Cygnet-ure move

Postman of 30 years, David Thomas from Porthcawl Delivery Office in Wales, has been praised for his tender touch guiding a young swan to safety.

The customer who witnessed David’s nest level action, sent us the below message complimenting his kindness.

‘I had just walked my dog at the Wilderness Lake in Porthcawl, and returned to the car to see a postman, guiding and escorting a cygnet along the road, and back to the Wilderness Lake.

‘He carefully guided the cygnet over around 20 minutes along Northways and onto Ger-Y-Llyn, signalling to traffic to slow down and go around them.

‘Eventually, he reached the edge of the Wilderness Lake, and guided the cygnet to the water’s edge, before giving a gentle nudge to encourage the cygnet to enter the water.

‘An extreme act of kindness, which was amusing. He certainly saved the cygnet’s life, and possibly prevented an accident.’

The scenic Wilderness site comprises a large lake, approximately two hectares in size, and is surrounded by woodland, grassed areas, a children’s play area and a skate bowl. The lake is close to the centre of Porthcawl, one of South Wales’ most popular sea-side towns, which is situated midway between Cardiff and Swansea.

‘The Wilderness Park backs on from my house,’ said David. ‘I’ve not been around it for a while, but I spent most of my time there as a kid.

‘On my way home I noticed a young swan in the middle of the road with traffic trying to pass it. I decided to park on a side street and try to usher it back to the pond while also directing traffic around us.

‘The cygnet was actually quite calm and seemed ok with me helping it (only hissing at me as we neared the pond!) Someone offered to help, but as everything seemed ok, I declined. The whole walk back took around 20 minutes. As we neared the pond, a gentleman approached me and said he’d been watching me as he was parked after walking his dog around the pond.

‘He asked if he could take some photos as he wanted to email Royal Mail and let them know what I’d done. Swans do tend to walk around the park area and sometimes on the road at the other side. It’s normally the parents and their cygnets looking for worms.’