narrowboatworld

THERE will be no annual count of the swans on the Thames that passes through Oxfordshire this year, owing to the state of the river.

The count, known officially as swan upping, should have been undertaken on the river at this time, but being often in flood due to the persistent rainfall, it has been cancelled, Alan Tilbury tells us.

Too dangerous

The count normally takes a week, and is done by the Queen's Swan Marker, David Barber and his team, but this year it was thought it was too dangerous in view of the constant flooding.

Boaters too have been suffering the appalling conditions of the river over the past few weeks, with red boards displayed showing the Thames unnavigable,