Outdoor Swimming: Lulworth Cove, Dorset

On the final day of our mini-moon, we popped across to Lulworth Cove to have a gander and a swim. It's part of the well known Jurassic Coast and attracts around half a million visitors each year.

On our way to the cove we passed Stair Hole, which is a much smaller cove and suggests what Lulworth cove may have looked like a few hundred thousand years ago:

Stair Hole

The cove at Lulworth is made from 5 different types of rock: Portland Stone, Purbeck, Wealden, Greensand, and Chalk. The University of Southampton host some excellent pages on the geology of the cove on their website, click to view. Below is a photo of Lulworth cove and below that the (slightly wet) interpretation board describing the geology.

By the time we finally got down to the water line, I was definitely ready to get in and go for a swim. I tend to gently enter the water due to my chest reacting badly to the cold, but due to the uneven surface I sort of stumbled into the water!

I have to say that it was an amazing place to swim. At we walked down to the water we saw another lad quickly coming out of the water looking a bit worse for wear and heard his girlfriend telling someone he had to go in for a bet. It's the sort of thing that can lead people to being in trouble in the water and needing help. I also find it hard to understand why more people don't partake in a little outdoor swimming as it's such a great hobby.

While it's great that we all have different interests, I find it really important to find a way to connect with the land. So we did a couple of Earthcaches, to try and get an understanding of the place before I went for a swim. We often see people walking somewhere to take a photo and then wander off without really pausing to take in the view and/or the atmosphere and I feel that if they took time to form a deeper connection they'd get so much more out of it. for instance, I like to try to identify plants that are growing in the places we visit too - then I can get an understanding of what grows where and over time can make connections between very different types of land due to the similarities in flora.

I often wish I knew more about geology. Throughout the British Isles, the geology is often covered up. Coastal places are really the only places where we get to see a lot of the geology of the British Isles - and they're often geological wonders like the cover here at Lulworth. I've tried reading about geology, but haven't found anything that's either simple enough or really sparked an interest - but there is still time. Sometimes it's okay to know what you don't know and come back to it at a later date. Even though I know so little about the rocks here, it was amazing to spend some time observing the rocks and how they currently lay.

Here's me near the mouth of the cave. If I'd have had more energy I'd have really liked to reach the mouth as the waves were looking brilliant. Hopefully one day I'll have the energy to get some really sea swimming done. Until then, I have the amazing memories of this cove and the mesmerising action of the waves and a view of nothing but sea.

There is a car park nearby, which gets full quickly. There's also a nice little museum there that among other things; shows how the cave has changed over time and what is still to change.

If you'd like to visit this spot, click here. Already been here? It'd be great to hear your experiences in the comments.

Outdoor Swimming: Knoll Beach, Studland

After a couple of days to rest after our wedding, we went for a short honeymoon (or as Lucy calls it; a mini-moon) to Dorset. On the first day we stopped at Sand Banks to eat our pack up by the harbour before taking the chain ferry across to Studland.

One of the great things about this area of Dorset is nature reserve rolls into nature reserve - and rightly so; it's a gorgeous part of the country. We decided to park at Knoll beach, which is part of Studland Bay and owned by The National Trust. As members, parking was free, but we've heard that charges change with the season. For members, as well as your car sticker, make sure you take your membership card. There is plenty of parking - all from no more than 20 metres from the beach.

Apparently Studland was Enid Blyton's inspiration for Toytown - a nice fact for any Noddy fans out there!

It was a bit cold that day, so I wasn't too keen on having my first outdoor swim of the year, but I eventually braved the temperature and got my swimming shorts on. Over the years I've found that the best way for my body to accept being in cold water, is to take it slow and steady when immersing myself. This wasn't a problem here, as I had to walk quite a distance for the water to be above my kidneys. The descent is very shallow and the water very clear.

Me and Old Harry.

As soon as I started swimming, I realised that it was the best thing to be doing. It was wonderful to be heading toward Old Harry Rocks and viewing the stunning Purbeck Hills to the right. To the left was Bournemouth, easily recognisable due to the massive helium balloon that is the Bournemouth Balloon!


Ahead of me, though, there was a surprise interrupting the never ending sea; the chalk cliffs of the Isle of Wight.

Isle of Wight in the distance.

It was such an amazing place to swim. While I was there, I noticed that the current gently took me towards Old Harry Rocks, which is fine as there's plenty of beach to aim for when you're ready to turn back.

Redend Point.

Afterwards a good cup of tea warmed me up sufficiently for a gentle wander along the beach, where we saw black-headed gulls and the odd crow. We also saw some people going through the rock pools with nets, but they didn't seem to be having much luck. What was interesting to us was the cliffs and what seems to be red-stained sandstone of the Poole Formation. As you can see there are lots of small holes in the stone. I did see some sort of bee enter one of the holes, but it didn't appear after a few minutes, so we moved on. Looking online it looks like the holes are made by burrowing mortar bees.

It was a wonderful day at Studland Bay, one I hope we will repeat in the future.

If you'd like to visit this spot, click here. Already been here? It'd be great to hear your experiences in the comments.

Outdoor Swimming: Lacock

We'd heard that there was a swimming location in Lacock for as long as we've been outdoor swimming, but I guess we were a bit nervous about trying to find a location based just on information we found on the web - which mainly revolved around the words 'beach' and 'rapids'. Especially as the Wild Swim Map had the location for the Lacock swim near Malmesbury, the wrong side of the M4 by quite a few miles.

I had a good look on Google maps and found that there was a 'path' through the field that looked to be the right location based on the sources we'd found online. So in the end we thought, 'What the heck', and went to see if we could find it.

We parked at the National trust car park and walked over the bridge and into the field over the stone stile.

The bridge over the river.

There were cows in the field, but they weren't too interested in us - which always gives me some relief. I'm better with cows than I used to be, but not as good as I could be. We followed the 'path' that followed the river and we saw a beach mentioned that was for the cows. Shortly afterwards we heard the rapids. The online directions that we had been looking at were spot on as we can across a smaller beach and gently made it down the bank to the water.

Not too cold!

We had a lovely swim and could really feel the flow of the river. In the end I stayed in the same spot just throwing out enough strokes to keep me stationary. Lucy was adventurous and was swimming about like she owned the place!

Looking upstream.

After a while we saw a couple of lads up on the bank. Then a family came by in a canoe, which was novel.

Lucy swimming like a boss!

We saw that the lads were getting ready for a BBQ. So we decided to make our way out of the water and warm up with a cup of tea from our trusty flask; leaving the increasing number of lads to have the spot to themselves.

Warming up with a cuppa.

As we were walking back up to the stile, we pass a group of lasses around the same age as the lads. I guess they were going to have a fun afternoon frolicking - ah the joys of being young teenagers.

It's actually a really lovely spot. The roof of Lacock Abbey can be seen when swimming and when you're back up on the banks there are lovely views of the surrounding area. It's great to have yet another use for the tiny village of Lacock.

Coming back to Internet-Land I made a new swimming location for Lacock and asked the site maintainers to remove the one near Malmesbury, which I see they have done.

If you'd like to visit this spot, click here. Already been here? It'd be great to hear your experiences in the comments.

Outdoor Swimming: Return to Farleigh Hungerford

I originally posted about swimming at Farleigh Hungerford in September 2011. Illness had since prevented me from taking to the water for a year or so, but a seed had been planted in my head. Perhaps a few seeds actually. Lucy had mentioned that she wanted to go again, but I originally delayed because I was feeling so rubbish. Then mum started mentioning swimming, she'd started at her local pool and had become a member. Finally, we were having a look around Trowbridge library and which book jumped out at me? None other than the outdoor swimmer's bible: Waterlog by Roger Deakin.

I just couldn't get swimming out of my mind. I knew I couldn't do to an indoor pool as I'd tried that a couple of times earlier in the year and the environment and the amount of people just made me feel worse than before I'd entered the water. But maybe, just maybe, I could handle it at Farleigh. I knew the place and the day wasn't so sunny that it would be busy.

So on Saturday 25 May in the afternoon, I mentioned to Lucy that perhaps we should give it a go. I'd try to swim, I said, but if not that I'd take Waterlog and just read while she swam.

We got there just after 3pm and met a couple that had tried the water, but were now bringing their wetsuits from the boot of their car. This worried me a bit, but I decided I'd try anyway.

Over the weir

I stepped in and was greeted by very cold water! Very cold. I walked around and stepped back onto the weir to 'have a look' at the wild life. Realising I'd have to go in, I braced myself and as our new friends had gotten in with their wetsuits, I decided to swim.

I managed a couple of lengths before running out of energy. After one length I'd warmed up enough to feel comfortable. A family turned up for a quick dip. Everyone seemed astonished at such masculinity - a person getting in the water without a wetsuit! Everyone, that is, except me. It was perhaps rather foolish, but needs must.

Up river. The way we swim

It was really great fun swimming in the midge-infested water. While I felt tired and achy from the excursion, I felt much better than when I'd been to our indoor pool.

Here's me and Lucy at the end of our swim. Luckily the sun came out in the end and we were able to dry off with a KitKat and a cup of tea! A short walk along the path to the camp site yealded some really interesting species - a male orange-tip butterfly and some crosswort. Then Lucy drove us home. Exhausted, but content.

To become a member, visit the Stowford Manor Farm Website where you'll also find information about camping.

If you'd like to visit this spot, click here. Already been here? It'd be great to hear your experiences in the comments.

Book Review: Waterlog

For those of you that have been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I reviewed Roger Deakin's Wild Wood a while back. I felt that the book was around double the length that it should have been and that Deakin was just adding stories to pad the book out.

This book, however, was different. Waterlog is known by many as a classic of natural history writing. As such it doesn't need much introduced, suffice to say that Deakin sets out to swim in many places wild and tame through Britain.

The first one hundred and fifty pages were like soaking in a hot and relaxing bath, but again I found the water getting tepid and cold. I don't know what it is about Deakin's writing, but I know it must be me. Plenty of people read and rave about Deakin and while I can see why, after time the writing gets a tad monotonous. However, I can say that I finished the book, and that I'm glad I did.

Those first hundred and fifty pages really got me thinking about swimming again. I'd tried the local pool a few months prior to beginning the book and found it too hot, too crowded, and too corrosive. This book got me back outdoors, to familiar haunts and new ones.

Shortly after the point of perseverance, I was remembered what I do like about Deakin's writing. Starting with his wicked sense of humour in the story of animal tracking and otter spraint being passed around. I also enjoy that Deakin really lets us in to what must be deep feelings of worry and joy that he experiences throughout his journey. I feel that you can tell when Deakin  is at one with what he's writing because we are presented with silky smooth writing such as

'To feel its balmy softness in every limb, at every stroke, was a kind of heaven'

Reaching the last chapter had me feeling like I'd been there. I'd taken an epic journey across Britain. Deakin manages to pack in layers and layers of facts, but they're totally digestible and don't feel cumbersome. They're surrounded by local tales and left me wanting to visit umpteen places described in the book. The final chapter sees Deakin 18 months after his fist book-related swim. He needs one more swimming adventure to settle him. That adventure is a bike-swim. Starting at the moat outside of his home, he then bikes to many places in his county of Suffolk that he can swim. Eventually we leave him swimming in the sea.

This is a classic. It's natural history writing combined with autobiography. Deakin lets us get to know him through his writing. He also passes on his infectious desire to swim wherever water can be found. Thanks to him there have been a wave of wild swimming books and a community of outdoor swimmers has steadily built up online, providing lots of local knowledge about places that we can swim throughout our lovely country.

New Era for the Waterways

Fellow Outdoor Swimming Society member, Fiona Weir, has set up an online petitionto put public access at the heart of the Government proposal for a New Era for the Waterways.

I think that Fiona makes a valid case that "people often find themselves confused, being ‘moved on’, breaking the law or (perhaps worst of all) staying away from inland waters altogether, because it is not clear where they are allowed to paddle, wade, kayak, canoe & swim." I know that Lucy and myself have been a bit reluctant at times to investigate new places because we're not sure if it's 'really' ok to swim there. It's been a relief, so far, to find that the places we have been to have had people already swimming!

Please add your name to the petition so that we as the users of the waterways can be heard. As clarification of areas we can use will not only help us, but will encourage others to join in the fun.

The petition is available here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/25118

The Defra consultation document regarding the 'New Era for the Waterways', explaining the proposals in depth, is available here: http://www.defra.gov.uk/consult/files/A-New-Era-for-the-Waterways-FINAL.pdf

Outdoor Swimming: Claverton

Well, we're certainly on a roll this year. We decided instead of going to our regular spot at Farleigh, we'd try a spot close to there. Farleigh is located on part of the river Frome - just a few miles away, the Claverton swim is on the River Avon. Although it's at a weir, just like Farleigh - the river is much wider and much stronger.

It's much busier too! There's a large field adjoining the swim location and when we arrived it was packed. We followed the line of people walking the weir wall to a place where it gets deeper.

I got in first and started swimming. Lucy doesn't often swim without a wetsuit, but today she decided that's what she'd do. I swam around for around 10 minutes before Lucy made her way into the water. After a couple of 'laps' we'd both warmed up and had a great time. We noticed that about two thirds of people that walked the weir wall would enter the water. Most of those would dive into the water, loiter at the edge for a couple of minutes and then get out. It was fun to watch and highlighted how we all want different things in our adventures. Some like to have a quick adventure to say that they had an adventure, others really like to spend time and get as much as possible out of an adventure before calling it a day and feeling fulfilled.

The thing that was obvious was that we all had a good time. It's a good swim location with lots of river available to swim. Definitely worth doing!

If you'd like to visit this spot, click here. Already been here? It'd be great to hear your experiences in the comments.

Outdoor Swimming: St. Ives

Our third outdoor swim location and our second in Cornwall! We certainly made the most of our second visit to St. Ives. The weather was intermittently cloudy, but nice and dry, whereas a couple of days previous it didn't stop raining!

After chilling out on the beach for a while and watching others enter the water and make a hasty retreat after 5 or 10 minutes, we ventured into the water. It was a nice part of the bay that's looked after by the RNLI. The water was cold, colder than the tidal pool. But with a greater expanse to really get swimming, we warmed up in no time - and it seemed like no time when half an hour had passed and we slowly made our way back to our stuff.

Lucy then spent some time reading, while I spent time clambering over the rocks to the left of the bay.

If you'd like to visit this spot, click here. Already been here? It'd be great to hear your experiences in the comments. 

Outdoor Swimming: Porthtowan Tidal Pool

This year, our second year outdoor swimming, we decided to make a real effort to swim in other locations. So it seemed that our trip to Cornwall may be an ideal opportunity to look at potential locations.

Lucy really wanted to try a 1930s lido in Penzance, but as it was September, they were shut. So we decided on Pothtowan, for two reasons, one: it was close to the cottage we were staying at, two: it looked pretty awesome on the Robson Green Wild Swimming programme!

So, we got the instructions on how to get there. After arriving at Porthtowan and following the coastal path for a while, you veer left and end up walking down some very steep, very narrow steps. Soon enough you get a bird's eye view of the pool. as we were arriving another couple also arrived at the pool and took the plunge shortly after us. It was their first time swimming outdoors - and I must say it's a pretty special place to swim.

If you'd like to visit this spot, click here. Already been here? It'd be great to hear your experiences in the comments.  

Outdoor Swimming : Farleigh

Most of us have swam outdoors at some point in our lives, for one of many reasons. But it wasn't until I spoke to an acquaintance last year that I truly considered that we could look for places for this purpose. A month or so later there was a programme presented by Alice Roberts that looked at 'Wild Swimming' and followed Alice's journey of becoming an outdoor swimmer.

The idea of swimming in outdoor places really inspired Lucy and myself. We found ourselves of being in the really lucky position of living really close to Farleigh Hungerford, the location of Alice's and our first 'Wild Swim'. Farleigh Hungerford has a weir and is the location of the Farleigh and District Swimming Club.

Upon arrival, as Lucy donned her shiny new wet suit and I, in a very manly manner, cowered at the thought of immersing myself into the water in just my swim shorts, we met some people who were camping at the site in the next field. It was their first time too and we all had a great time tentatively embracing the water before our confidence grew and we were all swimming our seperate ways!

We have since been a further 5 or 6 times to Farleigh and really enjoy the swimming there as there are so many variables, including nature, the amount of water flowing down the river, and the amount of people swimming alongside you. We recently tried 2 new places, of which I'll write about soon. Until then, here's a photo of me swimming in the river at Farleigh...

If you'd like to visit this spot, click here. Already been here? It'd be great to hear your experiences in the comments.