Water calls me

 Wild swimming is calling me, my kit is ready but...

Wet suit, water shoes & gloves, float, dry robe.

my younger, cold water partners are not! Dosthill Quarry, Tamworth, Staffordshire, is 11 degrees at present. Our last swim of 2021 was at 16 degrees and we thought that was too cold to continue through the late Autumn/Winter.

However, I'm ready to take the plunge, it's June after all! But as I've not been swimming for a good while (although I do Aqua aerobics) I feel it would be foolish and no fun to go it alone. I've joined a Facebook group called the West Midlands Bluetits and see they occasionally go to the quarry, so may join them sometime but I attend my keep fit class and this week stayed for a swim. The pool water feels so thick, is that even possible? I am yearning for the thin, fresh, clear waters of the quarry.

I have reflected on my relationship with water - I learnt to swim at Woodcock Street swimming baths in Birmingham with my dad and brother and later enjoyed trips to Stetchford baths by taking the number 11 Birmingham Corporation bus with friends. I love the sea but live too far away to use it. The smell of seaweed, sand and salt is a pleasure for the senses. Sea swimming is gritty though healing for skin and other ailments. I don't like seaweed wrapping itself around my legs and getting out, especially if stony underfoot, is sometimes challenging. Swimming pools are lovely, especially abroad lounging around hotel grounds, sun bathing your skin and warming you so much that dipping in the pool is so lovely and cooling . 

My first experience of a wild swim was with an elderly friend in the river Wray, Lancaster about 20 years ago and thought it was thrilling. But it wasn't until last year I tried the great outdoors locally in fresh water and found it the most wonderful of experiences. Swimming surrounded by rock, trees, a heron, fish and clear mineral-rich water made me at one with nature. It's a freedom, a focus, exhilaration, an achievement.

In a hired suit, ready to try wild swimming!

Wild swimming is even dominating my reading. This book is an amazing account of 3 brothers wild swimming in the most dangerous of locations and the length of a river, for adventure and for raising awareness of how incredible our natural world is and how we need to preserve the seas, rivers etc and all that live in and on them. A thoroughly gripping real life story.

Highly recommended read

And now I'm reading The Ladies Midnight Swimming Club by Faith Hogan. 

Enjoying this novel

Wild swimming is not age-limited, in fact it would seem that more women than men in later life take up this pursuit. The health benefits are well known - it's good for bones, muscles, the brain and good mental health. Dosthill Quarry hire out wetsuits and floats if you want to try it out. They 'man' the site and offer diving lessons for those even more brave than I. There is a rescue boat if anyone gets into difficulty.

A circular swim is approximately a quarter of a mile.  You need to book a time slot first - here's the link https://dosthillquarry.com/. Do say 'hi' if you see me there, I'll be the slowest swimmer, just taking in each moment of delight and making the most of my surroundings.