TODAY is swanherd Dick Dalley's swansong when he retires on his 65th birthday after 40 years' service at Abbotsbury.

Dick began working at the Swannery in 1961 as a swankeeper, living in an old cottage called Clouds Hill on the edge of the Fleet lagoon.

He said: "There were only two real buildings here then. One was the old decoyman's stone cottage and the other was a wooden shed. Everything else for the Swannery attraction has been built since.

"They have even brought in electricity. We had none of that in those days and it was certainly a bit primitive."

Dick's job then was to fatten the swans to be killed for Lord Ilchester's table, although that is illegal now because swans are protected.

He said: "It was labour intensive then, but that gradually changed and I got sent to work permanently at the Swannery as a general labourer living in a cottage in the village.

"My tasks then included reed cutting and helping swans with their nest building and materials. I also had to look after and clear up after visitors."

Dick continued on general duties with the swans until the mid-1970s when he became under-swanherd, rising to become swanherd in the mid-1990s.

He said: "You have to look after the herd and make sure it is all right, making sure that the swans have enough feed and keeping the place looking tidy.

"I try to educate members of the public who come here and we also get a lot of school parties and I talk to them."

Quite a few famous people have visited the Swannery and talked to Dick, including the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and world- famous naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.

Dick said: "I met Sir David a few years ago when he was down here filming for his Life of Birds series. He was very nice. He said he would be honoured to stand by me for a photograph."

Dick has seen many incidents at the Swannery over the years, including one in 1989 when a great storm sent the sea crashing over Chesil Beach. He said: "The sea was waist deep in here and while it didn't cause much damage it took us more than a month to clear up all the rubbish and plastic which washed in here."

A more recent incident provided Dick with his most embarrassing moment.

He said: "I accidentally locked a German tour guide in the ladies' lavatory with her coach load of 50 waiting outside to go home! She saw the funny side later and visited us again the following year."

As it was noon - one of the main feeding times at the Swannery - Dick broke off talking to join colleagues with barrows and buckets of grain as they walked down to the swans.

Nearly 700 pounds of grain are fed to the swans every day and when they saw Dick and his gang coming there was something of a white scrum to get at the food, Dick with his distinctive swanherd's crook calmingly masterminding the feeding while stood in a sea of swans.

There are up to 600 birds at the Swannery, but they and visitors will continue to see Dick even after his retirement because this remarkable man is coming back for two or three days a week during the busy summer season to conduct special guided tours.