Can somebody whisper in the ear of the Swan Master.

[oldgit]

He looked very resplendent with his scrambled egg braid and feather on TV last night but displayed an expected woeful lack of knowledge about the outside world.
Not news to those from outside that glorified pond aka The Upper Thames. .
We all know the Thames exists in very parochial universe, entirely isolated from all the other navigations in the United Kingdom but can somebody whisper in the ear of your Master of Ceremonies that, we on the Medway count our swans , owned by The Mayor of Medway, without looking like something from a Dreamworks cartoon.

"The monarch legally owns all of the unmarked swans in England and Wales… that's a lot of swans! The only exception is here in the borough of Maidstone, where swans belong to the Mayor. Back in 1619, King James I granted this privilege to the Mayor along a stretch of the River Medway that flows through our town."

Two rivers mentioned both in the Magna Carta and Domesday Book , one of the them is the River Medway........the name of the other escapes me.

If somebody up there gets 5 mins from complaining about the EA and how hard done by they are ,perhaps they might like to put the record straight.

 

[Chris_d]

Interesting didn't know that, I wonder why the King didn't want the swans on the Medway?

 

[billskip]

Interesting didn't know that, I wonder why the King didn't want the swans on the Medway?

They taste of mud, so it's likely the medway swans are even more muddy.

 

[oldgit]

They taste of mud, so it's likely the medway swans are even more muddy.

All that "stuff" suspended in our river is nutrients, this enables all the life in the river river to thrive mightly on thoughtfully provided surfaces ie, boat bottoms.

Wickipedia.

History​

By prerogative right, the British Crown enjoys ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water. Rights over swans may, however, be granted to a British subject by the Crown (accordingly they may also be claimed by prescription).[1] Until the 16th century, the ownership of swans in a given body of water was commonly granted to landowners. The only bodies who still exercise such rights are two livery companies of the City of London, the Worshipful Company of Vintners and the Worshipful Company of Dyers, who thus share equally with the Crown in the number of swans in the Thames that they own. The tradition of swan upping on the Thames began in the 12th century.[2][3]


"Four hundred years ago, in 1619, King James 1 granted the Mayor of Maidstone the privilege of keeping the town's swans and cygnets.
It was an extension of a Royal Charter already granted 60 years earlier by Queen Elizabeth1 giving the Mayor the right to inspect the town's waterways."

 

[RivalRedwing]

Forgive the question but what has the Mayor of Medway got to do with the Mayor of Maidstone, somewhat further upstream?

 

[oldgit]

Forgive the question but what has the Mayor of Medway got to do with the Mayor of Maidstone, somewhat further upstream?

A very good question.
The Hawkwood Stone.

The Hawkwood Stone at Burham.
This monument marked the boundary of the jurisdiction of the Conservators of the River Medway. The boundary line stretched from the Hawkwood Stone over to the north bank at Halling, to Dolly Bank on the Isle of Grain, and across to Garrison Point at Sheerness.
The Conservators were empowered by an Act of Parliament to ensure the "preservation and improvement of the River Medway", and more specifically to "dredge, cleanse, scour, buoy and light the river and to preserve the navigation of the same, and for such purposes to levy and collect tolls, rates, and dues, to borrow money and to exercise the powers, authorities and jurisdiction".
The Mayor of Maidstones juristiction ends here.

Once a year the Mayor of Medway is taken up to this point to exchange pleasantries with the Mayor of Maidstone.
After the Admiral of the River Court held in Rochester Guildhall.

 

[oldgit]

A very good question.
The Hawkwood Stone.

The Hawkwood Stone at Burham.
This monument marked the boundary of the jurisdiction of the Conservators of the River Medway. The boundary line stretched from the Hawkwood Stone over to the north bank at Halling, to Dolly Bank on the Isle of Grain, and across to Garrison Point at Sheerness.
The Conservators were empowered by an Act of Parliament to ensure the "preservation and improvement of the River Medway", and more specifically to "dredge, cleanse, scour, buoy and light the river and to preserve the navigation of the same, and for such purposes to levy and collect tolls, rates, and dues, to borrow money and to exercise the powers, authorities and jurisdiction".
The Mayor of Maidstones juristiction ends here.

Once a year the Mayor of Medway is taken up to this point to exchange pleasantries with the Mayor of Maidstone.
After the Admiral of the River Court held in Rochester Guildhall.