Some dippy tales around England

Friendly Yorkshire          We got up early and drove to Yorkshire this week. So early in fact we got to Ilkley Lido at 8 am ! Ilkley was recently rated the best place to live in England. And you can see why. Not many places are built around a municipal park the size of Hyde Park, and where you can walk out of  the high street Boots, (or Griggs with a steak bake), and see remote high moorland on one side and wooded and meadowed fields on the other. Stone walls all tumbling down and cows dotting the landscape. We parked right outside the lido where for £2.60 we could explore the swimming pool, now renovated at great expense during covid.  The receptionist seemed to treat everyone as a close friend and so gave us completely new customers an especially fine welcome. People greeted each other going in and then coming out. The receptionist was happy to talk about the temperature to each person in the line. We walked out of the changing rooms into the grassy...

 Lost in The Peak District. The Derbyshire Dales are always a good day out from where I live, not so very far away. Though now and then getting there across country we get lost. Since the sun was shining and we had a full tank of fuel I thought to try out the all–season heated Hathersage Pool . At 27.5C it could hardly be a tough swim, even in April.. We arrived at 9.45 and wonderful! There was only one swimmer in the sparkling blue pool that nestles down in the Hope valley. It’s surrounded by Mam Tor, Lose Hill, Kinder Scout and Stanage Edge all visible from the community led pool, saved from closure by the village.     “Two old people please!” I sad after climbing the steps to the ticket booth. “Sorry, if you didn’t book then you can’t swim.” “But there’s only one person in !” “Yes. He’s 'Schools 9-10' but they're on holiday ” “So are we.“  "No. You have to book.“  "Can't we really go in?" At which point he gave up, worn down by our cheek. “Go on then! ...

 LONDON FIELDS LIDO   October 21st We sat on the overground train from Hackey to Richmond with lots of school kids and others going about their business in this odd route that winds around London.   Stations that I had never heard of before. And then got off in a park.We heard the shrieks of kids after only a few steps and followed the increasing sound as we entered the newly refurbished outdoor swimming pool, saved from demolition in 1980 and given a new life again for only a few million quid. Big doors silently swung open and entered what seemed more like some London corporate headquaters.  Two comfy chairs were arranged on a nice carpet to greet us and the lady got up to welcome us in. I felt that we were in for a long registration process.  Want to swim here? Then lets get started! Name, Age, E-mail, bank details. Secret Password? We didn't sit down both waiting for the new discrimination: "Show me your vaccination history and passport please now!"...

WOODHALL SPA. A well-kept secret The Lincolnshire Wolds are lovely. There seems to be only one or two roads to get there. But as there was no petrol on sale, there were few cars today and we sailed fully tanked up past the queues and were rewarded with the wide open vistas on all sides. It’s all a well-kept secret and with its broad lanes and sudden views over to the sea in the distance was made even better by being almost entirely empty. We stopped by the road in the sunshine. Then we saw a sign saying Woodhall Spa and so had to pass by, and were directed to the Lido. Yes it was open! And yes it was 28C. Warm enough to boil a potato! My thermometer said it was just 24C. We were told this was “ impossible ” by the life guard. “One degree less and they will all complain. Can’t be 24C, it’s 28,” she said, looking over at the kiddies pool with its gigantic coloured tap, pouring water down onto the heads of screaming two year olds and their mums. The cute pool and gardens are all a local ...

 Last Swim in the Lake It has been cold recently so as I walked to the lake I wondered if it would be my last open water swim without a wetsuit for the year.  As it happened it was a windless 16C and not as much as a wavelet to disturb the glassy surface. After I strode in, ripples rolled away like an LP record expanding outwards heading for the other end 400m away. I leant back into the water and tasted the clean cool water, a shock that never fails to remind me of Stamford Hall swimming pool where we used to go as  children,   There are three swans there now in a family group and they watched me suspiciously as I quietly swam up to the dead tree into the sunset. The sky was a deep blue changing to a silvery yellow, with all shades in between, so each little LP groove reflected one colour of the sky above me, making a kaleidoscope of lines in front of me towards across the setting sun.  I turned around and swam into the shore again and the water had turned...

  LAST GASP of SUMMER   Nearly halfway through September and so cold last week we had the heating on for a few days. But the sun has come again and temperatures rocketing for a few days so we went to Holkham Hall beach. Swimming in a lido is invigorating, and going to a lake can be peace-and-medidation, but nowadays going to a beach in the sunshine can be frenetic. Excited people were intent on making the day fun, (and  it was no surprise that the first car-park was already full at 11am) and a throng of people were walking the kilometre down to the low tide of the North Norfolk coast. It's perhaps the best beach in England. Easy to get to but no buildings or roads and every visit there a symphony of light, it being one of the few beaches that face northwards.  It all belongs to the estate of Holkham Hall and everything is correct, tidy and efficient, if a little costly to park. But no-one bothers about money anymore not having spent any recently, and who knows what t...

Parliament Hill Lido  Hampstead. 17C. Unheated. 63m long.   We had to wait, whilst something happened in the Lido between sessions, when we arrived early yesterday for our reserved slot.  Not that it mattered as there really were only a few there. Perhaps 25 swimmers. Divided into 10 lane churners and 15 larkers  by which I mean groups of small boys and girls taking turns to push each other in and make a great noise.  It was built like many Municipal Lidos were, around 1938 and there were proud rows of photos of the opening scenes back in the day when the Local Authority had august figiures to give speeches and a Municipal Band to play "excerpts from 'Beauty and the Beast' all afternoon." It was made of dark brick with metal windows.  All square and functional. Parks and Recreation style. The Corporation Crest still adorned one end of the pool.  And the clock, now restored again, gave dignity and discipline to the whole pool. It was all clean and tidy....