What is a Swan?

The UK Government website at provides advice and information on anything from car tax, MOT and driving licences to parenting, civil partnerships, divorce and lasting power of attorney.

As you might expect the home page boasts that the site is the best place to find out about government services and with a strap line proclaiming "Simpler, clearer, faster ..." who would could possibly resist a wee look around the site content?

I asked the search box on the website "when do the clocks change?" and got the following answer:
"In the UK the clocks go forward 1 hour at 1am on the last Sunday in March, and back 1 hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October. The period when the clocks are 1 hour ahead is called British Summer Time (BST). There's more daylight in the evenings and less in the mornings (sometimes called Daylight Saving Time).When the clocks go back, the UK is on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)."

A simple response of something like "the 31st of March" would have been more helpful but at least it makes sense.

When I asked "What is a Swan" I got information about the commercial sale of Type 22 frigates including the suggestion that I might like to buy HMS Cumberland and convert it into an artificial reef.