WB#3: Mute Swan - Regal Asset!
The cache, a small camo'ed bison tube, is hidden alongside this short trail leading from the Wharfebank Mills complex west alongside the river to Mickel Ings Beck. It is along this stretch that Mute Swans built a nest and raised 7 young this spring, activities followed by local workers through Twitter photos.
To reach the cache location: a) if continuing in a sequence from WB#1 and WB#2: park in the visitor car park @ N 53 54.212 W 1 42.471 and head west along the riverside trail to the cache location, accessing the cache from the lower (riverside) path.
b) if doing WB#3 and WB#4 separately: park @ N 53 54.227 W 1 42.741 at the end of the old Ilkley Rd and make your way down to and along the small riverside trail to the cache location.
Not included in the long list of the Queen's titles is the Seigneur of the Swans, a leftover from an era centuries ago when these (literally) regal avians denoted class, wealth and status. The strange and ancient relationship between the swan and the British crown continues to this day in a traditional annual swan census ceremony, dating back to the 12th century - Swan Upping.
This starts on the Monday of the 3rd week of July each year at Sunbury Lock some 17 miles west of London and concludes on the Friday at Abingdon 60 miles west.
It plays an important conservation role and involves The Queen’s Swan Warden collecting data, assessing the health of young cygnets and examining them for any injuries. Cygnets are extremely vulnerable at this early stage in their development and the activity gives an opportunity to help both adults and cygnets that might otherwise go untreated.
The Royal Swan Uppers, wear the scarlet uniform of Her Majesty The Queen and travel in traditional rowing skiffs together with Swan Uppers from the Vintners’ and Dyers’ livery companies in their skiffs who share ownership of the swans.
When the traditional cry of 'All up!' is heard from one of the skiffs; a female swan and her cygnets have been 
spotted and the skiffs manoeuvre to corral the birds towards the bank where the Uppers jump out and grab them, restraining their powerful legs behind her so they can be examined.
The birds are counted, weighed and checked for injury and ownership marks. The Dyers and Vintners companies use rings to mark their birds, while the Crown’s swans are unmarked.
Swans and who owns, breeds and eats them is an issue for the British that has generated legal statutes, sparked courtroom battles and engaged town councils in bitter arguments since the Middle Ages.
There is a legend that the mute swan was introduced to Britain by Richard I in the 12th century, who brought them back from his campaigns during the Crusades. Today, ornithologists believe the bird is probably native to the country, with archaeological evidence for the presence of swans dating back as far back as the late glacial period, 10,000 years ago.
Since ancient times, swans have been associated with tranquility and nobility, featuring in myths and stories around the world. Their high status is likely to have come about because of their perceived beauty and natural behavior.
Swans were luxury goods in Europe from at least the 12th century - the Medieval equivalent of flashing a Rolex or driving a Lamborghini. Owning swans signaled nobility, along with flying a hawk, running hounds or riding a battle-trained destrier.
They were eaten as a special dish at feasts, served as a centerpiece in their skin and feathers with a lump of blazing incense in the beak. They were particularly associated with Christmas, when they would be served in large numbers at royal feasts - 40 swans were ordered for Henry III’s Christmas celebrations in 1247 at Winchester.
To protect swans as an exclusive commodity, in 1482 the crown ordained that only landowners of a certain 
income could keep the birds. Ownership of swans was recorded by a code of marks nicked into the beak of the bird; an intricate system of these ‘swan marks’ developed. Only those who owned the right to use an official swan mark could own swans, and marks were restricted and expensive to purchase. Any swans that didn’t bear a mark were automatically the property of the crown. This effectively meant that only the monarch, wealthy landowners and some large institutions like trade guilds, cathedrals and universities could afford swan ownership.
Local councils appointed swan collectors to round up wild swans to add to official flocks) and held ‘Swanmoots’ - specially convened swan courts that heard cases related to swan ownership. Penalties for ignoring or defacing swan marks were harsh. In 1570, the Order of Swannes, a legal document setting out the rules relating to the birds, recorded that 'if any person do raze out, counterfeit or alter the mark of any swan, they shall suffer one year’s imprisonment'. There were similar tough sentences for stealing eggs or killing adult birds.
Swan rules prevented ordinary people from interacting with them at all, beyond being able to see them on the river. If you were not an officially recognized swan keeper it was forbidden to sell swans, to drive them away from your land, to mark them or even to hunt with dogs or lay nets and traps on the river at certain times of year in case swans were injured.
The right to own swans was granted to the Vintners and Dyers city livery companies in the 15th century. This is likely to have been a sweetener to strengthen relationships between the crown and the powerful trade guilds.
Only in 1998 was the UK law changed so it was no longer treasonous to eat a swan. Now as a native species, they are protected as wild birds under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act.
See herefor more info and here for the official web-site.
See here for the official Royal Family video on swan-upping, here for the Vintner's video, here for a swan family being processed and here for video of the Queen's visit in 2009.