Brace yourself for wild swimming,
Grab your bathers! Here’s our guide to the best spots for a thrilling freshwater swim
RIVER FROME, NEAR BATH
BUCOLIC Frome sits in a dazzling sweep of meadows with a gravel-bedded weir pool, on the A366 road some four miles west of Trowbridge.
Set up in 1933 during the last great wild swimming boom, the Farleigh and District swimming club still has over 2,000 members and on a sunny day you’ll find locals swarming to take a dip along side moorhens and alder roots.
The water warms up nicely in summer and there’s even a campsite a mile down the river. ON DRY LAND: Lunch at the riverside ‘Mill at Rode’ (01373 831100, mill.butcombe.com,), a former grain and cloth factory offering game pies, fillet of beef wellington and confit pork belly. WHERE TO STAY: The Polebarn hotel (01225 777006, thepolebarnhotel.co.uk) offers doubles from £78 B&B.
WINDERMERE, CUMBRIA
DEDICATED wild swimmers could dip into the Best Western Salutation hotel in Ambleside and enjoy a weekend package which includes a tour of the best wild swimming spots in this pretty part of Cumbria.
The highlight is a bracing plunge in Lake Windermere — the largest natural lake in the country. Wet suits are provided but not compulsory. Nothing beats swimming here with views across the lakes to the fells that inspired Wordsworth. ON DRY LAND: Take the ferry to Bowness and Lakeside. WHERE TO STAY: Best Western Ambleside Salutation (015394 32244, hotelslakedistrict.com). Double rooms from £133 B&B. Wild Swimming weekend package from £348 per person for two nights.
LLYN Y FAN FAWR, BRECON BEACONS
AT The far western end of Wales’ s Brecon Beacons National Park (if you’re driving from Abercraf, head north on the A4067 towards Sennybridge and turn left after four miles at the old Tafarn-y- Garreg inn), amid sinkholes galore and t he ominous l ooking Black Mountains, l i es t he most haunted lake in Wales.
This is where the ‘Lady of the Lake’, who was murdered by her farmer husband in Victorian times, is believed to rise from the lake at exactly 2pm on the first Sunday of every August. At other t i mes, it is simply inspirational. ON DRY LAND: explore the ruined Carreg Cennen Castle (01558 822291, carregcennencastle.com) dating back to the 13th century. WHERE TO STAY: Black Mountain Lodge (01497 847779, blackmountainlodge.co.uk) in the nearby village of Glasbury-on-Wye, has doubles from £69 B&B.
GRANTCHESTER MEADOW, CAMBRIDGE
PUNTS, deckchairs and honey for tea await along this mile- long stretch of river, once a favourite of poet Rupert Brooke and writer Virginia Woolf.
Park at t he bottom of Grantchester Meadow and head on foot to the overhanging tree branches and dive off into deep waters.
A sublime spot for a proper aquatic work- out, but watch your footing when you’re on the banks of the river — squelchy even on the driest days. ON DRY LAND: The wood-beamed Green Man pub on Grantchester high Street (01223 844669, thegreenmangrantchester.co.uk) is real ale nirvana with six hand pumps and changing selection of local brews — look out for the wonderfully named Trumpington Tipple. WHERE TO STAY: Rectory Farm (07734 861072, rectoryfarmbnb. net) double rooms from £60.
RIVER STOUR, FORDWICH, KENT
Officially the smallest town in the UK, fordwich, with a population of just 351, is on the banks of the River Stour which flows to the Stodmarsh Nature Reserve ( naturalengland.org.
uk, 07767 321053). The river runs through the town but, as you enter the reserve (follow the river’s left bank from Sturry railway station for half a mile) it becomes wooded and secretive. One of the cleanest rivers in SouthEast England, there are lakes on either side. it’s quiet enough here to boost your chances of spotting a marsh harrier or a water vole.
ON DRY LAND: fordwich’s brick and timber framed town hall dates back to Henry Viii.
WHERE TO STAY: The falstaff (01227 462138, thefalstaffincanterbury.com) in canterbury offers double rooms from £60 B&B.
STAINFORTH FORCE, YORKSHIRE DALES
ON THE River Ribble just north of Settle, this is an epic cascade of pools with a waterfall which, on summer days, teems with children daring each other to j ump off the top i nto the surprisingly warm waters.
Don’t expect solitude here, but once you’ve sampled a dip in the plunge pool at the bottom of the waterfall (complete with iron ladder) you can walk a mile down river to dip i nto the similar, but much quieter, catrigg force. ON DRY LAND: Take a trip on the most beautiful railway line in England — the Settle to carlisle line, which passes seven mountain peaks, glorious moorland and the gargantuan Ribblehead viaduct. WHERE TO STAY: The lion at Settle (01729 822203, thelionsettle.co.uk) has doubles from £85 B&B.
ST NECTAN’S KIEVE, CORNWALL
REPUTED to be where King arthur baptised the Knights Templar. from opposite the telephone box in the centre of Trethevy village, follow the footpath for one mile. ideally, a thin film of mist will add to the spooky atmosphere.
Then you will come across a high waterfall pouring into a plunge pool through a remarkable doughnut-shaped hole in the rocks. The swimming area is only 10 sq ft so you just bob about. The water is fresh — but revitalising. ON DRY LAND: The National lobster Hatchery (01841 533 877, nationallobsterhatchery.co.uk) in padstow (about 30 minutes drive away) is a sustainable fishery where the crustaceans, kept in a predator free environment, grow to colossal sizes. WHERE TO STAY: The Tintagel arms Hotel ( 01840 770780, tintagelarmshotel.co.uk) has double rooms from £55 B&B.