Bridge have been achieved
before breakfast, I myself
have risen at 6 and plunged
head foremost into the water
to the astonishment and
admiration of all beholders
. . .’ But while Dickens may
have loved a swim, there
were soon bathing regulations
in place. In 1844 a letter
writer to The Times objected,
‘I have myself gone to
Richmond for a river bath,
but found numerous ill-