72: Walk On By

Every Road Through Life is a Long, Long Road
Filled with Joys and Sorrows Too (Lauder, 1925)

Sometimes plans don’t turn out the way you had hoped! It had been my plan (and my hope) to swim at as many of the lovely, hidden coves as I could, as I made my way (walking) round the South West Coast Path – a sort of swim/walk adventure, as I explained in a previous blog (Oliver, 2025). However, I have now become accustomed to the fact that my plans don’t necessarily follow the path I expected. I have, once again been coming to terms with some uncomfortable lessons about adaptability and accepting that I am not always in control! Never, I’m afraid, my strongest qualities!

Following my swim at Peppercorn Beach (Oliver, 2026) we have walked a further 70 miles and have barely managed a dip!

1. The Tide Times

And the tide rises and the tide falls (Longfellow, 1880)

When planning when we will set off and do each section of the path, one of the ‘logistics’ I have successively failed to take into account has been the tide times. This has meant that, on nearly every occasion, the tide has been high at the start of our walks (when I have been reluctant to delay our start by going in for a swim) and low when we finish (and are longing to cool off and stretch out in the water). This has resulted in many of the coves and beaches on my ‘must do’ list being disappointingly unswimmable and inevitably being added to a new ‘must revisit another time’ list.




2. Stormy Weather

Don’t know why there’s no sun in the sky
Keeps raining all the time
Stormy Weather. (Ethel Waters, 1933)

On the day that we walked from Clovelly to Hartland Quay, one of the most challenging and steep sections of the coast path at the best of times, the weather turned very stormy. We spent much of the day bent over, attempting to stay upright in 50 miles per hour winds and with the rain obscuring any view of any coves we might have stopped at for a dip. Hartland Quay had been one of my recommended swim spots (I have seen photos of it during the recent heat wave, looking very much like the Mediterranean), so I was more than disappointed that it was so wild and unwelcoming when we were there. That section of the coast path taught me a lot about resilience and determination. It was exhausting – and at times a bit frightening. There was no where to ‘bail out’, we had to keep going, but we did seriously consider not continuing the following day. However, we survived and eventually made it, wet and exhausted, to the Hartland Quay Hotel, where we received a very warm welcome, a good meal and a comfortable bed, and the friendly camaraderie of fellow walkers who were also sheltering for the night.

And I’m still standing (Elton John, 1983)

The weather wasn’t a lot better the next day, but we all agreed it would be disappointing to not continue on, as planned, and so on we walked to Morwenstow. We knew we had survived the previous day of steep hills and brutal weather. We could do this! The winds, that day, were still over 40 mph, but it was sunny and clear and we could at least see the coast – and the stormy seas. As we crossed the border into Cornwall we felt very proud of ourselves for our strength and determination. Of course, there was still to be no swimming, and the hoped for welcome of a swim at Welcombe Mouth was not forthcoming.

As we journey on, how your heart may yearn
For the things most dear to you …
But onward we must go (Lauder, 1925)

3. Coastal erosion

We have encountered many ‘diversions’ on the South West Coast Path, where the original route has been eroded by the sea and the weather and is now no longer safe to walk on. It is a magnificent coast with breathtaking views that make me feel very small and insignificant as a human being and I wonder how many generations in the future will be able to experience and enjoy it, in the same way. Bossiney Haven is a secluded bay below the steep cliffs between Boscastle and Tintagel. I had read a lot about it and how wonderful it was for swimming at both high and low tides. I planned to swim there. Imagine my disappointment, when we reached the turning, to find the path closed due to ‘unstable cliffs and falling rocks’.

4. Oil Spill

Hot and hungry, and disappointed with the inability to swim at Bossiney, we made our way onward to Trebarwith Strand, where we were certain we would be able to swim. But again no! As we arrived on the quay side we were faced with a large sign informing us that there had been an oil spillage (from a domestic oil tank) that had leaked into the sea. So no swimming there either!

You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes,
You’ll find you get what you need (Rolling Stones, 1969)

Learning to accept you are not necessarily in control of your own path is an uncomfortable lesson to learn – and is one that I am not quite sure that I have mastered yet! Accepting that some things are not meant to be and that there are perfectly acceptable and enjoyable alternatives ahead is one of life’s lessons that undertaking this coast path adventure is teaching me. I am having to learn to weather the storms, the ups and the downs along the way and the disappointments that get thrown in your path. And despite the disappointments there are also joys and unexpected treats ahead, that lift the spirit.

Tho’ the way be long, let your heart be strong
If you’re tired and weary, still journey on
Keep right on to the end of the road. (Lauder, 1925)

* Joyous Dip 1: Despite all the ‘non-swims’ listed above, I have managed to get into the water on almost every day of our walking. The tide may have been out at Clovelly, but that evening I climbed over the rocky shore to reach the sea and had a wonderfully cold swim along the beach. And when I got out my daughter told me that I had been sharing the sea with a dolphin!

Clovelly, March 2026

* Joyous Dip 2: The tide may have been out at Crooklets Beach, but we were welcomed, warmly, by Friends of Bude Sea Pool and I had a wonderful, warm swim there, in the historic sea pool. Bude Sea Pool is built into the rocks at Summerleaze Beach and is topped up with fresh sea water at high tide every day. Created in 1930, the Sea Pool has offered a safe sea swimming environment for nearly 100 years. Today it is maintained by volunteers and depends on donations and grants. Bude has a long history of supporting sea bathing. There is a bridge in the town – Nanny Moore’s Bridge’ – dedicated to Nanny Moore, a ‘sea dipper’ who helped the genteel ladies of the mid-19th Century to safely bathe at Crooklets Beach. I am grateful to those volunteers, in Bude, who continue this tradition at the Sea Pool.

Bude Sea Poole, May 2026

* Joyous Dip 3: The waves may have been high, at Crackington Haven, but I went in anyway, and enjoyed a joyful and refreshing jump in the surf at the end of a long hard day of walking. So don’t let disappointment defeat you. You might not always get what you want (as those famous Bards of our time once said), but if you keep your heart, mind and eyes open, you might find what you need, in unexpected places.

Crackington Haven, May 2026

Just like moons and suns, with certainty of tides
Just like hopes springing high
Still I rise. (Angelou, 1978)

Photo Credits: Beth Oliver

References

Angelou, M. (1978) And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems, Random House
Jagger, M. & Richards, K. (1969) You Can’t Always Get What You Want, from the album Let It Bleed, Decca
John, E. (1983) I’m Still Standing, from the album, Too Low For Zero, Rocket Records
Lauder, H. (1925) Keep Right On To The End Of The Road, HMV
Longfellow, H.W. (1880) The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls, in Ultimate Thule, Houghton Miffin & co
Oliver, B. (2025) The Long and Winding Road, justkeepswimmingbillie.wordpress.com
Oliver, B. (2026) To Make You Feel My Love, justkeepswimmingbillie.wordpress.com
Warwick, D. (1964) Walk On By, Scepter Records
Waters, E. (1933) Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin’ All The Time), Brunswick Records

Friends of Bude Sea Pool (FoBSP) is a registered charity and receives no regular Town, Council or central government funding. They therefore rely on the generosity of those who visit and use the historic Sea Pool.

71: To Make You Feel My Love

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, (Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1850)

Let me count the ways
Weather-wise, this year has not got off to a very good start. January was one of the wettest years on record in many parts of the UK. The (slightly) lighter and longer days have been a long time coming. And the news media have been saturated with alarming and alarmist content that make the world feel like a very dark place.

One of the ways that I try to get through the darkest months is by swimming, outdoors – in the sea – as frequently as is safely possible. By turning up to swim, outdoors, at every opportunity, you come to realise that every day is not grey, wet and depressing. Every day is different, the sea looks and behaves differently each day and there is even pleasure in swimming in the rain.

This was the Joy of January

Research by the University of Essex (Barton & Pretty, 2010) has found that spending just five minutes a day on any outdoor activity can have a notable effect on both self-esteem and mood – and that people who exercised near a body of water were found to experience the greatest effect. the middle of winter when the sea temperature and the ambient temperature are at their lowest, it is not possible (or desirable) for most of us to stay in the water for more than 10 minutes. But that 5 or 10 minutes can make all the difference, especially on a dull or wet day. I will admit that I don’t always feel like going in, but I never regret it afterwards. It brings joy to a dull day.

When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love (Bob Dylan, 1997)

At this time of year the beach is quiet – especially in the mornings – and it can feel like an oasis of calm away from the stress of traffic problems, news media and general noise. Five minutes in the sea can be enough to calm the mind and lift the mood. This is generally also followed by, at least half an hour of sitting staring at the motion of the sea and listening to the sound of the waves onto the pebbles, in the company and comradeship of swimming friends, while we warm up. This is also a valuable part of the winter swimming experience that I have come to love.

Another of the wonderful things about swimming in cold water is the way it helps me with feelings of anxiety, sadness and other complicated emotions, that can become unmanageable in the winter when we spend so much more time indoors, wrapped up in warm layers. I have always referred to this effect as ‘washing away’ my negative emotions and have attributed it to having to focus on your body and your breathing as you adapt to the cold (Oliver, 2021). Recently, researchers in Finland (Airo & Lehtonen, 2023) have been trying to explore this phenomenon – and to explain it. In their studies of cold water swimmers they have also found that ‘their psychological burdens seemed to ‘dissolve’ in the water” and they used this experience to help participants identify tools to “manage their challenging emotions”. They are now exploring, a unique approach, to combining cold water swimming with psychotherapy and mindfulness techniques to help their mental health patients.

A New Year to look forward to
I have written previously (Oliver, 2020 ) about how I believe that January is not the right time to be celebrating the new year. January, to me, is about taking each day as it comes and endeavouring to find a ‘chink of light’, something to make you feel good, about each day – until spring arrives!

We have now passed Imbolc, that midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Celebrated between January 31st and February 2nd it is a time to notice nature’s gentle re-awakening. And, half way through February, those signs are now unmistakeable in the natural world around us. It is believed that the origins of ‘Valentine’s Day’ lie in the ancient Roman Festival of Lupercalia, which celebrated the coming of spring. And across Asia, the 15 day Lunar New Year festival is celebrated around this time of year to say goodbye to the past year and, celebrate the renewal of the season of spring. It is for this reason that I prefer to celebrate this time of year, not with yet another over-priced consumerist ‘festival’ but as the beginning of a new year; the return of lighter days; the earth warming up and celebrating all the things we love about Spring. This, to me is the real start of the new year.

Peppercombe Beach
As it happens, I did swim on the last day of the calendar year, and it was bright and blue and sunny and frosty and I discovered the wonderful, isolated geological site of Peppercombe Beach, in North Devon which is notable for its unique red, sandstone cliffs. Peppercombe Beach is only accessible by walking along the coast path and so, continuing my (new) journey of walking and swimming along the South West Coast Path (Oliver, 2025) we walked from Westward Ho! to Bucks Mills on a cold and frosty 31st December, when the sea and the sky were so blue, you could barely distinguish between the two. The sea was so calm and still and so inviting that I could not resist a swim. And I loved it!

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn’t do
Go to the ends of the Earth for you
To make you feel my love (Bob Dylan 1997)

And while there, I discovered, close by, a poignant little love story: Perched over the sea, in the ancient fishing hamlet of Bucks Mills is a tiny 19th century cabin, that became the studio retreat of artists and poet Judith Ackland and Mary Stella Edwards. They lived there – and swam regularly in the sea there – for over 50 years until Judith died in 1971, at which point Mary Stella then closed the cabin and did not return. Now owned by the National Trust, the interior and its contents remain almost as they left them. You can read more about their lives, work and swimming here

Here I am safe and here my heart is found
(Mary Stella Edwards, 1927)

And so, to all those who I love – and to all those who love me – I say Happy New Year! Let’s celebrate the awakening of Spring!

Photo Credits: Beth Oliver

References
Airo, R.M. & Lehtonen, M. (2023) Can Winter Swimming Improve Mental Well-Being? off.io

Barrett Browning, E. (1850) How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43), in, Sonnets from the Portuguese, Penguin Random House.

Barton, J. & Pretty, J. (2010) What is the Best Dose of Nature and Green Exercise for Improving Mental Health? A Multi-Study Analysis, in Environmental Science and Technology, March 2010, 44, 10, 3947–3955

Chang, M. (2023) Can Winter Swimming Boost Mental Health? , Korea Biomedical Review.

Dylan, B. (1997) Make You Feel My Love, from the album, Time Out Of Mind, Columbia Records

Edwards, M.S.(1927) For J A, 16th November, 1927, The Edwards and Ackland Trust

Oliver, B. (2020) Little By Little, justkeepswimmingbillie.wordpress.com

Oliver, B. (2021) Go With The Flow, justkeepswimmingbillie.Wordpress.com

Oliver, B. (2025) The Long and Winding Road, justkeepswimmingbillie.wordpress.com

70: The Long And Winding Road

The long and winding road
That leads to your door (The Beatles, 1970)

The Way We Were
It has been a long time since I wrote a new post here and I thought I had better get one written before the year ends – just in case you think I am no longer swimming. Never fear, I am still swimming, I just don’t seem to have found the time or the motivation to write about it the way I have done in the past. I’m sure that that is all part of the journey,

This year, 2025, we reached the unbelievably sad milestone of 10 years since the death of my daughter Wendy and that also meant that, in September this year, it was the 10th anniversary of my first ever open-water sea swimming event (see It Started There) and the beginning of this swimming journey “from there to here”.

So much has changed in our lives since that day, in Port Eynon, when I discovered the challenge, the catharthis and the love of swimming in the sea. This blog has been a personal record of that journey as I have explored my grief, the environment, history and health research – all through the metaphor of swimming. And we (the sea and I) have come a long way together in those 10 years. Just as the tide flows in and out and the beach is different every day, so too have I gone with the flow and allowed my plans and ambitions to modify and develop along the way.

The best laid schemes o’ mice and men
When I began this swimming journey in 2015 (see It Started There), it was my intention to ‘swim the South Coast before my 70th Birthday’. Well, as we now know, that milestone came and went a few years ago! (see You Are My Sunshine) and I soon recognised that I had completely over-estimated how much I could achieve in the time I had and that my overly ambitious intention to “swim at every beach along the South Coast before I reached 70″was just that: “overly ambitious!” Rather than feeling defeated, I simply re-adjusted my plans (see Come Out Upon My Seas) and decided that I didn’t need to set any specific end goal or date. All I needed to do was to Just Keep Swimming and see where that took me.

Take a Walk On The Wild Side
This year, I had another of those “re-adjustment”moments. In part, it was because of that poignant 10 year anniversary. Of course it was sad, and we allowed ourselves to feel sad, but I didn’t want it to be only about remembrance, or looking back. I also wanted to be future focused, positive, embracing and celebrating all that we still have. So, since June this year, I have been walking the South West Coast Path, in sections, with my youngest daughter.

Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose (Walt Whitman, 1856)

The path is 630 miles in total, following the coast along mostly steeply up and down terrain, from Minehead in Somerset to Poole in Dorset. We soon learned, after our first section, that, while giving us a challenge to rise to, the enjoyment and satisfaction, for us, was not to be found in the number of miles covered each day, but in what we saw, learned and experienced along the way. And most importantly, for me, this has included the opportunity to swim in some beautiful and hidden locations, accessible only on foot.

And I Would Walk 500 Miles (The Proclaimers, 1988)

The coast path was originally designed as a route for the coastguard to walk along when patrolling for smugglers. They needed to be able to look down into every bay and cove and as a result, the path closely hugs the coast, passing some wonderfully inviting swimming locations. This has opened up to me the tantalising opportunity to increase the number of places I can say I have swum at! So, while I may have abandoned my aspiration to ‘swim the South Coast’ by the time I was 70, I now have the new ambition to swim (as well as walk) my way around the South West peninsular of England before I am 80.

But don’t hold me to it!

Where I have swum this year
I may not have found the time to sit and write about them, but, for the record, these are some of the lovely beaches I discovered and swam in this year:

Barn Pool Beach. A lovely calm location in the heart of Mount Edgcumbe Country Park accessible by a short ferry ride from Plymouth. You can drive there but it’s much more fun on the Cremyll Ferry. We haven’t yet walked that bit of the coast path, so I’ll get another opportunity to swim there (hopefully) some time in the future. (June 2025)

Polly Joke Beach in Cornwall, where we swam close to where a large colony of seals were basking. It’s an unspoilt golden sandy beach reached by a scenic walk along the coastpath. We also swam in the Gannel Estuary that day. (July 2025)

Woody Bay. A rocky cove backed by steep, heavily wooded cliffs on the Exmoor Coast Path and owned by The National Trust. After we had finished our swim and were getting dressed on the beach, we noticed a couple of dolphins playing, just where we had been in the water. (August 2025)

Combe Martin Beach to Newbury Beach. A swim has rarely felt so good as this one did, after walking from Heddon’s Mouth via the highest point on the South West Coast Path (Great Hangman) on a very hot August day. (August 2025)

Watermouth Bay, Thanks to the book Wild Swimming Walks: Exmoor and North Devon (Pierce, 2024) we discovered a path out to the rocky northern arm of the cove, where there is an old set of steps carved into the rocks, and wonderfully clear water. (August 2025)

Hele Bay A lovely, quiet cove (once a haven for smugglers) situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, adjacent to the Hillsborough Nature Reserve and right on the coast path.  The small village of Hele, inland from the beach was listed in the Domesday Book in 1086.  (August 2025)

Rapparee Cove, A lovely quiet cove, once a popular Victorian Bathing Beach, near Ilfracombe, where there is still the remains of a Victorian shelter. (August 2025)

Sandy Cove. Another deserted and hidden gem, just a bit further round the coast path from Lee Bay. Accessed by a flight of very steep steps. (September 2025)

The Mermaid Pool, Baggy Point, Croyde. Another ‘hidden gem’ courtesy of Wild Swimming Walks: Exmoor and North Devon (Pierce, 2024). If we hadn’t found this ‘pool’ we may not have had a swim that day, as the tide was out at Croyde and Saunton Sands. This little lagoon was created by the Hyde family who used to own this land before giving it to the National Trust. (September 2025)

Photo Credits: Beth Oliver

References

Beatles, The (1970) The Long and Winding Road, from the album Let It Be, Apple Records

Burns, R. (1785) To a Mouse, included in Burns, R. (1876) Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, first printed and issued by John Wilson of Kilmarnock July 1786

Oliver, B. (2017) It Started There justkeepswimmingbillie.wordpress.com

Oliver, B. (2022) You Are My Sunshine justkeepswimmingbillie.wordpress.com

Oliver, B. (2023) Come Out Upon My Seas, justkeepswimmingbillie.wordpress.com

Pierce, S. & Newbury, M. (2024) Wild Swimming Walks: Exmoor and North Devon, Wild Things Publishing

Proclaimers, The, (1988) I’m Gonna Be (500 miles), from the album Sunshine On Leith, Chrysalis

Reed, L. (1972) Walk On The Wild Side, from the album Transformer, RCA Victor

Streisand, B. (1973) The Way We Were, from the album The Way We Were, Columbia Records

Whitman, W. (1856) “Song of the Open Road”  from his collection Leaves of Grass. whitmanarchive.org

69: Shades of Blue

Don’t want no other shade of blue – but you (Swift 2020)

During the coldest winter months I tend to spend longer sitting on the beach gazing at the sea, than actually swimming. When the sea temperature is as low as 5 degrees celsius (which it is at the moment) I only attempt a swim of between 300 and 400 metres, and I don’t stay in the water longer than 10 minutes. Also, I pause my ‘swimming tour’ of the South Coast and swim, almost exclusively, at my local beach, in Clevedon. One of the great joys, however, about swimming in the sea at this time of year is that the beach is invariably quiet and I am able to sit – for far longer than I have swum – looking at the sea, observing its day-to-day changes and listening to the relaxing sound of the waves lapping on to the pebbles. Every day is different and every tide is different – both in sights and sound.

My soul is full of longing for the secret of the sea,
and the heart of the great ocean sends a thrilling pulse through me. (Longfellow, 1850)

For many years now, when I arrive at the beach – and before I swim – I have been taking a photograph of the same scene – the view of the sea and of our beautiful Victorian Pier. I like to collate them into monthly collages (see above) that illustrate the different shades of grey, blue and, because this is an estuary, brown, that present themselves to us throughout the year. Sometimes I also capture the orange or pink of a sunrise or sunset, depending on what time of day I have swum.

In my blog post ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow, in February 2020, I wrote about the art installation at Folkestone, by the artist Spencer Finch. In a similarly contemplative way to me, he had spent a year observing the changing tone and colour of the sea. He collated all the tones that he collected into a permanent, interactive, installation – a ‘colour wheel’ of 100 variants of sea colour. which passers-by can match to the current conditions.

Forel-Ule scale
Recorded observations of the water colour date back to the late 19th century, when the Forel-Ule scale was created. This scale is composed of 21 colours, going from indigo blue to ‘cola’ brown, through blue-green, green, and yellow and is the system used, in oceanography, to classify the colours of the sea. The sea changes colour due to clouds, the sun’s position in the sky, reflection, algae and weather conditions and the scale provides a method of visually estimating the colour of the water which helps to measure the water’s transparency and to try to classify its biological activity, dissolved substances, and suspended sediments. Tracking water colour is currently an important part of the analysis of climate change, since the colour of the sea is partly determined by phytoplankton, an abundance of which implies a change in the uptake of CO₂ (Wernand, 2015).

Another colour scale that has become quite topical this winter is that used by the UK Meteorological Office to illustrate the temperature. The colours most used, generally range from the blues illustrating freezing temperatures, to the oranges and reds of around 25 °C and above. A light blue is used for temperatures near freezing, and the shade of blue becomes progressively darker the colder it becomes. This year, so far, has been a notably ‘shades of blue’ year!

Eyes Wide Open

With My Eyes Wide Open, I’m Dreaming (Natalie Cole, 1999)

I have made reference in many of my previous blog posts to the concept of the ‘Blue Mind’ (Nichols, 2015) and to the therapeutic benefits of ‘Blue Spaces’ (Britton et al, 2020). There is now, a strong body of evidence, showing that spending time in blue spaces can lower the risk of stress and anxiety (Adkins & Latham, 2022). In fact, blue spaces are now recognised as being so good for your health that they can be ‘socially prescribed’ by your doctor and according to one researcher, spending time in blue spaces “can feel like returning home” (Campbell, 2022)

Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic (Van Morrison, 1970)

In my last blog (Lovely Day) I wrote about the Dutch concept of Niksen – the art of doing nothing and described how much I enjoy sitting, after a swim, with a cup of hot chocolate in my hands, just staring at the sea, listening to the waves lapping the pebbles and thinking of nothing in particular. Since writing that piece, I have read about the practice of meditating ‘with your eyes wide open’, which has apparently, recently, become very popular in California (Cohen, 2024), but which I think probably amounts to much the same thing as Niksen.

The intention of ‘open-eye meditation’, apparently, is to ‘shatter the myth that meditation is about long stretches of stillness and silence” and to encourage the idea that “actually you can meditate pretty much anywhere — walking through the park and listening to birdsong, for instance”(Penman, 2024). This, more or less, describes what I and others I swim with, do most days at the beach.

An important aspect of swimming in the sea, for me, is sitting, after a swim, gazing at the sea, listening to its sounds, watching the wild life (and sometimes other objects) drift past. I have observed that it is the same for friends and acquaintances I swim with. We sit facing the sea, rather than facing each other. We might chat about inconsequential matters, or we might fall into companionable silence. It is the sea that draws us and holds us together. And it is very often, the sea, that we talk about. The sounds, the scents, the movement and the changing shades of the sea. Who would want to close their eyes on that?

Like it was written in my soul, from me to you
Tangled up in blue (Dylan, 1975)

i

References

Adkins, F.& Latham, K. (2022) The surprising benefits of blue spaces, Future Planet, BBC

Britton et al (2020) Blue care: a systematic review of blue space interventions for health and wellbeing, Health Promotion International, 2020:35, 50-69

Campbell, K. (2022) in Adkins, F.& Latham, K. (2022) The surprising benefits of blue spaces, Future Planet, BBC

Cohen, C. (2024) I tried Gwyneth Paltrow’s new eyes-open meditation app, The Times

Cole, N. (1999) With My Eyes Wide Open I’m Dreaming, on the album Snowfall On The Sahara, Elektra Records

Dylan, B. (1975)n Tangled Up In Blue, on the album Blood On The Tracks, Columbia

Longfellow, H. W. (1850) The Secret of the Sea, in The Seaside and the Fireside, Metcalf & Company

Morrison, V. (1970) Into The Mystic, on the album Moondance, Warner Bros

Nichols, W.J. (2015) Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected and Better at What You Do, Back Bay Books

Oliver, B. (2020) Somewhere Over The Rainbow, wordpress.com

Oliver, B. (2024) Lovely Day, wordpress.com

Penman, D. (2024) in Cohen, C. (2024) I tried Gwyneth Paltrow’s new eyes-open meditation app, The Times

Swift, T. (2020) Hoax, on the album Folklore, Republic

Wernand, M. (2015) Oceans of Colour: Connecting Past and Present, Hydro-International.com

68: Lovely Day

Then I look at you
And the world’s alright with me
Just one look at you
And I know it’s gonna be
A lovely day
(Bill Withers, 1977)

This week I experienced my first episode of ‘winter blues’. A week after we turned our clocks back, marking the end of British Summer Time, the day suddenly seemed dull, dark, lifeless and grey. The afternoon seemed barely to exist, before, far too soon, the gloom of evening began. I am no fan of this time of year, as I have probably told you before!

Fortunately, this onset of gloom coincided with the return of a week of early morning high tides at Clevedon. And, while the still and settled weather has been unable to shift the clouds, it has resulted in a week of the most exquisitely calm tides. Getting up, at first light, and going swimming, has been my motivation to keep searching for those chinks of light and hope and energy. And it has also given me an opportunity to illustrate some new (to me) words I have learned, recently and which seem to sum up the feelings and the benefit I get from an early morning swim in the sea.

Anhedonia
Anhedonia describes those times when we are, as described by Tanith Carey, ‘feeling blah’ (Carey, 2023) – something that I can identify with at this time of year. In cases of depression, Anhedonia describes an inability to feel enjoyment or pleasure. Anhedonia is also used to describe a loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed. According to Psychology Today, people struggling with anhedonia feel unmotivated to seek out enjoyable activities, like seeing friends or going for a walk, and then they don’t enjoy them even if they do manage to do them. It is not yet fully understood what causes anhedonia, but it is thought it may be linked to changes in dopamine production in the brain. Tanith Carey, acknowledges that flat emotions are not necessarily a sign that someone is experiencing depression, but points out that it can be a precursor to it and in her book “Feeling Blah” she provides some well researched strategies to help you ‘bring colour back into your life’.

Annalisa Barbieri (2024) has also written a very interesting article exploring current research around anhedonia. It is too long for me to summarise everything in it, so I recommend you read it. But one of her key (for me) conclusions is that ‘there are three key things’ we need to do in order to protect ourselves from anhedonia: “go outside and be in nature, especially nature that is awe-inspiring and makes you feel small; do some physical exercise; and spend time with other people (who make you feel good)“. All of which sounds, to me, like a perfect prescription for an early morning sea swim!
But read on! There’s more!

Morning Has Broken (Cat Stevens, 1971)

Gökotta
A recent, large scale, study has shown that people who are ‘naturally early risers’ are less likely to develop mental health problems than ‘night owls’ (Devlin, 2019). This could be why Gökotta, the Swedish practice of fresh air at dawn (pronounced djuh-koo-taa) has become a recent focus for those interested in well being. There are two equally powerful aspects to the concept of gökotta. The first involves waking up early and experiencing that part of the day that very few people tend to see. The second aspect is the wonder that is found in nature, and particularly in birdsong. “At dawn, you are not alone. You are part of the great abundance of life that sees joy in the early hours” (Thomson, 2023). That moment of sitting and listening, lost in the birdsong – or the sound of the sea, gently lapping against the pebbles – is what gökotta is about.

Gökotta is not about rising early in order to achieve hundreds of things before most people have even switched off their alarms. Instead the focus is on mindfulness, and finding a sense of calm. ‘It is about simply being, having a moment of stillness and peace before the necessary productivity of the day begins. (Björkman, 2023)

What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare (W H Davies, 1911)

Niksen
Niksen is the Dutch concept of doing nothing. In her book Niksen: Embracing the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing, Olga Mecking (2020) defines it as “doing nothing without a purpose“. Whereas mindfulness is about being present in the moment, niksen is more about carving out time to just be, and letting your mind wander wherever it wants to go. According to Dickinson (2023) there are no hard-and-fast rules about how ‘to niksen‘ – you just need to be idle for a time without trying to be productive or fulfill a purpose. Staring out the window and watching birds flit around counts, as does having a pleasant daydream as you sit listening to music, or sitting in a cafe and watching people pass by. It’s any “unguarded moment of having nothing to do and not finding something new to do.”

For me, there are very few moments to compare with the peace and inner happiness of sitting, after a swim, with a cup of hot chocolate in my hands, just staring at the sea, listening to the waves lapping the pebbles and thinking of nothing in particular. And it is easier to achieve this, I find, first thing in the morning, when the beach is quiet and empty and the demands of the day have not started calling.

Just one look at you
And I know it’s gonna be
A lovely day
(Bill Withers, 1977)

Querencia
Querencia describes a place where you feel safe, happy, and from which you draw strength.You can also feel querencia in doing something you like and when you feel in the flow state (Oliver, 2021). The term comes from the Spanish verb “querer,” which means to want, to desire, and to love.

I don’t think I need to say any more about where I experience querencia – but it is important to me to go there when I am feeling blah and when I want to do some niksen.

Wake up you sleepy head
get up get up get out of bed
(Smith, 1926)

So there you have it! If you are reading this while you are still in bed and if you are feeling a bit blah, then get up, and get outside. An early morning swim in the sea might not be your thing (you don’t know what you’re missing, by the way), but just go outside and be in nature. Listen to the birds sing. Stare into space. Find the loveliness that this day has to offer. You won’t get this day again.

Post Script: Lovely Day
There is a lovely music documentary series on BBC Radio 4 called Soul Music, which aims to focus on the emotional impact of famous pieces of music. Each episode features a montage of interviews with people who have a personal story connected to the featured piece of music. Recently the featured piece of music was Lovely Day by Bill Withers (1977), the lyrics of which offer hope and solace to many people. It is a moving episode and you can listen to it here

References

Barbieri, L. (2024) I’m like a steamrollered cartoon character: totally flat’: the agony aunt who couldn’t feel anything at all, in The Guardian 17th August 2024

Björkman, C. (2023), in Lister, M. (2023) Gökotta is the latest Scandinavian wellness trend to try this summer, Women’s Health Magazine

Carey, T. (2023) Feeling ‘Blah’?: Why Life Feels Joyless and How to Recapture Its Highs. Headline Publishing Group

Davies, W H (1911) Leisure, Songs Of Joy and Others, published in 1911 by A. C. Fifield 

Devlin, H. (2019) Early risers ‘less likely to develop mental health problems’, in The Guardian, January 2019

Dickinson, K. (2023) Ease productivity overload with “niksen,” the Dutch art of doing nothing, The Learning Curve, February 2023

Mecking, O. (2020) Niksen: Embracing the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing, Piatkus

Mecking, O. (2023) The Dutch solution to busyness that captivated the world, BBC World

Oliver, B. (2021) Go With The Flow, justkeepswimmingbillie.wordpress.com

Smith, J. (1926) When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob-bob-bobbin’ Along, from the album Me and my Shadow, Orchard Enterprises

Stevens, C. (1971) Morning Has Broken from the album Teaser and the Firecat, Island Label

Thomson, J. (2023) Gökotta: How to experience nature the Swedish way, NeuroPsch, April 14th 2023

Withers, B. (1977) Lovely Day, on the album Menagerie , Columbia

67: We and They

Father, Mother, and Me, Sister and Auntie say,
All the people like us are We,
And everyone else is They.
And They live over the sea, while We live over the way,
But – would you believe it? –
They look upon We as only a sort of They! (Kipling, 1926)

Last week I took part in the Fowey Harbour Swim, an annual, local, community event in aid of the RNLI Fowey Lifeboat. Having read Waterlog (Deakin, 1999) I had imagined that we would be swimming across the estuary to Polruan, as Roger Deakin (1999) described. It was only about a week before the swim that I realised we would not, after all, be crossing the river, but remaining on the Fowey side – and that Deakin had, in fact, broken the rules, making an illicit trip across and back!

Due to the tidal flow and the busy boat and ship traffic, swimming in Fowey Harbour is prohibited outside of the designated swimming area and this restriction is strictly enforced by the coast guard. The annual swim, therefore, supported by the Harbour Master, is an opportunity not to be missed. This year, almost 150 swimmers weaved our way through the little, moored boats and swam from the Fowey Harbour steps to Readymoney Cove – and back – on a warm, calm and sunny, September Sunday afternoon. We were greeted at the end with an array of fabulous cakes, buns and biscuits provided by a local bakery. What a fantastic way to greet the start of September!

Us and them
And after all
We’re only ordinary men, Me and you. (Pink Floyd 1973)

Them across the water
Writing in 1999, Roger Deakin (1999:150) maintained that the people of Fowey refer to Polruan (the village on the other side of the estuary) as “a Socialist Republic“. Whether or not, 25 years later, this is still the case, it is a fact that during the English Civil War (1642 to 1651) these two villages, separated by the River Fowey, in Cornwall, were on opposing sides: Fowey was Parliamentarian and Polruan was held by the Royalists. In 1644 a famous battle took place at Lostwithiel, at the mouth of the river where the Royalist army defeated the Parliamentarians. A recent article in the local newspaper (Letcher, 2021) suggests that there may still be hints of this sense of ‘othering‘ (Oliver, 2006:9) between the two villages, with one person referring to “the sunny side and the money side” and another claiming that it feels busier “over there when we tend to go over“

This sense of ‘othering’ or difference or being ‘not like us’ is not uncommon between neighbouring communities – especially those divided by a strip of water. It is also not uncommon within and between community groups, especially when newcomers or “incomers” attempt to join an already established group. And this phenomenon has become especially noticeable, recently, within groups who swim outdoors.

Invasion
In swimming communities around the country – including the one that I swim with, in Clevedon – there has been an observable disquiet amongst swimmers who have been swimming locally all their lives. This disquiet seems to be about a perceived ‘invasion’ of new enthusiasts ‘taking over’ what they feel to be ‘their space’. Writing in 2020, in Dublin, O’Connell observed a “consternation” over an “influx of undesirable newcomers“, and “mutterings” that the beach is “littered with the new arrivals”. This ‘consternation’ is by no means limited to Dublin. I have observed it being commented upon in social media groups around the country, as well as locally, where I swim.

This perception of ‘invasion’ and of ‘others’ in ‘our space’ seems to have become more pronounced since the coronavirus pandemic, when the interest in outdoor swimming exploded, driven by the closure of indoor pools and other venues and the requirement to exercise outdoors.

From Scotland to Cornwall, people have been taking to the seas, lakes, lochs and rivers in greater numbers than ever before. (Lemmin-Woolfrey, 2021)

Building Bridges Over Troubled Waters
A certain amount of defensiveness or suspicion is inevitable when established communities feel confronted by large numbers of new people who look, sound or dress differently to them. In these contexts, it is important, I believe, to find ways of bringing people together, in shared spaces, in ways that enable recognition of how much we have in common, encouraging dialogue and conversation and building community networks.

In my experience the fun, local, community, non-competitive events that I have taken part in – like the Fowey Harbour Swim – do just that. They bring people together, from all sorts of backgrounds and levels of ability in a shared space around a shared interest and offer an opportunity to meet and get to know people we wouldn’t normally encounter, or speak to. There is always lots of laughter, lots of encouragement, lots of congratulation, lots of conversation about the swim and the sea. At these events, I have never seen any animosity, disagreement or ‘consternation’. Every one is on the same side, the same team: we are swimming enthusiasts; we are sea lovers.

I have no idea how many of the swimmers had come over from Polruan to swim at Fowey. I hope there were a few. People I spoke to had come from across Devon, Cornwall – and beyond. And no matter how fast or how slow we swam, and regardless of the route we took – we all got a medal (and a cake).

“Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.”
(Hinton, 1967)

Local Details
The 1.5 km Fowey Harbour Swim to Readymoney Cove
In aid of RNLI (Fowey)
Post-Swim buns, cakes and biscuits provided by Quay Bakery
We ate in Brown Sugar Cafe

References

Deakin, R. (1999) Waterlog, Chatto & Windus
Gray, R. (2023) The Rise of UK Wild Swimming in 2023, wildopenwater.com
Hinton, S.E. (1967) The Outsiders, Viking Press
Kipling, R. (1926) First published in Debits and Credits (1926), following the story “A Friend of the Family.”
Lemon-Woolfrey, U. (2021) Why wild swimming is Britain’s new craze, bbc.com, 4th June 2021
Letcher, L. (2021) Life in the coastal village of Polruan – Fowey’s ‘cousin across the water’, Cornwall Live, 24th May2021
O’Connell, J. (2020) Dryrobe culture wars a symbol of change, The Irish Times, 21st November 2020
Oliver, B. (2009) Identity and Change: Youth Working in Transition, in Youth & Policy, number 93, Autumn 2006
Waters, R & Wright, R. (1973) Us and Them, from the album The Dark Side of the Moon. Harvest Label

66: Harry’s Game

I will go to the east and to the west
where the moon and the sun
always came. (Clannad, 1982)

So far this year, 2024 has not been a good year for swimming. In the UK we have had a long, wet and cool winter and spring. Furthermore, it has been very windy for much of the year. Not only does the wind cool the air and surface temperature of the sea, but it also tends to cause the sea, where I swim, to be rough (or, as we like to say in swimming circles – ‘a bit bouncy’). And, despite reports in the news that ‘the world’s oceans have been suffering from a record-breaking year of heat’ (McGrath et al, 2024), the swimming community I swim with tend to agree that the sea (in Clevedon at least) seems to have taken longer, this year, to warm up – and it is still not as warm as it should be for late July. As if all that wasn’t enough, all the heavy rain we have had this spring caused a major landslip that has closed the little bay we traditionally swim from (and to) when we start to extend our swims at the start of summer.

The rain rain rain came down down down,  In rushing rising riv’lets, (Disney, 1968)

It has been a hard job staying motivated to keep swimming this winter and spring and I was very glad that I hadn’t booked myself onto any swimming events in June.

Old Harry Rocks
However, (and fear not), the swimming has continued – and last week, I took part in my first swimming event of the year: a 2 kilometre swim from Monkey Beach to Burlington Chine, in Swanage Bay. The following day, I had the amazing opportunity to swim around and through the rock stacks off the coast of Swanage, called Old Harry Rocks. Old Harry Rocks, is made up of several stacks, caves and arches at Handfast Point that includes the stack of Old Harry, The Foreland Caves (known as No Mans Land) and the gap of St Lucas’ Leap.

The chalk rocks on this headland were formed 65 million years ago and are on the eastern point of the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.(Royal Geographical Society). Thousands of years ago, this part of the coast used to be joined to the Isle of Wight and the chalk rock stacks on the Island, known as The Needles, are what remains of this join, on that side (Davidson, 2022).

With the rise of water after the last Ice Age the sea took its toll on the chalk cliffs and over the years, the land separated. The action of the sea caused caves to form at the base of the headland, which over time expanded and hollowed out until they became arches. When further erosion made an arch unstable, the top collapsed, leaving behind a stack. Around Old Harry are caves, arches and stacks – and we swam through and around them all.

There are several different accounts as to why this rock formation is called Old Harry Rocks (The Dorset Rambler, 2017). One legend claims that the Devil (traditionally known euphemistically as “Old Harry”) used to sleep on the rocks there. Another local story says that the rocks were named after the infamous Poole pirate, Harry Paye, whose ship hid behind the rocks waiting for passing cargo ships to plunder. And a further tale has it that a ninth-century Viking raid was thwarted by a storm and that one of the men on board, Earl Harold, was turned into a pillar of chalk!  

Whichever legend you choose to believe, only one of the rocks is actually called Old Harry, and that is the single stack furthest out to sea. Old Harry used to have a wife, another stack nearby, but this stack was eroded, until in recent years the bottom was so weak that the top fell away, leaving only a stump. There is an amusing little, educational song and video about the Old Harry, his wife and how they were formed which helps to explain some of the geology! You can watch The Old Harry Song here

Between the devil and the deep blue sea

As we have noted, Old Harry is a traditional nickname for the Devil and it is also claimed that the phrase ‘between the devil and the deep blue sea’ is associated with the rock formations on this chalky headland (Walsh, 2022).

The phrase, ‘between the devil and the deep blue sea‘ and those like it, such as ‘between a rock and a hard place‘, ‘the lesser of two evils’, ‘Harry’s Game‘, and ‘better the devil you know‘ describe a situation where there are only two options available, both of which are undesirable, immoral or unpleasant in some way. The limited choice between these can be challenging, as both may have negative consequences and it can feel as though the only choice is to select the option that will result in the least harm or damage. When faced with some of todays difficult scenarios raised by climate change, or complex global political or financial issues, it can sometimes feel as though we are forced to choose ‘between the devil and the deep blue sea’. However, if you do find yourself confronted by such a moral dilemma it is worth taking note of the observation by Hannah Arendt (1964) that ‘those who choose the lesser evil forget very quickly that they still chose evil’!

That I would be good even if I did nothing
That I would be good even if I got the thumbs down (Alanis Morrissette, 1998)

Luckily for me, on this occasion, I was not confronted with a choice. Instead I was offered both Old Harry AND the deep blue sea. And what a fabulous opportunity it was. To explore this ancient headland, at sea level, and to witness, up close, the historical and geological impact of tide and time was a magical experience I won’t forget.

Photo Credit: Beth Oliver

Local Details
The 2km ‘challenge swim’ from Monkey Beach
and the Guided Swim around Old Harry Rocks were organised by The Wild Swimming Company
We ate in many lovely local places in Swanage including
Love Cake Cafe
and
The Salt Pig Too
and
The Grand Hotel

References

Arendt, H. (1964) Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship, in The Montreal Review, 2003.

Clannad (1982) Harry’s Game, from the album Magical Ring, RCA

Davidson, L. (2022) Old Harry Rocks; History and Facts, Historyhit.com

Disney, W. (1968) The Rain, Rain, Rain, Came Down, Down, Down, from Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Walt Disney Films.

The Dorset Rambler (2017)

McGrath, M., Poynting, M & Rowlatt, J. (2024) Climate change: World’s oceans suffer from record-breaking year of heat, bbc.co.uk, 8th May 2024

Morissette, A. (1998) That I would be good, from the album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, Maverick

Royal Geographical Society, Old Harry Rocks RGS.org

Walsh, R. (2022) Old Harry Rocks: A Devilish Landmark, Geographical Magazine

65: There’s a Break In The Rain

 

There’s a break in the rain
I’m gonna go outside
Stand in the sunshine for a while …
And may my love travel with you everywhere (Petty, T. 2020)

In South West England, where I live, The Christmas and New Year holiday week was notable for the relentless wind and the rain – and I believe this was the same for much of the rest of the country. Fields and homes were flooded, trees were uprooted and the sea battered away at the coast. We thought it would never stop raining.

And for much of the time it didn’t. But, when it did … oh what joy! We could get outside. We could go for a walk. We could go for a swim. Those little dry interludes were to be treasured. – And I’m happy to report that over the New Year holiday we found, not just one, but two breaks from the rain! It was a surprise, and not what the weather people had forecast, but we grabbed it gratefully and went outside … and of course we went swimming!

The boats, the sands, the esplanade,
The laughing crowd;
Light-hearted, loud
Greetings from some not ill-endowed; (Thomas Hardy, 1869)

Weymouth and Sea Bathing

It has become a family tradition, in recent years, for us to all go away together for the New Year holiday. We enjoy family time, exploring and learning about new places, getting outdoors and ‘blowing away the cobwebs’ of the ‘old year’ and remembering those who we love and who are important to us. Our destinations of choice are inevitably a ‘seaside’ location in order that we can welcome the New Year with a swim. This year, that destination was Weymouth.

The water of this fine Bay is quite pure, of a beautiful colour, and perfectly clear and transparent. … The Bay is so well sheltered by nature, that for tranquillity it surpasses what I have ever seen. (Dr. J Crane, 1795)

Weymouth was the home town of Dr Crane, author of “Cursory Observations on Sea-Bathing” (1795) about whom I have written elsewhere (Oliver, 2021). Dr Crane was an early advocate of the benefits of sea bathing as a cure for a wide variety of ailments and it was he, who was quick to recommend, in 1789, that his home town of Weymouth would be the best place for King George III to convalesce.  King George III suffered from a recurrent, and eventually permanent, mental illness. It has been suggested that he had the blood disease, porphyria, but the cause of his illness remains unknown. His physicians, including Dr Crane, extolled the virtues of sea water to aid his recovery and recuperation from these episodes. The King enjoyed his time, swimming and walking, in Weymouth so much that he went there regularly – and so Weymouth secured its place amongst the most popular seaside resorts of the time – and Sea Bathing, as a treatment was given the Royal stamp of approval.

Weymouth … has been much frequented for its commodious Sea-Bathing, which it furnishes, in a manner superior to any other in the Kingdom…I do not wonder at its being the Resort of many people of the first Distinction. (Feltham, J. 1815)

The King and his family bathed in the sea – at six o’clock – every morning whenever they visited Weymouth. I’m not going to draw any concluding correlation here – but – despite his illness, at the time of his death, aged 81, he was the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, having reigned for 59 years and 96 days; and he remains the longest-lived and longest-reigning male monarch in British history. – just saying!

Here Comes January

And so, yes, we – being people of ‘first distinction’ – also spent New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in Weymouth. And on both days we woke up to a break in the rain. Being a sea swimmer in the UK teaches you to be spontaneous, to not procrastinate and to not make plans that can’t be easily changed. The tides and the weather are the ones in charge of your itinerary. You just need to be attentive to what they have in mind for you.

And so we grabbed those happy opportunities and we went swimming. And it felt wonderful, as it always does. The regular Weymouth Bay Sea Swimmers, who swim there every day, were an invaluable source of knowledge and we were grateful to swim with some of them at Greenhill Beach and to welcome the incoming year in the best way possible.

And apart from the swimming, the best thing about January, for me, is to observe the hours of daylight becoming longer. It already feels tangible to me, and so, even though, at the time of writing, the rain has been replaced with freezing weather and the threat of snow, I am endeavouring, each day, to find positive examples of the changing of the season and am trying to notice all the gradual signs of the brighter times ahead.

By January 31st there will be 1 hour and 15 minutes more daylight than on December 31st. That’s something to celebrate and to hold on to. It won’t be dark for ever. It won’t be cold forever. It won’t rain for ever. Sunny days will return. Hold on (and just keep swimming).

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; (Longfellow, 1842)

Photo Credit: Beth Oliver

Local Details

Greenhill Beach, Weymouth
Sea temperature : 10 degrees Celsius
I swam 300 metres
I was in the water for 10 minutes
We warmed up at The Lookout Cafe

References

Crane, Dr. J. (1795) Cursory Observations on Sea Bathing   Delamotte’s Library,

Feltham, J. (1815) ‘Guide to all the watering and sea-bathing places, : with a description of the lakes, a sketch of a tour in Wales, and various itineraries, illustrated with maps and views‘, printed for Richard Phillips.

Hardy T. (1869) At A Seaside Town in 1869, from an old note, The Thomas Hardy Society

Longfellow, H. W. (1842) The Rainy Day, in Ballads and Other Poems 1842, Cambridge

Oliver, B. (2021) Cold Water Swimming For Well-Being, in Journal Of Public Mental Health, Volume 20, No. 2, pp. 105-110

Petty, T. (2020) There’s a Break In The Rain (Have Love, Will Travel) on the album Wildflowers And All The Rest, Home Recording.

64: Bend Me, Shape Me

Bend me, shape me, anyway you want me
You got the power to turn on the light (Amen Corner, 1968)

Last month I finally succumbed to the Covid19 virus! I was very disappointed because I have always been so careful and I couldn’t think where I might have caught it. I also felt disappointed to realise I was not, after all, ‘super human’ with an inviolable immune system. However, I was even more disappointed that I had to miss the last opportunities to swim in the glorious late October sunshine and the calm, inviting tides. I felt miserable, knowing that by the time I was able to get back in the water, it would be November and the weather and the water would be a lot less welcoming. This is a crucial time of year for the all year round open water swimmer. The days are getting shorter and darker, the weather tends, increasingly, towards the wet and windy – but more crucially still, we are aware that as each week passes, the temperature of the water is dropping by a degree. Winter swimming is a psychological challenge. If you don’t keep getting in, it just becomes more difficult. And I wasn’t able to get in!

Just Keep Learning

I spent my time, while not swimming, catching up on reading and listening to radio podcasts – and I am happy to report that I learned some things about the health benefits of swimming that I had not previously known. I already knew that swimming was an excellent form of exercise that works the whole body, builds strength and lowers blood pressure. There have been numerous studies (Paulling, 2019) that prove how good swimming can be for all age groups and how it can help with a number of different physical and mental health conditions. There have also been an increasing number of studies that show the health benefits of swimming in cold water (Oliver, 2021) and I have referenced many of these in previous blog posts. I thought I was fairly up to date on all the research about the health benefits of swimming, However, I found out something new and interesting (to me). It turns out swimming has also been shown to be good for improving the ‘elasticity’ of your blood vessels in a way that no other exercise can.

and your heart is like an ocean
Mysterious and dark (Bob Dylan, 1976)

Suppleness, Stamina and Strength

Dr. Michael Mosley has a regular podcast on BBC Radio 4 called ‘Just One Thing‘. He has also published a book by the same name that brings together many of his findings about ways in which you can impact your mental and physical wellbeing by introducing simple changes to your daily life. One of these podcasts (September 2023) was about “the unique benefits of going for a swim”. In it he interviews Professor Hirofumi Tanaka, from the University of Texas, who explains why water-based exercises like swimming are especially good for improving the elasticity of your blood vessels, in a way that land-based exercises are not! I had always known that swimming is an excellent exercise for building suppleness, stamina and strength in the muscles, joints and lungs. Now it turns out swimming can also build suppleness in our arteries.

According to Tanaka’s research swimming ‘decreases arterial stiffness’, a risk factor for heart trouble. As Tanaka points out, cardio-vascular disease is a disease of the arteries, not of the heart. The function of our arteries is to ‘cushion and buffer’ the cardiac pulsations, but as we get older our arteries become stiff, and this can lead to damage in our crucial organs that are no longer ‘cushioned and buffered’. In his research, Tanaka found that regular swimming was ‘highly effective’ in reducing stiffness in the arteries and the consequent stress on the organs. He also found that swimming was more beneficial than walking, cycling or running for keeping the arteries supple.

There’s Something In The Water

Tanaka admits that ‘no one knows why’ exercising in water should have this effect, but he has done comparison studies using ‘cycling in water’ and ‘Nordic walking in water’ and found that also to be more beneficial in reducing vascular stiffness than when cycling or walking on land or in the gym! It is ‘something to do with being in water’ he says.

And another, fabulous finding from Tanaka’s research is that swimming seems to also be ‘better for the brain’ than other forms of (upright) exercise, or as Tanaka puts it ” water immersion increases cognitive function”. He hypothesises that this is due to the blood flow to the brain being increased because the exercise is done in a ‘supine position’! So, when swimming, we are exercising and increasing the flexibility of just about every part of our bodies. No wonder I feel so good after a swim! Thank goodness for Professor Tanaka and his interesting research. Yet more reasons to Just Keep Swimming!

Let it come
Let it rain
Rain all over me
Like the tide, let it flow
Let it wash all over me (Madonna, 2015)

It’s Not Winter Yet

I am also happy to report that I am, now, fully recovered from my encounter with Covid19 and, as October became November, I have been able to get back into the sea and enjoy some lovely late autumn swims. Despite my anxiety, the ‘getting back in’ was no where near as challenging as I had imagined it would be and I found the temperature of the water is still relatively comfortable.

There is no doubt that we are heading towards colder weather and cooler seas, but (at the time of writing) it doesn’t feel that winter has arrived yet – and, standing in the sunshine after my swim today, the sun still felt warm on my back. I was grateful for that and grateful for the joyous company of the friends I swam with and chatted to. And I was happy to know that I was also increasing the elasticity of my arteries, of my brain and of my muscles and joints!

The 5 ways to Well Being (New Economics Foundation, 2008) are Be Active, Keep Learning, Connect with Others, Pay attention to the Moment, Be Grateful and Kind – and Just Keep Swimming.

November 5th 2023 – Sea Temperature 10 degrees

References

Aked, J., Marks, N., Cordon, C., & Thompson, S. (2008) Five Ways To Wellbeing, New Economics Foundation

Amen Corner (1968) Bend Me Shape Me, from the album Round Amen Corner, Dream Records

Dylan, B (1976) One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below), from the album Desire, Columbia Records.

Heid, M. (2017) Why Swimming Is So Good For You, TIME Magazine, March 2nd 2017

Marcin, A. (2017) What Are The Top 12 Benefits of Swimming, Healthline.com

Madonna (2015) Wash All Over Me, from the album Rebel Heart, Maverick

Moseley, M. (2023) Just One Thing, BBC Radio 4
Moseley, M. (2023) Just One Thing, Octopus Publishing Group

Oliver, B. (2021), “Cold water swimming for well-being“, Journal of Public Mental Health, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 105-110. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-02-2021-0027

Paulling, D, (2019) ‘Why Swimming Might Be The Best Form Of Exercise You Can Do‘, USMS.org

63: Here Comes The Rain Again

.

Here comes the rain again
Falling on my head like a memory
Falling on my head like a new emotion
I want to walk in the open wind
I want to talk like lovers do
Want to dive into your ocean
Is it raining with you? (Eurythmics, 1983)

This was supposed to be a blog post about a swim around Burgh Island; it was supposed to be a blog about my last swimming event of the season, the culmination of the summer and the turn towards a different kind of outdoor swimming as the water starts to cool. I had it all prepared in my head.

But then the rain came! And not just any sort of rain. This was “a month’s worth of rain …in just a couple of hours” (Marsden & Stone, 2023). As well as the rain there was thunder and lightning accompanied by strong winds and heavy sea swell. And so, the event, that I had been so looking forward to – to swim round Burgh Island, in South Devon – was cancelled (or more correctly, postponed until next year).

The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy! (Robert Burns, 1785)

It had all been going so well. After a rather cool and disappointing August, we had been enjoying a September heatwave. For 2 weeks, it had been the sort of summer we dream of: hot and sunny, with glorious sunrises and sunsets, calm tides and warm sea. I had been able to complete some fabulous, long, sea swims, every day for 2 weeks and was looking forward to a weekend away – of swimming and walking – in that beautiful part of South Devon.

Burgh Island

The small, tidal, Burgh Island is on the coast of South Devon, opposite the seaside village of Bigbury on Sea. The island is only accessible on foot at low tide, by a strip of sand, which at high tide is completely covered, leaving a ride on the famous sea tractor – or a swim in the sea – as the only means of access.

The island is strongly associated with Agatha Christie, who often visited and who used it – and its art-deco inspired Hotel – as a setting and inspiration for two of her well known novels: “And Then There Were None” (1939) and “Evil Under The Sun“(1941).

“The Queen of Crime”, as Agatha Christie is known, “was also a queen of the brine and both an avid wild swimmer (back in the halcyon days when it was just known as swimming) and one of the first westerners to master stand-up surfing” (Newbury, 2021). Agatha Christie is linked with a passion for sea swimming as much as she is famous as an author of crime fiction. Photographs of her in the sea and in her bathing costumes radiate with the sort of joy commonly seen on the faces of cold water swimmers emerging from the sea today – including mine.

I like sunshine, apples, going to the sea, bathing and swimming … (Agatha Christie, 1977)

Lets Make The Best Of It

Cancellation (or postponement) of swimming events is a regular, and not unexpected, hazard given the vagaries of the British weather, but (apart from the ‘year of Covid’) this was the first time it had happened to me. I have swum in events where the sea conditions have been difficult and challenging (see I Cried Me A River and Stormy Waters) and so I understand that the forecast has to be very challenging – and unsafe for the support crew – for an event to be called off. I understand all of that. And I understand how disappointing it is for the organisers, and for the charities that they support, as well as for all the swimmers. I also understand that many people who live and work in that part of Devon were much more badly affected, through flooding and storm damage, than I was. But I was very disappointed nontheless.

When plans go up in smoke
Don’t sit around and mope
Find somewhere else to go
(Divine Comedy, 2019)

We had booked and planned for a family weekend away and we still had the accommodation booked, so we did try to make the best of it. It wasn’t ideal, by any stretch of the imagination, and instead of swimming around Burgh Island, we walked around it – in the rain and the wind – and looking down at the sea crashing on to the rocks below, I felt quite glad that I wasn’t going to swim around it that weekend after all.

In my opinion, you cannot visit the seaside and not go in the sea! And so, despite the weather, after walking around the island, we all (including my daughters and my two grandchildren) left our damp clothes on the rocks and ran into the sea at Bigbury-on-sea, and swam in the rain. It was such fun and brought smiles and laughter to all our faces – even though it wasn’t quite the beach weekend we had planned. Putting our damp clothes back on again afterwards wasn’t so much fun, but at least we had been in the sea – and I can now add it to the list of places where I have swum along the South Coast.

At the time of writing, we are still experiencing heavy rain, strong winds and stormy seas – and I do not find it easy to be positive or optimistic when the sea is not fit for swimming in. Under normal circumstances I would try to cope with disappointment, low mood and challenging circumstances, by going for a swim. So waiting for the weather and the tide to become more accommodating is testing me in ways that I do not feel comfortable with.

However, in the words of Agatha Christie’s famous detective, Hercule Poirot:

“It has been a wet day. The wind blew, the rain came down, and the mist was everywhere so that one could not see through it. Eh bien, what is it like now? The mists have rolled away, the sky is clear and up above the stars shine. That is like life, Madame.” 
(Agatha Christie, 1941)

And so, I will try to follow Christie’s advice, and:

“Let us think only of the good days that are to come.” 
(Agatha Christie, 1945)

Local Details

Sea temperature : 18 degrees Celsius
I swam 600 metres
I was in the water for 20 minutes
We warmed up at Venus Cafe

References
Burns, R. (1785) “To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest With the Plough, November, 1785“, included in the Kilmarnock Volume (1786), first printed and issued by John Wilson of Kilmarnock on 31 July 1786.

Charleston, L.J. (2016) Agatha Christie Was One Of The First British Women To Surf, Then Wipeout, And Have A Wardrobe Malfunction, HuffPost.com

Christie, A. (1941) Evil Under The Sun, Collins Crime Club.

Christie, A. (1945) Death Comes As The End, Collins Crime Club.

Christie, A. (1977) An Autobiography, Collins

Divine Comedy (2019) Let’s Make The Best Of It, from the album, Office Politics, Divine Comedy Records.

Eurythmics (1983) Here Comes The Rain Again, from the album, Touch, RCA Records.

Marsden, R. and Stone, I. (2023) Flash flood: Huge thunderstorms keep Brits awake as torrential downpours turn roads into rivers threatening the rush-hour commute – with forecasters warning of a wet and windy week ahead, in Mail Online , 18th September 2023

Newbury, M. (2021) Queen Of The Brine, justaddwater.org.uk

Oliver, B. (2017) Stormy Waters, justkeepswimming.wordpress.com

Oliver, B. (2021) I Cried Me A River; I Cried Me A Sea justkeepswimming.wordpress.com