THE REAL THING !

 

Have you read WATERLOG by Roger Deakin? 

It's the very Bible for wild swimming disciples, and has a long list of his descriptions of the places where he swam 20 years ago. So finding myself in the Yorkshire Dales yesterday, I decided to drop in on the River Ribble a short walk outside the village of Stainforth. And try the real thing!



The sun was shining and great cumulus clumps were skidding across the sky silhouetting dark shadows that raced over nearby Pen y Ghent, pushed by the strong wind. So I had imagined a very blowy chop somewhere on the River Ribble where it's squeezed between wooded canyon walls, creating the famous waterfall and the Eel Pool where one can swim.

But it was calm when we walked past the narrow packhorse bridge and along the sheltered footpath, greeted by energised lads holding wet towels who shouted encouragement to us as we passed, and soon we heard the thundering roar of the falls. 

There, under the waterfall, was a pitch-black pool almost entirely covered over by trees and a tall iron ladder to get out by. Two faded notices said obscurely "No scuba diving" And wetsuits. We walked on by as the lower pools seemed somehow more friendly-looking, and climbing down to the edge got changed. 

Relaxing back into the water I saw my thermometer read 13C and watched the dark-coloured water run over my swimming hands. Another family with two young children joined me. They recommended 'Yorkshire Dippers Facebook site' for more anecdotes.

Slipping in, swimming, and then swalking off upstream to try out the other pools and generally slide about on the sluicy channels, they seemed impervious to the temperature. 

I was talking about this blog, and about how to describe the lovely, deep-red, peaty, water colour and suggested "I swam in water the colour of warm melted treacle" or perhaps even .."luxuriating in gallons of Yorkshire Bitter?"

But the nine year old suggested that better still would be "I found myself floating in a river of Coca Cola." So that stands. It was the real thing-

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 14, 2021 at 10:14 AM

    Roger Deakin's book is simply amazing. He was a fearless wild swimmer, in lakes, rivers and the sea. His descriptions of the locations are quite magical. Jennifer

    ReplyDelete

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