902#comment-1755982 It is a pleasant spectacle and a tradition that should be continued, but I’m sceptical of its value especially from a census perspective. I walk a 2 mile stretch of the Thames on a daily basis and am familiar with the local swan population and habits. Today I passed about 12 adult swans on the river bank (by which I mean of all ages except this year’s cygnets) none of which were ringed. Certainly some may have been cygnets during any pandemic suspension of Swan Upping and missed their go, but not all. On the day the Swan Uppers passed this week I encountered families of cygnets which will have been overlooked. It is the nature of the back waters, especially in the vicinity of locks and weirs, these cygnets will only have been observed and included in the census if, like me, the Swan Uppers had actually been on foot.

]]> https://spitalfieldslife.com/2025/07/16/swan-upping-on-the-thames-iii/#comment-1755377 Thu, 17 Jul 2025 11:20:36 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=203902#comment-1755377 Having previously lived in Maidenhead for over 30 years, I clearly remember Mr Turk who was THE Queen’s Swan Upper for many years, and always fascinating to watch them at this time of year. Walking along the tow path at Kingston in 2019 while on a visit to a friend in Surrey, I was pleased to see that Turk’s still had a thriving boat business there. Long may they live….

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