Recently, my wife Kathleen and I encountered a pair of mute swans with their five cygnets on the River Brett alongside the Riverside Walk.

Even though the youngsters had now grown to almost adult size, their parents were still attentively overseeing their activity.

Don't ride this white swan (Picture credit: Kathleen Carr)

A wonderfully tranquil experience, unlike the noise from the large gaggle of geese raucously honking beyond the opposite bank.

Further along the Walk, we took the route over 'Monet's Bridge' and paused for a moment. As if on cue, a brilliant flash of colour alerted us to a kingfisher arrowing into the river; then, emerging with its meal, it flew to its riverbank cavity to devour it.

Kingfisher (Picture credit: Tom Kelly SWNS)

Inspired by this snapshot of local birdlife, it brought to mind the recording of Ride a White Swan by T.Rex, a group the editor had recently featured in HNN. 

Small in stature and fragile as a bird was how Marc Bolan appeared to us when we were fortunate to see him perform at a music festival in 1968. That was in the days of his emerging talent as lead musician in the psychedelic folk band Tyrannosaurus Rex (later shortened to T.Rex).

A brilliantly original rock 'n' roller who could have scaled even greater heights but for his tragic death in a car crash. Bolan died in 1977, just short of his 30th birthday. For the best part of a decade, he was a prime influential figure in the creation of the glam rock craze, some citing him as the performer who started it all. Take a look at the video and see what you think!

This appreciation of Hadleigh Riverside Walk and Marc Bolan is by Nub News music reviewer Robert Carr.

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Tranquil riverside walk along Brett (Picture credit: Kathleen Carr)