Barnard Castle toasts its famous silver swan as museum seeks money for repair

As mechanical bird's 250th anniversary arrives, time and lack of regular use in lockdowns has taken toll

Understandably, because it is 250 years old, the mechanical silver swan of Barnard Castle is not quite at its best.

It does work but when it moves the neck has to be supported," said the curator Vicky Sturrs, also doing a visual impression of how the swan's neck would normally twist and dip down into a pool of water to grab fish.