Swan-upping is an old English custom.
During the second or third week of July, boats travel up the river Thames holding men representing the Queen (to whom all the mute swans officially belong) and a couple of the old London guilds. When they see a cygnet (baby swan) or family of them (usually but not always with the adult swans) the boats surround them, cutting them off from getting away. The cygnets are then weighed, marked and recorded.
You can get the whole gen. by googling. There's a timetable on one of the sites, but don't expect it to be on-the-dot accurate as the boats may travel faster or slower depending on how many times they do or don't stop for cygnet-marking.
This is the third day and they will continue until Friday afternoon. This morning they set off from Marlow.
I went and saw it yesterday and hurried along the Thames Path to hopefully catch them with the cygnets. You can more or less keep up with them by foot, but a bicycle would have made it much better. I walked 10 miles and by the end my knees were a bit wobbly. Yesterday's trek was between Windsor and Marlow and most of the way was sheltered - some sections may be more open-aired. Take plenty of water and a good sun-hat.
I was lucky enough to meet a woman connected with them, as I was about to walk the last 5 mile stretch. She gave me a ride in her car to Marlow Lock and also told me about the evening entertainments. Apparently they hole up in a nearby pub and drink and sing - usually traditional English songs, cockney and otherwise. (I didn't stay as I hadn't intended to walk that far when I started and was rather tired.)
A nice outing if you have the energy, and the time, Something a little bit different and 'off the tourist trail'.
A couple of useful websites if planning to go - http://www.transportdirect.info/Web2/Home.aspx?&repeatingloop=Y] for public transport to and from your sites.
[https://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Pressreleases/2013/SwanUpping2013.aspx]for background info and - down the page - the route and (rather flexible) timetable .
Edited by: go_2
