| FREEDOM
TO ENJOY OPEN WATER |
         
River and Lake Swimming Association |
SAFETY THROUGH INFORMATION |
The following Early Day Motion (EDM) has been tabled by John Grogan MP on the 2nd June 09:
INCREASED ACCESS TO WATERWAYS IN ENGLAND AND WALES
That this House applauds the British Canoe Union for staging an excellent
2009 European Canoe Slalom Championships in Nottingham, 28 to 31 May 2009,
and celebrates the notable success of Team GB in taking four medals in
total, two gold, one silver and one bronze; welcomes the BBC's live
coverage on a busy sporting weekend; notes that over 2.5 million paddlers
in Britain only have access to 1,400 miles of inland water in England and
Wales, which is less than four per cent. of the total 41,000 miles of
waterways over three metres wide; further notes that while the Countryside
and Rights of Way Act 2002 only incorporates land, the Scottish Land Reform
Act 2003 and its supporting Scottish Outdoor Access Code includes
waterways, ensuring that paddlers have the same rights as walkers and
access to all of Scotland's waterways; and calls on the Government to set a
realistic target for increased access to waterways in England and Wales by
the Olympic year of 2012.
MPs who signed:
Grogan, John ; Taylor, David ; Spink, Bob ; Bottomley, Peter; Hemming, John
The lack of access to rivers and lakes in England and Wales is one of our main concerns. Please write to your MP
and ask him/her to sign the EDM and support the BCU/WCA campaigns for access to waterways in England and Wales.
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- Please vote for Brockwell Lido in the National Lottery Good Causes awards. See a message from Sally on the
Message Board for more information or
Click here
to vote.
-Paul Frankl (paul.frankl@guardian.co.uk Tel: 020 33532988) who works for the Guardian is producing a film
on wild swimming in the UK. Paul is looking for archive footage of people swimming in rivers and lakes. Can you help
or can you suggest someone who can? The film is for the Guardian website.
More
on the Message Board.
Also see the Message Board for:
- a message from Jessie who is helping produce a program for ITV celebrating wild swimming. Jessie wants to hear from
swimmers in east of England. Can you help? (Jessie-LeeCardew@tigeraspect.co.uk)
- information regarding the Environment Agency consultation exercise in connection with the Water Framework Directive.
Just published - wild swimming COAST by Daniel Start
Described by the author as 'the salty sequel to Wild Swimming freshwater original'
Daniel's new book is a journey along Britain's coastline discovering secret beaches, sandy coves,
smugglers' caves, deep lagoons and hidden places to swim, snorkel and sunbathe.
Very well researched, with 350 venues, magnificent pictures and volumes of information (there is even a chapter
on seashore foraging!), the book is another 'must have' for all lovers of the outdoors. Our congratulations to Daniel on
another great achievement.
See details or order a copy
     
See article in the Times
May 2009     Pictures by Daniel Start
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SUMMER 2009 SWIMS
Entries now open for the 'Vibes & Scribes' Lee Swim 2009 in Cork . This 1.25 mile swim already has 145 entrants and
will be closed at 300. So move quickly if you are interested!
To enter, please go to: http://www.corkmasters.ie/html/leeswim.htm. For an overview of the main swims in Ireland the
national schedule is available on: http://www.swimireland.ie/index.cfm/loc/9-5.
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| Open water swim, Roadford Lake, September 26th 2009
Hospicecare, a local hospice charity managed to secure permission to hold an open water swim at Roadford Lake
in Devon on the 26th September 09. To enter and for more information see www.onemileswim.co.uk. Entry is £25
in support of the charity. |
THE IGNORED MAJORITY
A recent survey carried out by a consortium of commercial organisations, the
Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the
Royal Yachting Association show that outdoor swimming and spending leisure time
at the beach are, by far, the most popular water-related leisure activities in the UK.
The results, published in a document titled ‘Watersports and Leisure Participation
Survey 2006’
(download it)
show that 12.35% of UK’s population (5.95million) participated in outdoor
swimming and 12.49% (6.01million) participated in spending general leisure time at
the beach. Outdoor swimming includes swimming in the sea and inland water both in
the UK and abroad. Around 4.1 million swim outdoors in the UK.
Participation in some other popular leisure based watersport and coastal activities.
are given as: 2.21% canoeing, 1.09% small sail boat activities, 1.19% motor boating
cruising, 1.12% angling (from boats), 2.27% angling (from shore) and 12.21%
Coastal walking
Furthermore, participation in outdoor swimming increased by 1.75% (from 10.74% to
12.49% of the population) between 2005 and 2006 – the largest increase of
participation in any watersport. By comparison, Spending general leisure time at
the beach increased by 0.99%, angling from the shore by 0.34% and canal boating by
0.25%.
The 4.1 million who swim outdoors in the UK average about 7 swims per year thus
creating 28,660,840 ‘swimming events’. Of those, 16,915,562 are in the sea and
11,745,278 in inland waters. Swimming constitutes the highest number of inland
water events followed by angling from the shore (8,366 783), rowing (3,844,669)
and canoeing (3,012,295).
Clearly, whichever way one looks at the figures, swimming outdoors is the most
popular UK watersport. It is therefore extraordinary that the activity is, at best, totally
ignored by Government bodies, local authorities and other public bodies.
The results of the 2008 survey show a drop of about 3% in the number
of people swimming outdoors and a drop of around 4% of those spending time at the beach. The report suggests that
the figures reflect the wet and cold summer of 2008. However, swimming in open water (4.1M participants or 9% of
the population) is still the largest single water sport / recreational activity. Swimming events in inland
water dropped from 11.1M in 2007 to 4.7M in 2008 and has been overtaken by angling from the
shore (7M events in 2008). According to the survey nearly 1M (927,949) people swim outdoors in
winter.
Download the 2008 report
Too cold to swim in English rivers - well, what about Scotland?
Those who appose swimming in inland waters often suggest that English lakes and rivers are too cold to swim in safely
and so, you might expect that no one would be swimming out-of-doors in Scotland. Yet a recent survey by Scottish National
Heritage reveals how many do. A small minority, but not so small as those taking part in several other outdoor activities
that are regarded more favourably by the authorities that encourage us to explore and enjoy the countryside.
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 opened up the countryside to walkers and gave a legal right to people to swim, and to
explore in non-motorised boats, most of Scotland's rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Scottish Natural Heritage now has a
programme of conducting annual surveys of how people use the countryside (see www.snh.org.uk). Unlike similar surveys in
England in recent decades, they are not forgetting to ask questions about wild swimming. The results for 2004/05 showed
that, as we would expect, walking was by far the most popular outdoor activity; 67% of the sample had been walking during
July to September. After that we find, for the same period, 8% had been cycling, 6% had been fishing, and 4% had swam in
rivers, seas and lochs. Twice as many people had been swimming than had taken part in all other watersports and four times
as many as went horse riding (that local authorities actively promote in their Rights of Way Improvement)!
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NEW BOOKS (2008)
See also Tom de Castella books review in the Financial Times
Click here
SWIMHIKING IN THE LAKE DISTRICT AND NORTH EAST ENGLAND By Peter Hayes
Swimhiking is based on a simple idea: instead of leaving your clothes on the shore, take
them with you in a swimsac.More... See also
BBC TV item
WILD SWIM By Kate Rew
Wild Swim is a lovely book in all its aspects. Its tone accommodates comedy, glee, beauty, discomfort
and hard fact. More...
WILD SWIMMING By Daniel Start
Daniel's book is a 'must have' for seasoned wild swimmers who will be introduced to scores of new magical swimming holes
all over the UK. More...
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'Look, everyone is out of step except our Johnny!'
There is now little doubt that the attitude of some UK organisation towards
swimming in natural water, inland water in particular, is not only unique - it looks increasingly irrational and obsessive.
Take, for example the following extract from the official website of the Yosemite National Park in the States
MORE....
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The verdict is unanimous: the H&S Bonkers must be stopped
Judges, politicians, those at the helm of the Health and Safety watchdogs, a writer and a scientist
(to mention just a few) have voiced their concern over the proliferation of irrational restrictions on recreational
activities which has plagued our society in recent years.
[Click on the images to read what each celebrity had to say on this issue.] |


So who are the Health and Safety Bonkers? Click here to find out. |
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Britain's waterside beauty spots still under threat:
Click here to find out why
RoSPA must be stopped
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LIDOS AND SWIMMING POOLS NEWS
The Pooling Resources Group has been set up
to help people campaigning for their local pools
Good News - a lido re-opens Mark Thompson wrote (Dec 08):
Clifton Lido in Bristol has re-opened after being closed for twenty years. It is a small victorian lido.
The interesting thing is that the water will be heated by solar panels. It will be interesting to see
how this works. Clifton Lido claims that the water temperature will be good enough for swimming for 10
months of the year. I believe London Fields Lido in Hackney has done something similar.
For more info see http://www.lidobristol.com/
Local authorities, concerned at the rising cost of energy, are looking for savings. With every swim costing
on average £5, and being subsidised to the tune of £3.30 (so swimmers only pay £1.70 per swim) they are fully justified
in doing so. Among proposals being considered are: lowering the temperature, delaying refurbishment plans and even closure
of some of the UK's 5,200 pools. There is of course, as our members are very well aware, a much cheaper alternative to
heated pools. It just needs to be permitted! Do we really need to tell Richard Caborne the Sports Minister?
Surely in hot weather provision for outdoor swimming, perhaps in depth-restricted areas of lakes could be considered.
There'd be no heating bill to pay.
Click here for links to lido and
other media articles.
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MORE POOL CLOSURES
David Gallico wrote (October 2008):
There are a number of rather depressing reports by correspondants to the Swimclub website concerning
pool closures at the present time. It seems that Waveney District Council want to close the last 2 remaining
open air pools in Suffolk, at Beccles and Halesworth, North Somerset Council have voted to close the
Portishead Open Air Swimming Pool: people were still swimming in it, as the last day of 2008 season was
the end of September. Meanwhile, Camarthenshire Council have given notice that they intend to fill in
the Hendy Lido on October 27th unless the Hendy Pool Committee can produce a rescue plan by October 17th.
(Hendy Lido closed in 2002). The Hilsea Lido (the deepest lido in the coutry that is still open) has
almost certainly had its last season. Thus the situation is that there are less than 100 open air public
outdoor pools in Britain now, so the loss of another four is significant and with Hendy Lido due to be
filled in and the Council in Bath wanting to sell off the Cleveland Pools, that will be another two pools
off the potentially re-openable list. Meanwhile, Ilford Pool in the London Borough of Redbridge looks
set to close in September, not December; this will mean only one public pool for approximately 250,000
residents. Derbyshire Dales District Council have agreed to consult on the future of Matlock "Lido",
but the nearest re-opening date is likely to be February 2009 (The pool closed in July and the Matlock
and District Swimming Club say they are losing a £1000 a month). Thus, as more pools close, there is
a strain on neighbouring pools, as is happening in the Fylde/Blackpool area. And yet, swimming in rivers
and lakes is frowned upon by the 'authorities', who seem to consider such an activity to be on a par
with paedophilia, the same 'authorities' who frequently express surprise and concern at the level of
obesity and general unfitness in the population!
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RIVER & LAKE CAMPAIGNS
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Black Park
 Click here
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Bury Lake
Following the latest legal clarifications
of operators liabilities regarding swimming in open water there is no longer a justification for keeping traditional
inland water bathing sites, such as at Bury Lake, Rickmansworth closed to the public.
More..
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RALSA is an association of clubs & individuals representing wild swimmers. Membership is free and we make no demands.
Please join us to show your support[Click here] |
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Please contact us by emailing to: yacovlev@hotmail.com
Media enquiries: 0151 428 3990 (9 till late)     0793 0810 316(M)
Postal address: 26 Baroncroft Rd.   Woolton   Liverpool L25 6EH |
Member of the
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Y.Lev
Web Sites 2003
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