sent his ‘supremest kiss/To
thee, my silver-footed
Thamesis’ where in the
‘summer sweeter evenings’
thousands ‘bathe in thee’.
But it was the fact people
bathed naked that led to the
first regulation of Thames
swimming. In the mid-1800s
‘indecency’ was seen as such
a problem that male bathers
were issued fines by local
magistrates. ‘What are the
poor people to do?’ asked one
jeff_l
(Jeff_L)
#1