Downstream

centre and across a field and I
can hear the place before I see
it, with a loud rushing sound
coming from behind the trees.
It’s not as big as I’d expected,
a rectangle of water between
two weirs rather like a
concrete-lined lido. Two
teenage boys emerge from
bushes on the opposite side
and as they cross the bridge
towards me I ask if they ever
swim here. ‘Yes,’ one says,
‘if it’s a sunny day. My