One swan a-swimming...

...hoping for a handful of bread, but disappointed I'm afraid.

I managed to fit in a sunny walk  at lunchtime, between more Christmas cleaning and tidying.  It was good to be in the fresh air, but it was weirdly mild, more like a day in mid-March. Hazel catkins were in full flower, and a surprising number of birds were singing. 

The boys all surfaced late, having been out on the town last night, celebrating with one of their best friends, who's off to live in New Zealand for a year. Apparently they'd had a great time, until Chris was attacked by a bouncer at a nightclub, after he'd accidentally stepped on a girl's foot while dancing (for which he'd apologised). 

The bouncer completely lost his temper and grabbed Chris by the throat, nearly pushing him down a steep flight of  metal stairs, which could have resulted in serious injury. Luckily Chris stayed calm and didn't retaliate, and his friends got behind him until some other bouncers came along to try and calm things down. Mind you they all manhandled him in such a way that his leather belt broke, and he had swelling of his wrist and pains in the neck. 

He's now lodged a complaint with the police, which will be investigated. The policeman said that there had been an increasing trend for bouncers to grab people aggressively by the throat, inspired perhaps by US television shows. Hopefully the CCTV camera footage will show what happened, and there were also plenty of witnesses, though in the end the police may not be able to bring charges if it comes down to Chris and his friends statements against those of the bouncers.At least he's OK and by reporting it he might help stop further similar incidents ...