Page 62

THINGS!

(^) Daily Mail, Saturday, August 17, 2019
Escape:
SCOTLAND

WILD

THINGS!

tools in my attempt to manage

a mental illness that first struck

three years ago following a serious

personal trauma.

Indeed, there is an exciting body

of emerging research that suggests

cold-water swimming could help

control our ‘fight-or-flight’ instinct.

It could also reduce inflammation,

which, medics suspect, may have a

part to play in depressive illnesses.

After even a short dip, I feel

calmer and more awake. I have

felt my body grow stronger, not

just from the physical action of

pushing my way through the

water, but from the cold winter

swims I love the most.

These need careful acclimatisa-

tion, and you can spend only a few

minutes in water that’s just a couple

of degrees above freezing, but the

effect of swimming surrounded by

ice seems to last a few days. It’s the

best shock therapy out there.

T

he Outdoor Swimming

Society says its follower

count has climbed to

more than 70,000 since its

inception in 2006, when it had just

a few hundred members. This is no

longer a hobby for eccentrics.

Few swimmers will know even

the names of the plants, birds and

insects they encounter on their

watery adventures, but wild swim-

ming brings us back to nature.

I love how great-crested grebes

surface suddenly in front of me in

the Serpentine in London’s hyde

Park and damselflies hover like

glow sticks by my arms.

Some scoff at the trendiness. Isn’t

this what outdoor types have been

doing for years, with an Instagram-

friendly rebrand? Well, perhaps.

I prefer to say I’m a ‘cold-water

swimmer’, for the sole reason that I

find fashionable people annoying.

The point is that this isn’t the

same type of swimming on which

we’ve been brought up. There are

no overheated, echoey, chlorinated

indoor pools.

Just as running has gone from

being something you did only if you

were in the school cross-country

team, to a mainstream pursuit, why

shouldn’t swimming — wild, cold or

otherwise — have its moment, too?

here are some of the best places

in the UK to swim outdoors...

Dive into Dorset

YOU’LL enjoy a lovely walk through

wildflower meadows and a scramble

down steep rocks to the tidal bath-

ing pool at Dancing Ledge, Dorset

— blasted out of the rock decades

ago for the use of local prep schools.

You can swim only at low tide.

WHERE IS IT? Set off from the

National Trust’s Dancing Ledge car

park (Bh19 3LD) and head towards

the sea, crossing a stile when you

reach the cliffs at OS grid reference

SY 99782 76885.

LOOK OUT FOR: Peregrine falcons

soaring above you.

WHERE’S THE PUB? The Square And

Compass at Worth Matravers. It

feels as old as its Fossil Museum.

Seal the deal

FrIeNDLY swimmers’ group The

Wild Ones organises regular dips in

edinburgh. enjoy a Thermos of tea

or coffee to warm up afterwards.

WHERE IS IT? Wardie Bay swims start

by the eastern Breakwater (eh5

1eT), while Portobello swims meet

at the Swim Centre (eh15 2BS).

For dates and times, join The

Wild Ones’ group at facebook.com/

groups/wildonesedinburgh

LOOK OUT FOR: Seals popping up in

the water to peer at you.

WHERE’S THE PUB? The Old Chain

Pier on nearby Trinity Crescent

serves good fish and chips.

It’s your tarn

OFTeN more peaceful than larger

lakes, tarns (small mountain lakes)

are also cooler and typically involve

a scenic walk. I started 2019 swim-

ming in Cumbria’s Beacon Tarn as

the sunset turned the water gold.

WHERE IS IT? Beacon Tarn (OS grid

reference 27424 90027) is just west

of Coniston Water. Park in laybys at

Water Yeat (LA12 8DJ) or Blawith

and follow the marked footpath

west over the fells. It’s a half-hour

walk through the common land

above Coniston.

LOOK OUT FOR: Sheep, and plenty of

them, many of which seem to laugh

at you as you enter the water.

WHERE’S THE PUB? The red Lion Inn

at Lowick Bridge (LA12 8eF) —

welcoming and simple, serving

W

hAT’S your favourite item of

clothing? Until recently, I probably

would have picked a dress. But,

over the past year, the garment

about which I have felt most

sentimental has ended up being a cheap,

plain swimming costume.
Yes, I am one of the recent converts to ‘wild swim-
ming’. Its proponents can, admittedly, be annoying.

One semi-serious survey of swimmers at London’s

Tooting Bec Lido even found a proportion who said

it was better than sex.

For me, it has become one of the most important

Outdoor swimming is good for

body and soul — and a brilliant

way to experience nature at its

best. So here’s where to jump in...

by ISABEL

HARDMAN

COUNTY DURHAM