Downstream

building family in Reading,
remembers, ‘I was taken to
the women’s pool when I was
at junior school, terrifying it
was. It had thick green water,
you couldn’t see the bottom,
and the tiles were slippery
with algae. I can feel the
terror now. I certainly didn’t
learn to swim there! There
was a woman called Miss
Francis with a long pole with
a loop on it and she put the
loop around you and walked