Wild Swimming


Wild Swimming

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'The sun had been shining on the water all day and I set off and swam comfortably into

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'the amazing clear water, marvelling at the brightness of everything.

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'The swimmer is content to be borne on his way full of mysteries,

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'doubts and uncertainties.

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'He is a leaf on the stream, free at last from his petty little purposes in life.'

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For some people this would be the ideal swimming location -

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clean and modern, with convenient changing rooms, big fluffy robes

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and, best of all, hot water.

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But a growing number of people across Britain are looking for a completely different kind of experience.

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To a 'wild swimmer' secluded rivers, lakes and rock pools are where it's at.

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And over the last few years there's been a steady flow of books, magazine articles and TV features

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feeding a growing obsession with swimming in the great outdoors.

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And if one book can claim to have rekindled our passion

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in wild swimming, then surely this must be it.

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Roger Deakin's Waterlog.

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Roger Deakin was an environmentalist, broadcaster and writer

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and worked for a variety of papers and wildlife magazines.

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In Waterlog, his first book, he recorded a series of journeys

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that he made in an attempt to swim in as many British rivers, lakes and pools as he could.

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The result was an extraordinary, poetic discourse

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on the joys of nature and the delights of swimming in the wild.

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'I wanted to follow the rain on it's meanderings about our land

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'to rejoin the sea, to break out of the frustration of a lifetime of doing lengths,

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'of endlessly turning back on myself like a tiger pacing its cage...

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'I grew convinced that following water, flowing with it, would be

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'a way of getting under the skin of things, of learning something new.

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'I might even learn about myself, too.'

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Waterlog is one of my favourite books.

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It's this beautiful, lyrical evocation of the importance of water to an island nation.

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And it's also a bit of an inspiration and a challenge to me.

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An inspiration because it makes me want to swim in wild places,

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and a challenge because I want to understand that desire

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and to find out more about the relationship between humans and water.

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To do that, I'm going to swim in some of the wildest locations the country has to offer.

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I'm going to examine the enduring fascination water has held for artists and writers.

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And I'm going to look at how water has made its mark on myth and legend.

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But, before I do all that, I'm going to have a cup of tea.

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I don't actually remember learning to swim, which presumably meant I was very young when it happened.

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But I do have some lovely memories of swimming from my childhood

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and, in particular, this pool that we used to go to.

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It was a friend of the family and we used to go down the garden into this dip.

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And hidden away in the dip was this swimming pool with little huts to get changed in.

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And it was like going back into the '30s, I think.

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I remember really vividly that fantastic feeling of swimming outdoors.

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The days of just turning up at the neighbour's with a costume and a towel are long gone.

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For this trip, I'm packing all manner of wetsuits, costumes and spare changes of clothes.

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And I'm also bringing some copies of radio recordings

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that Roger Deakin made for the BBC after Waterlog was published.

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Sadly, Roger died in 2006.

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But, through his writings and recordings,

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I hope to get a clearer insight into the man who's inspired me.

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'The warm rain tumbled from the gutter in one of those midsummer

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'downpours as I hastened across the lawn behind my house in Suffolk and took shelter in the moat.

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'Breast-stroking up and down the 30 yards of clear, green water,

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'I nosed along, eyes just at water level.

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'It was at the height of this drenching in the summer of 1996 that

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'the notion of a long swim through Britain began to form itself.'

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There are more than 1,000 lakes and 8,000 rivers in the UK.

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So, in terms of potential swimming locations, I'm more than spoilt for choice.

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So, I've decided to start at one of the oldest river swimming clubs in the country,

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the Farleigh and District Club on the River Frome in Wiltshire.

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There is Rob.

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He's got his towel with him.

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'Giving me a guided tour will be Rob Fryer, club chairman and a vocal champion of river swimming.'

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-Rob.

-Good to see you.

-Hello.

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-Come in.

-So this is the swimming club?

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Yes, this is the Farleigh and District Swimming Club.

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It's just a field.

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Well, yes. It is just a field.

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But that's the charm of it.

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You've got to...

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appreciate the simplicity of the pleasures of swimming in rivers.

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Those simple pleasures are down to a pool, created by this weir,

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which has given club members and visitors nearly a century's worth of enjoyment.

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I don't know what I was expecting, Rob. But perhaps...some kind of pavilion?

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Well, the swimming club pavilion, we call that the pavilion.

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That corrugated iron shed?

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-No, no, no. That's a swimming club pavilion.

-Right, OK.

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I would correct you on that.

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The club was started in the early '30s when a local landowner invited

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a group of swimmers to formalise their activities.

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What was this place like in the 1930s?

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It was very much an important social hub of the whole community. And everybody knew each other.

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There were all these events, like diving competitions for silver tea-spoons.

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And then there'd be water polo.

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The '30s were the heyday of river swimming.

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But after the war these clubs went into decline,

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as new municipal swimming pools sprang up across the country.

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By the early 1990s, Farleigh was one of the few

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river swimming clubs remaining - and even they were under threat.

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I know that Roger came here, because he writes about it in Waterlog.

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-Roger Deakin, yes.

-And he met you as well.

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-Yeah.

-What was it like when he arrived?

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Well, he came...

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Quite honestly we were at a low point.

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We felt embattled by public opinion and authorities.

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And he was like a fairy godmother, giving us a standard to raise.

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So he galvanised you to fight for the future of the club?

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Absolutely, in a very clever way.

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It's just simply the publication of his book.

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When he came we just felt inspired and we just changed overnight.

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Since the publication of Waterlog, membership of the Farleigh club has steadily increased

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and people come from far and wide to enjoy these beautiful surroundings.

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It's not contrived.

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It's not a part of the materialistic world.

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If you can appreciate things that are non-materialistic,

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you are then able to live a truer life and get true enjoyment.

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Is there anything better than that?

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To embrace Rob's enthusiasm and to begin to understand more of Roger Deakin's passion for wild swimming,

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-I need to plunge in for my first ever river swim.

-Fish in there.

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-Oh! It gets deep quickly.

-Oh!

-SHE LAUGHS

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Oh, no. I've got to get in now.

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'The murky water is far from inviting and feels very cold, even through my wetsuit.

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'But, despite that, there is a delightful feeling of breaking the rules and doing something naughty.'

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This is wonderful.

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I don't know. It feels like you're... in nature.

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It's lovely.

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'The river has always been a kind of escape route.

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'It's a way into another world.

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'And of course there is this secret network of ways into another world

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'all over Britain and they are our rivers.'

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-Well, how was that?

-I feel as if I've been well and truly initiated. It was wonderful.

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-Great, great.

-I think I'm addicted.

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-I'm really glad you enjoyed it.

-It was lovely.

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So, Rob, I'd like you to give me some hot tips on where to go swimming. I was thinking about going down to...

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'With Rob giving me advice on promising places to go,

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'I'm ready to head off on the next stage of my journey.'

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That was a rather wonderful experience, I really enjoyed it.

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And Rob's right,

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swimming isn't just about the physical act of doing it.

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It's what's going on around you.

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And when you're swimming in a river, you've got those ripples you're creating as you're swimming,

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and you have this world which is framed by the banks and all

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the plants and the trees arching over you. It's just fantastic.

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What I definitely want to do is to explore some other places to do wild swimming.

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To get into rivers and lakes...

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and maybe even underground rivers.

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That would be fun.

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The possibilities are seeming quite endless now.

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And I'm going to start looking at maps in a different way.

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I'm not just going to be looking for...

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roads to places and interesting places in the landscape.

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I'm going to be looking for those blue, snaking lines and wondering where I can get into them.

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One thing that permeates Roger's writing is his love of wildlife and the environment.

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And it's this aspect of wild swimming I want to investigate next.

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'I've swum many times up this stretch of river.

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'It's very, very deep. It's a lovely place to swim in the summer

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'and a great haunt of the kingfisher.

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'When you're swimming, kingfishers

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'dive straight over you,

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'just in a flash.'

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I've come to the River Wye, upstream of Monmouth.

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It's a stretch ideal for a long swim and

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a chance to appreciate the river's renowned diversity of wildlife.

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What the Wye not renowned for, however, is its warmth.

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Oooh! SHIVERS

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And, as I'm planning to be in the water for more than two hours, I need to dress accordingly.

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Think of otters, they don't have to think about putting a wetsuit on in the morning.

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They just jump straight in.

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But then, of course, they've got a wetsuit of their own, naturally.

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Their fur traps air and acts as an

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insulation between them and the cold water.

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'It's not just the warmth of the wetsuit I'm going to be thankful for.

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'This will be my first solo swim and along a stretch that's completely unknown to me.

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'So the little bit of extra buoyancy it gives me will be also be reassuring as I venture out alone.'

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'I tend to swim the naturalist's stroke, breast-stroke, in rivers, mostly, because...

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'you just see more and you don't disturb things as much.'

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The water is so still.

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Really beautiful.

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It's like looking out across a mirror.

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And occasionally this incredibly

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still, mirror-like surface is broken by fish jumping up.

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'These swans are very much in their element and seem to treat me with almost complete distain.

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'They can glide upstream, apparently effortlessly.

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'Unlike me.' It's quite a fast flowing current here.

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I think swimming downstream might be easier.

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'Around me I catch sight of all manner of life.'

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Very beautiful.

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BIRD CALLS

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A buzzard! Wow.

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I can feel some weeds around my feet, just here.

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As the river gets shallower, these luminous plants abound, absorbing the sunlight.

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I can feel their tendrils brush my body as I'm borne faster and faster downstream.

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Well, that was a wonderful swim.

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I saw a lot of wildlife and it's really lovely being at that level, immersed in the river,

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feeling as though you really are in that environment with them, rather than watching them from a distance.

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And I don't think I disturbed them too much.

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I was just sharing their river for a few moments.

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There's no doubt that wetsuits are wonderful things but...

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but it does form a barrier between you and the...

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experience of being in the water, I suppose.

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Swimming in the river, when I was moving my hands through the water,

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I could feel the silkiness of the water.

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But I wasn't really getting that on the rest of my body at all.

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I suppose there's only really one way to deal with that, and that's to, um,

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leave the wetsuit behind.

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Before I discard my wetsuit, I want to know exactly what I'm going to be exposing my body to.

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So I've arranged to meet Professor Mike Tipton,

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the country's leading expert on the effects of immersion in cold water.

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Together with his assistant, Geoff, he's going to monitor what happens

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to my body when I plunge into this open-air pool.

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-Morning.

-Hello, Alice. Nice to meet you.

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-Hello, I'm ready.

-You're ready to go?

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OK. The first thing we'll do is take a picture of you using our infra-red camera.

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-We'll see your surface temperature.

-I'll look nice and warm against the background.

-I'd imagine so.

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Fresh out of the changing room, I'm still really warm

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and my body stands out clearly against the cool of the water.

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But it won't stay that way for long.

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-You'll cool about four to five times faster in water than in air at the same temperature.

-Right.

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So this is why you get hypothermia so much quicker in water than in air?

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So any reflexes, any changes in my heart rate or my breathing, that's

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a reflex simply linked to what's going on on the surface of my body?

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Absolutely. That's where we're sensitive.

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We have four times more cold receptors in the skin than we have warm receptors.

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And that drives our sensation of cooling.

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'As I'm rigged up with a heart monitor, I feel more like a lab rat than a wild swimmer.

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'So it's a relief to finally get into the water.

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'The relief is short lived.'

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'The water is 15 degrees Centigrade,

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'the average summer river temperature in the UK. But it still takes my breath away.'

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So, my breathings going very quickly. GASPS

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-The heart-rate monitor is saying zero at the moment.

-Oh, dear.

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Well, that's well over a hundred.

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There is goes, there it goes.

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So, normally you get it up to about 120, 130.

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But you very quickly get over that.

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It takes about 30 seconds to a minute to get over from that cold shock response.

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That's caused by that sudden fall in skin temperature.

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And that gasping? Is that normal?

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That uncontrollable gasping? Yeah.

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Of course, if you happen to have gone under the water, you've only got to take about a

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third of a breath in and you've gone past the lethal volume for drowning.

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'As I get my breathing under control I can appreciate other changes happening in my body.'

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There's a stinging sensation as well?

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Yeah, that's just the response of the cold receptors.

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You've got lots of cold receptors just below the surface and you've given them an enormous stimulus.

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They're sending lots of information into your spinal cord and brain.

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Meanwhile, you're also shutting down the blood to the skin, as the body tries to conserve heat.

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And slowly but surely the cold will anaesthetise all those receptors.

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So, you end up feeling numb and like you don't know where your arms are.

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And that's what affects things like swimming.

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So, now would be a good time for you to go for a swim.

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Moving would be a great idea.

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Go for it. Go for about four lengths.

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After sitting still for so long, it's a relief to be moving and the exercise starts to warm me up.

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But after experiencing the delights of my first river swim,

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these surroundings feel particularly unnatural and artificial.

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-How's it feel?

-It feels quite warm, actually.

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I mean, I'm aware I'm in a cold environment.

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Can I get out?

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Yes. Can you manage?

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I've got a tingling sensation

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on my arms...

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No, I can't manage... Oh, that's strange.

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'After just a few minutes, the numbness in my limbs has

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'made even simple tasks like climbing out of the pool a real challenge.'

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The comparison between the earlier image from the infra-red camera and

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my current one shows the dramatic change in my skin temperature.

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But as I climb out of the water, I feel far from uncomfortable.

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How are you feeling?

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Well, actually, I feel good. My skin feels tingling.

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It feels quite warm and glowing.

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'That feeling is a result of the contrast when I emerge from the cold water into the warmer air.

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'Blood returns to the skin as it warms,

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'and that effect is clearly visible, given how bright my arms are, within a minute of leaving the pool.

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'And it's this sensation of exhilaration that's probably prompted

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'so many people to extol the virtues of cold-water bathing.'

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This form of hydrotherapy, which reached its zenith in

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the Victorian age, has encouraged thousands of people over the years to visit spas, springs and the seaside

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to treat a variety of ailments from arthritis to depression.

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Its advocates included such luminaries as Charles Darwin,

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Florence Nightingale and Lord Tennyson.

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But were they right?

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Are they any benefits to bathing in cold water?

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Clearly, you get this incredible stimulation to the body.

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But there's no evidence to suggest it improves your immune function

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or makes you live longer, or healthier.

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Even if it's not beneficial, I am going to be immersing myself in cold water quite a bit.

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-Have you any advice for me?

-Yes.

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Get used to the cold so you take out that cold shock response, the most dangerous of all the responses.

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If you get a cold shock response, allow it to disappear before you start swimming.

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So you're not trying to swim with your breathing out of control.

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If I'm to relinquish my wetsuit and plunge into the cold embrace of a

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British river, then I need to prepare myself for this alien environment.

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I'm determined to respect nature and take the proper steps to acclimatise.

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Which is why I'm doing this...

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'Subjecting myself to a series of cold showers.'

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Oh, that's really cold!

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'But over the next few days, this regime seems to be doing the trick.

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'I no longer gasp uncontrollably at the first touch of cold water.'

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I'm now ready to recommence my wild swimming odyssey, but this time on the edge of Dartmoor.

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'My only purpose was to get thoroughly lost.

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'To disappear into the hills and tarns and miss my way home for as long as possible.

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'If I could find a string of swims and dips, each one surpassing

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'the last in aimlessness, so much the better.'

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Dartmoor is a spectacularly watery part of the country.

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No less than nine different rivers from the Taw and the Teign, to the Dart itself,

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rise from its peaty ground.

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But it's not just water that wells-up from this area.

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The literary output inspired by Dartmoor's rivers is truly impressive.

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Tarka the Otter frolicked in the River Taw.

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Charles Kingsley's novel The Water Babies

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was prompted by growing up here.

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And Ted Hughes' book of poems, The River,

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was sparked by the Dart and the Taw.

0:25:060:25:09

But there's one piece of poetry that is particularly relevant for my next swimming spot.

0:25:110:25:17

Alice Oswald's long poem, Dart,

0:25:170:25:21

which paints a beguiling picture of the river from its source to its mouth.

0:25:210:25:27

"Listen

0:25:270:25:29

"A lark spinning around one note

0:25:290:25:33

"Splitting and mending it

0:25:330:25:35

"And I find you in the reeds

0:25:350:25:37

"A trickle coming out of a bank

0:25:370:25:40

"A foal of a river

0:25:400:25:43

"One step-width water of linked stones

0:25:430:25:48

"Trills in the stones

0:25:480:25:49

"Glides in the trills

0:25:490:25:52

"Eels in the glides

0:25:520:25:55

"In each eel...

0:25:550:25:56

"a finger-width of sea."

0:25:560:25:59

The poem weaves together a collection of characters,

0:26:020:26:04

from fishermen to lock-keepers and the river's own water spirits,

0:26:040:26:08

to create it's own unique vision.

0:26:080:26:11

But it's the passages that relate to a swimmer that tempt me into to the Dart's icy embrace.

0:26:110:26:19

GASPS

0:26:190:26:23

Oh, that's cold.

0:26:230:26:26

"Menyahari, we scream in mid-air

0:26:320:26:36

"We jump from a tree into a pool

0:26:360:26:38

"We change ourselves into the fish dimension

0:26:380:26:42

"Everybody swims here, under still-pool copse on a Saturday

0:26:420:26:47

"Slapping the water with bare hands It's fine once you're in

0:26:470:26:51

"Then I jumped In a rush of gold to the head

0:26:510:26:55

"Through black and cold Red and cold, brown and warm

0:26:550:26:59

"Giving water the weight and size of myself in order to imagine it

0:26:590:27:03

"Water with my bones

0:27:030:27:05

"Water with my mouth and my understanding."

0:27:050:27:08

It is extremely cold. I think this water's probably, I don't know, about 10 degrees.

0:27:140:27:19

GASPS

0:27:190:27:21

I'm standing up in goose bumps all over, but it's also lovely.

0:27:210:27:25

My body's tingling all over.

0:27:250:27:28

It feels wonderful.

0:27:280:27:30

Looking down at my arms, they look golden under the peaty water.

0:27:360:27:40

"Where salmon swim with many a glittering

0:27:480:27:51

"And herons flare and fold Look for a race of fresh water

0:27:510:27:56

"Filling the sea with gold."

0:27:560:27:58

-James.

-Ah, hello!

0:28:010:28:03

'I'm not the only one to be beguiled by Alice Oswald's lyricism and magic.'

0:28:030:28:08

-It's a marvellous place to be. Shall we go and have a look at the river?

-Let's do that.

0:28:080:28:13

'West Country poet and writer James Crowden is another big fan of the poem Dart.'

0:28:130:28:17

What she's done is very cleverly intertwined lots of different lives,

0:28:170:28:21

different people living by the river, people visiting it.

0:28:210:28:24

And it flows from one person's take on the river to another.

0:28:240:28:29

And one of them, which I didn't know at the time,

0:28:290:28:32

the swimmer was Roger Deakin, and that's magic

0:28:320:28:34

because I knew Roger and loved his slightly rebellious streak.

0:28:340:28:38

His love of freedom, always wanting to challenge things.

0:28:380:28:41

If somebody says no swimming, he'll go in there.

0:28:410:28:44

Like it's almost his birthright to go swimming in the rivers.

0:28:460:28:51

James, what do you think it is about water and rivers in particular that inspires poets and writers?

0:28:510:28:58

I think there are many things. I think there's the...

0:28:580:29:00

visual nature of the river, which is what you first see, when you come through the woods as we did,

0:29:000:29:07

and you stumble on a river, sometimes literally.

0:29:070:29:10

There's a sort of vitality about rivers, they're always moving.

0:29:100:29:13

And there's also a sense of not knowing, a sense of mystery.

0:29:130:29:17

You see half the river, you don't often see below the surface. I think it's the unseen-ness of it.

0:29:200:29:26

What you can't see is analogous to the subconscious, the unconscious.

0:29:260:29:32

It's the forces that poets are instinctively drawn to

0:29:320:29:34

by not knowing and they want to explore that with language.

0:29:340:29:39

Roger Deakin here says, "Water is the most poetical of

0:29:390:29:42

"elements allowing of no sudden or awkward movements.

0:29:420:29:46

"Even a stone, dropped in, sinks gracefully."

0:29:460:29:50

I think it's this gracefulness which

0:29:500:29:53

you associate with rivers, and then there are rapids,

0:29:530:29:57

and then there's gracefulness, which is like life itself.

0:29:570:30:00

And you met Roger. What was he like as a person?

0:30:000:30:02

Oh, he was great fun. He was always sort of enthusiastic and very keen.

0:30:020:30:07

He just felt there was a freedom about rivers, which he identified with.

0:30:070:30:11

He identified with that, not just by watching it, but by being in the medium, in the river.

0:30:110:30:17

And that's when you really experience it.

0:30:170:30:19

It's no good just observing it from the outside, you've got to go in and experience it.

0:30:190:30:24

And it's a very good maxim of life to dive in and see what it's like.

0:30:240:30:28

Just a little quote here, which I think is very appropriate.

0:30:310:30:34

He says, "I know of few people

0:30:340:30:37

"and no poet for whom water is not a first love.

0:30:370:30:40

"We all spend the first eternal dreamtime of our lives in the same internal Mother Ocean.

0:30:400:30:47

"So even after we have lost our gills and dived into the world,

0:30:470:30:52

"we are forever water babies."

0:30:520:30:54

That quote of Roger's really captures my imagination,

0:31:060:31:10

partly for its eloquence, partly because I'm four months pregnant

0:31:100:31:14

and carrying my very own water baby with me on this journey.

0:31:140:31:18

And together we're off to that other Mother Ocean - the sea.

0:31:220:31:26

This part of the North Devon Coast is noted more for its rocky coves than for sandy beaches.

0:31:350:31:41

And this secluded bay is no exception.

0:31:430:31:45

What it does boast, however, is a wonderful tidal pool.

0:31:470:31:52

'I could think of no better prospect than to enhance the day

0:31:560:31:59

'with bathing and walking on one of the best beaches I know...

0:31:590:32:03

'One of the great joys is to swim in the lagoons that appear as the tide goes out.

0:32:050:32:12

'They can be very warm

0:32:150:32:17

'and I once stepped on a Dover sole in one.

0:32:170:32:21

'As I swam back and forth in the clear saltwater, lulled by the rhythm of my own breathing,

0:32:230:32:30

'I felt myself sinking deeper into the unconscious world of the sea.'

0:32:300:32:36

The rock pool is teaming with life.

0:32:360:32:39

And as I swim round, I'm aware of all sorts of different colours in the water beneath me.

0:32:410:32:46

And the play of light on the water's surface.

0:32:510:32:54

It's these aesthetic qualities that have drawn so many artists to use water as a subject.

0:32:540:33:00

And I'm no exception.

0:33:030:33:05

I like the contrast between the sharp, craggy rocks, which are...

0:33:190:33:24

set in stone,

0:33:240:33:27

and then this moving element that reflects them,

0:33:270:33:30

and is giving back the light from the sky.

0:33:320:33:34

It's very dynamic. It's incredibly difficult to capture it.

0:33:360:33:41

I don't think I'll do it justice,

0:33:410:33:44

but I think that's what draws artists to water -

0:33:440:33:48

and particularly to the coast.

0:33:480:33:50

It's endlessly changing, it's challenging

0:33:500:33:54

and there's always drama there.

0:33:540:33:57

Around the end of the 19th century,

0:34:060:34:09

paintings like Ruby, Gold and Malachite by Henry Scott Tuke,

0:34:090:34:13

which featured young men bathing, became very popular.

0:34:130:34:17

They were thought to celebrate the great outdoors and encourage the taking of physical exercise in a time

0:34:170:34:23

when industrialisation was moving people from the land to the cities.

0:34:230:34:28

These images also provided an excuse to celebrate the sensuality of the human body.

0:34:300:34:35

Paintings like Thomas Eakins' Swimming celebrate leisure,

0:34:380:34:42

life,

0:34:420:34:44

and sex.

0:34:440:34:45

But artists are also drawn to water's more sinister aspects.

0:34:490:34:53

John Millais' Ophelia,

0:34:530:34:55

one of the most famous pre-Raphaelite paintings,

0:34:550:34:58

records the drowning of its subject in uncannily accurate detail.

0:34:580:35:02

John Waterhouse's Hylas And The Nymphs has a naive but handsome Hylas

0:35:060:35:11

being seduced to an early grave

0:35:110:35:13

by a group of water nymphs -

0:35:130:35:15

a scene that captures both the attraction and the danger of water.

0:35:150:35:19

This contrast, this duality that water has, on the one hand

0:35:220:35:26

we need it to sustain life, and on the other it can kill us,

0:35:260:35:30

has driven successive cultures to worship water deities since the dawn of time.

0:35:300:35:35

The Greeks worshipped Poseidon and Triton, the Celts had individual river deities,

0:35:370:35:43

and even today Hindus hold rivers sacred,

0:35:430:35:46

none more so than the Ganges.

0:35:460:35:50

But no civilization better encapsulates the veneration of water than the Romans.

0:35:500:35:56

Right along Hadrian's Wall, the largest example of Roman remains in the country, one can find buildings,

0:36:010:36:08

statues and carvings that attest to the spiritual importance water has had throughout human history.

0:36:080:36:16

To understand water's mythological significance, I've come to

0:36:350:36:40

the Chester's Fort Museum to see at first hand some of the evidence the Romans left behind.

0:36:400:36:45

My guide, on this showery day, is one of the country's leading experts

0:36:500:36:54

on folklore and mythology - Professor Ronald Hutton.

0:36:540:36:58

Please come this way.

0:36:580:37:00

The museum is home to a range of pieces collected from along the wall.

0:37:000:37:06

But the most significant one for my purposes comes from a nearby spring.

0:37:070:37:13

It's the carving of a Roman water goddess, Coventina.

0:37:130:37:17

Coventina, this is Alice. Alice, this is Coventina.

0:37:170:37:20

The introductions are important because the Romans would believe she'd look after you.

0:37:200:37:25

If you were nice to her.

0:37:250:37:26

Coventina's actually reclining on a pitcher and the water's flowing out.

0:37:260:37:31

That's the water which becomes the spring itself.

0:37:310:37:34

So, would they make offerings to her?

0:37:340:37:37

Oh, good grief, didn't they just!

0:37:370:37:38

13,482 coins are known to have been found in that spring,

0:37:380:37:44

all thrown in in order to get Coventina on your side.

0:37:450:37:50

That's largely because the water up here is so moody,

0:37:500:37:54

you can turn from a normal stream to a flash flood within a few minutes.

0:37:540:37:59

And to have the spirits on your side was extremely important.

0:37:590:38:03

So, this is much more than just a wishing well, then?

0:38:030:38:05

It's far more, it's a matter of life and death.

0:38:050:38:08

If you're going to swim in this neighbourhood, she's a useful friend to have.

0:38:080:38:11

The ancients' belief in the power of water can also be seen in the buildings they constructed.

0:38:190:38:25

Water is purifying. It washes away sin, it washes away guilt, it washes away care.

0:38:300:38:36

Cleansing yourself spiritually is one of the greatest single ritual acts of humanity,

0:38:360:38:40

known right across the ancient world.

0:38:400:38:42

And that translates into ideas of baptism as well, I suppose.

0:38:420:38:46

Absolutely so. You are washing away your old self.

0:38:460:38:50

Talking to Ronald, it's clear that water's significance

0:38:500:38:54

goes far beyond religious symbolism, even now in the 21st century.

0:38:540:38:58

Water is the moodiest of all elements and the most ubiquitous.

0:38:580:39:04

It comes from the sky and it rises from the earth.

0:39:040:39:06

It connects Heaven and Earth in a way that nothing else quite does.

0:39:060:39:10

And throughout the world's languages, so many of the terms we

0:39:100:39:15

use for emotion, for fury, for hate, for pathos, are related to water.

0:39:150:39:20

Pouring out your heart,

0:39:200:39:22

going with the flow, welling up with emotion.

0:39:220:39:26

It can change in a moment, from being smiling and cheerful

0:39:260:39:32

and embracing and playful, to being angry, turbulent and lethal.

0:39:320:39:37

Water is the mirror of our soul.

0:39:370:39:42

It's with some trepidation that I leave Professor Hutton behind

0:39:550:39:59

and head west along Hadrian's Wall.

0:39:590:40:02

My destination is one of the remote loughs that lie within sight of the Wall -

0:40:070:40:11

bodies of water the Romans themselves must have used.

0:40:110:40:15

Now, if it was a gloriously sunny day, I would consider going into this lough in a swimming costume.

0:40:200:40:26

But it is cold and it is windy, so I've opted for a wetsuit.

0:40:260:40:29

Nevertheless, it is an auspicious day to be communing with the ancients because, as Ronald Hutton reminded me

0:40:290:40:36

this morning, today the hours of daylight equal the hours of darkness.

0:40:360:40:40

It's the Autumn Equinox.

0:40:400:40:42

'You might, if you wish, imagine as you dive in,

0:41:020:41:05

'that you're encountering millennia of human experience, of hope, of fear, of passion, of reverence.

0:41:050:41:13

'That you could be entering the source of life itself.

0:41:130:41:18

'You'd be entering the entrance to the realm of death.'

0:41:180:41:21

I'm not sure if I've come out of the water a different person,

0:41:470:41:50

but certainly as I was swimming around I couldn't help thinking about what Ronald was saying

0:41:500:41:56

about water as a gateway to another place.

0:41:560:41:58

And again this water has this wonderful peatiness, so that as your hands go through, they disappear.

0:41:580:42:06

You almost lose sight of yourself in its depths.

0:42:060:42:09

The idea that water is a gateway, a route to another world,

0:42:150:42:21

is a particularly enthralling and romantic one.

0:42:210:42:23

It's especially relevant when I consider my next swim.

0:42:230:42:28

I'm in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, and I'm really excited about today

0:42:410:42:46

because I'm going to be doing a wild swim that's quite unlike any that I've done so far.

0:42:460:42:51

I'm expecting to meet my fellow swimmers...

0:42:530:42:57

Oh, there they are.

0:42:570:43:00

Wearing quite unusual gear for swimming.

0:43:000:43:02

-Hello.

-Is it Alice?

0:43:050:43:07

-Hi, I'm Daniel.

-Hello. And Joe?

-Hi.

0:43:070:43:10

-Here to do a bit of caving, then. And cave swimming?

-Yes.

0:43:100:43:13

-I need to get proper caving gear on?

-Probably a wetsuit as well.

0:43:130:43:17

-OK, lovely. I'll do that, then.

-See you in a minute.

0:43:170:43:21

This part of Yorkshire, close to the border with Cumbria and Lancashire,

0:43:240:43:28

is one of the country's principle areas for caving.

0:43:280:43:32

The limestone rock that gives this area its distinctive look

0:43:320:43:36

is riddled with miles of caverns and passageways.

0:43:360:43:39

And attracts cavers from across the UK.

0:43:390:43:42

Daniel's interest isn't caving.

0:43:450:43:47

He's one of the country's pre-eminent wild swimmers,

0:43:470:43:50

having written not one, but two guidebooks on the subject.

0:43:500:43:54

But even he hasn't tackled a swim like the one that awaits us.

0:43:540:43:58

I kind of think this is where water begins its life.

0:43:580:44:01

It percolates down into the mountain, and then collects down under the hills.

0:44:010:44:05

And we might as well go down and see where it all begins in the dark, very feral, maybe Gollum-like.

0:44:050:44:11

-So, I think it'll be quite an exciting experience.

-Fantastic.

0:44:110:44:14

We head down the gorge here, don't we?

0:44:140:44:16

Joe and his caving colleagues have set up this whole expedition.

0:44:200:44:24

But even though I've been caving before, I still feel a slight nervousness.

0:44:240:44:29

Lights on. Check like that.

0:44:310:44:33

Great stuff.

0:44:360:44:37

As we crawl in, I'm aware of the insidious presence of water.

0:44:450:44:49

Whether it's falling as rain, flowing as a river or seeping through rock,

0:44:490:44:54

it occurs to me that water seems to permeate every aspect of the world around us.

0:44:540:44:58

'Geologically, the tunnelling of the limestone

0:45:060:45:09

'probably began at the end of the last Ice Age, 11,000 years ago,

0:45:090:45:14

'when the melt water from above

0:45:140:45:16

'burst down a weakness in the limestone layer

0:45:160:45:20

'and bored out the gorge by dissolving the rock.'

0:45:200:45:23

The surroundings are both oppressive and inspiring.

0:45:230:45:28

You OK?

0:45:280:45:29

Yeah.

0:45:290:45:32

It's quite deep here. Bit of a cavern.

0:45:320:45:34

Not too far, though.

0:45:370:45:38

It's a relief to be able to walk upright,

0:45:380:45:41

but it occurs to me that this cave must flood completely at times.

0:45:410:45:46

When it rains, the stream must swell into torrent of water -

0:45:460:45:49

not an encouraging thought.

0:45:490:45:51

-It suddenly gets deep.

-Look at this!

0:45:590:46:01

It's like a river of silver stretching down there.

0:46:010:46:05

-It's like something from fairy tales.

-Very special.

0:46:050:46:09

'Enchanting it may be, but crouching on the edge of the pool,

0:46:090:46:13

'there's also something unnerving about the prospect of a swim here in the bowels of the Earth.'

0:46:130:46:19

Are you going to go first, Daniel?

0:46:190:46:21

Well, I was going to say ladies first, but I'll give it a go.

0:46:210:46:25

You go first, Daniel.

0:46:250:46:27

This is real wild swimming.

0:46:270:46:29

It is so beautiful. I mean, the way the rock is all rippled,

0:46:290:46:33

as well as the water.

0:46:330:46:36

This is the entrance to the Underworld you're now entering, Daniel.

0:46:360:46:39

-HE GASPS

-Woo! Here I go!

0:46:390:46:44

As Daniel slips away from me, I don't know which of us is the more uneasy.

0:46:480:46:52

I can't help but wonder just how deep it is beneath me.

0:46:560:46:59

I'm too scared to go all the way down.

0:47:040:47:06

I'm just going to stay closer to you.

0:47:060:47:09

It's like swimming down inside the belly of a whale.

0:47:090:47:14

Up at the top, where the water droplets are shining, it's like little silver stars.

0:47:190:47:23

'I can't put it off any longer.

0:47:260:47:29

'It's my turn to sink into these inky black depths.

0:47:290:47:33

'My heart thumps in my chest and I fight back thoughts of monsters rising from the deep.'

0:47:340:47:40

This is that strange mixture of being scary and beautiful at the same time.

0:47:420:47:46

That's really spooky.

0:47:510:47:53

I'm not thinking about what's down there.

0:47:530:47:56

'Concentrating on the beauty of the moment helps keep my fears at bay.'

0:47:560:48:02

It's stunning.

0:48:040:48:06

'There is something atavistic about all swimming.

0:48:060:48:10

'But this was so intensely primitive it was visceral.

0:48:100:48:15

'It was like a dream of being born.'

0:48:150:48:18

'The shining stream beckons me on and I'm drawn further and further away from my companions.'

0:48:210:48:27

Don't go too far!

0:48:270:48:29

I think the cave continues underwater.

0:48:290:48:32

It's so deep! I can't feel the bottom at all.

0:48:330:48:36

'Swimming here in the darkness with just the odd shimmering of light playing on the cave walls,

0:48:410:48:46

'it feels like I could carry on -

0:48:460:48:48

'right into the centre of earth or into the Underworld.'

0:48:480:48:53

It's quite strange because I'm not entirely sure I believe this is real.

0:49:020:49:07

Swimming down towards the end, you just think, "Am I dreaming it?"

0:49:070:49:11

Wow! It was like you disappeared into another world down there.

0:49:260:49:29

It felt like it.

0:49:290:49:31

I think that more than anywhere I've swum, felt like what Ronald Hutton was talking to me about,

0:49:310:49:36

when you enter water and it takes you from one dimension into another.

0:49:360:49:40

I mean, that just really felt like I could carry on swimming into the darkness.

0:49:400:49:45

Oh.

0:49:450:49:47

-It's chilly, but amazing.

-Totally surreal place, isn't it?

0:49:470:49:50

Yeah. Really, really beautiful.

0:49:500:49:52

The dreamlike feeling stays with me, and even the damp glade we return to seems to retain a peculiar magic.

0:49:570:50:04

It's very difficult to make these choices, but I think that was my favourite wild swim so far.

0:50:040:50:10

It was a really intense experience and stunningly beautiful down there.

0:50:100:50:15

And it really felt as if we were going into another world.

0:50:150:50:18

How did you find it, Daniel?

0:50:180:50:20

Oh. It was mesmerising, wasn't it?

0:50:200:50:22

There's no other words for it. Otherworldly.

0:50:220:50:24

It's the most amazing place I've been wild swimming, for sure.

0:50:240:50:27

As I've made my odyssey from one swim to another,

0:50:290:50:33

I've developed a deeper appreciation for the soggy British countryside.

0:50:330:50:37

I'm sure Roger, whose environmental concerns put him years ahead of his time, would have agreed.

0:50:370:50:44

'I climbed into the river where it ran through a miniature ravine

0:50:440:50:47

'full of the heather, bracken, stonecrop, thyme, and gorse.

0:50:470:50:52

'A little further on, a solitary sycamore

0:50:520:50:55

'stood sentinel over a sheep-nibbled lawn of buttercups and daisies.

0:50:550:51:00

'Here I made delicious tea with the river water,

0:51:000:51:03

'devoured pennywort leaves, and fell into a deep sleep.'

0:51:030:51:09

In the years since his death, Roger's legacy seems to have grown

0:51:090:51:12

in importance and his books have sold all over the world.

0:51:120:51:18

His last book is a collection of notes from his diary.

0:51:180:51:23

It was put together by one of his friends and his partner, Alison Hastie, who shared

0:51:230:51:28

many of Roger's concerns about the environment and his love of swimming.

0:51:280:51:33

I can't ask Roger what he thinks of my journey, so I've arranged to meet

0:51:360:51:40

Alison to see what she makes of my own Waterlog.

0:51:400:51:44

Alison, what was Roger like?

0:51:470:51:49

Well, he was fantastic fun. Yeah, really good fun. He was very energetic.

0:51:490:51:52

Every day was an adventure, there was no doubt about it.

0:51:520:51:56

It was a wonderful time that I knew him and that we spent together. It was great, yeah.

0:51:560:52:01

And had he always enjoyed swimming or was that something he particularly got into in later life?

0:52:010:52:06

I think he's always liked it. It was a passion for him.

0:52:060:52:09

And it was just a way in which he immediately was able to transport

0:52:090:52:14

himself literally and change his mood and made him feel good.

0:52:140:52:19

And I think that's why people love swimming.

0:52:190:52:22

It shifts you into another dimension, just instantly.

0:52:220:52:27

And then also has that fantastic reverb afterwards when you come out.

0:52:270:52:32

I loved reading Roger's books.

0:52:320:52:33

It made me want to get out and go swimming in wild places.

0:52:330:52:38

Why do you think it's had such an inspirational effect on people?

0:52:380:52:42

I think it's Roger's writing.

0:52:420:52:44

I think it was from the heart, it was very genuine and the way it's written is so infectious,

0:52:440:52:49

he would be encouraging anybody and everybody to have a go at swimming.

0:52:490:52:53

It's not something that you have to have a special gift or have money or be in a particular place.

0:52:530:52:58

It really is available to everyone.

0:52:580:53:01

I think that's the sort of exciting secret adventure that you can have.

0:53:010:53:06

As a relative newcomer to this, have you got any advice for me?

0:53:060:53:09

Well, I think you've definitely got to go skinny dipping.

0:53:090:53:14

-Right.

-I'm sorry, Alice. It's got to be done.

0:53:140:53:17

Because then that's such a secret adventure.

0:53:170:53:20

The water just licks around you and that's a beautiful, beautiful sensation.

0:53:200:53:26

And it's a lovely, lovely thing to do.

0:53:260:53:29

And you'll do it more than once!

0:53:290:53:31

A skinny dip has been at the back of my mind for a while and Alison's advice has convinced me to do it.

0:53:350:53:41

The only question has been where.

0:53:410:53:43

I want to go somewhere as wild as possible, a secret place,

0:53:460:53:50

somewhere that is remote and beautiful.

0:53:500:53:54

I'm drawn to one of the wettest places in England, the Lake District.

0:53:580:54:02

'Searching the map I had seen some promising upland streams, a waterfall and a tarn.

0:54:160:54:22

'So I hiked off uphill through the bracken.

0:54:220:54:25

'I went there to be a long way

0:54:270:54:29

'from all those powerful stimuli Wordsworth said prevented us

0:54:290:54:34

'from doing any proper thinking.'

0:54:340:54:38

Wow. That looks beautiful.

0:54:410:54:44

Well, this is it.

0:54:470:54:49

This is where I've chosen to do my ultimate wild swim.

0:54:490:54:52

It looks beautiful. It may not be the best weather,

0:54:520:54:55

but what a fantastic place to go for a dip.

0:54:550:54:58

As I dive in, I feel a tingling on every part of my skin.

0:55:240:55:28

It's partly the cold water against every inch of me and

0:55:280:55:33

partly the excitement of indulging in a truly illicit pleasure.

0:55:330:55:37

The gentle currents from the waterfall eddy all around me.

0:55:410:55:44

The feeling of freedom is intoxicating.

0:55:490:55:51

Cares and concerns are washed away.

0:55:530:55:55

It feels like it's just me and the water.

0:55:550:56:00

That's really intense.

0:56:410:56:43

Absolutely wonderful.

0:56:430:56:46

I'm just bathing in the afterglow at the moment.

0:56:460:56:48

The adrenaline is rushing round my body. I feel glowing.

0:56:480:56:53

I feel really warm, fantastic.

0:56:530:56:56

For me, the last two weeks have been immersive, literally.

0:57:020:57:07

I've had some quite other-worldly experiences.

0:57:070:57:12

But as several of the people have said, that sense of going to

0:57:140:57:17

another place is at the heart of wild swimming's attraction.

0:57:170:57:20

Whether the journey has involved looking at the world from a different perspective

0:57:230:57:27

or completely forgetting about my usual pre-occupations,

0:57:270:57:33

the swims I've experienced have all transcended the simple physical pleasure of the act itself.

0:57:330:57:40

And then finally -

0:57:420:57:44

getting to swim somewhere like this, so beautiful and wild,

0:57:440:57:49

you don't just feel close to nature, you feel part of it.

0:57:490:57:54

And it's a world away from swimming in a man-made pool.

0:57:540:57:58

I feel as though I can understand what it is about wild swimming

0:58:000:58:07

that so inspired the man who set me off on this journey, Roger Deakin.

0:58:070:58:12

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0:58:460:58:49

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0:58:490:58:52

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