I've just booked to attend the matinee of this live opera/puppetry production at the University of Kent's theatre in Canterbury: Swanhunter
I found it on the back of the "What's On" programme I picked up while attending the Enid Blyton exhibition at the Beaney! Looks very interesting - apparently based on Finnish legends and suitable for both adults and children. Not yet sure why the show's logo features a pair of black swans, though - I can assure you they don't come from Finland!!
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
John Pickup wrote:I can remember seeing black swans in Dawlish in Devon. That's the only place I've seen them. Where do they originate from?
Society Member
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
I've seen a pair of them on the lake at Claremont in Surrey, and also at Chartwell, Winston Churchill's house here in Kent; it's said they are the direct descendants of a pair of black swans he was given as a gift from Australia after the war.
John Pickup wrote:Are they over here on holiday?
Possibly. On the other hand, they might be plotting a takeover.
Society Member
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
I seem to remember seeing black swans on Western Australia stamps from the early 1900s. There certainly used to be some in Alexandra Park in Hastings - probably another gift from our cousins in Australia.
Yes, the black swan is the symbol of Western Australia in particular. I had a friend from there once who was convinced that black swans were native only to Western Australia and all other parts of Australia had white swans... The black swan is the only swan native to Australia and it's found naturally all over the continent!! (We do have occasional introduced white swans in parks and gardens, but not many have established themselves in the wild.)
This was the first stamp ever issued in Western Australia, in 1854 (it was an individual British colony at that time, as were the five other Australian states until they became one country in 1901):
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
Eddie, congratulations to your grandson as well - glad he had a wonderful party!
Society Member
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
Ben and Harry are also lucky to have two very loving grandparents in Chick and Eddie. I hope you have many memorable times together. Erika and I are eagerly looking forward to spending time with our new granddaughter too.
Recovering today from a guided tour of parts of London including a boat trip along the canal from
Camden Lock (manic crowds including drag queens!) to Little Venice via London Zoo. Probably the
most interesting and sad were the plaques in Postman’s Park and the Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice. Well worth reading some of the plaques - many to children who sacrificed themselves in saving others. One of the most poignant was a young boy of 8 who saved his young sister from being burnt alive only to die from burns himself.
Looks very interesting - apparently based on Finnish legends and suitable for both adults and children. Not yet sure why the show's logo features a pair of black swans, though - I can assure you they don't come from Finland!! 
The black swan is the only swan native to Australia and it's found naturally all over the continent!! (We do have occasional introduced white swans in parks and gardens, but not many have established themselves in the wild.)
