On the side of Bishops' furniture store, in very faded writing at the bottom, is added "self-drive van hire" below their other services.

At this point you're looking across one of the open sections of Swan Brook, the small river flowing from Nine Barrow Down to its outfall next to the Mowlem building. Running along King George's fields, it flows under the railway and then under cover below Kings Road West, emerging from below front gardens at St Mary's Church. It dives under cover again at the Conservative Club. There are many local residents who recall walking through the tunnel section as kids, from the Mowlem up to Kings Road - something which these days would be frowned upon at best. It's just the yellow plastic ducks, in the Lifeboat Week duck race, that regularly make the journey now.

Although a small stream most of the time, in the past the Brook was liable to flooding - sometimes disastrously. Most notably in 1990, when Kings Road and parts of the High Street were under water. After that flood allevation works were undertaken, with a bypass channel and storage dams around the Herston area.