Pool or lido, waterfall or beach: the best places to cool off
May is a special time for swimmers: as temperatures begin to climb, the outdoor season starts. Rivers and lakes, crisscrossing the country like some kind of alternative travel network, welcome downstream pioneers. By the next bank holiday, at the end of the month, lidos across the country will have opened.
Plunges are best enjoyed sans wetsuits: the chill hits your skin like a smack, but afterwards comes a charge of blood, a sense that you are alive and can do anything. "I am sure no adventurer ever lived who could not swim," said Victorian swimmer Annette Kellerman. "Swimming cultivates imagination: the man with the most is he who can swim his solitary course and forget a black earth of people who push."
Swimmers love this about swimming: water is an escape, and also a way of celebrating ? the start of the week, the end of the work day, the beginning of a holiday. The joy of life is enlarged by stripping off and jumping in. Water is a way of righting oneself, coming clean, starting afresh. Out there beyond the surfline or beneath the riverbank, we are as unworried as children.
Treyarnon tidal pool, Cornwall
Cornwall has some stunning stretches of coastline, and Treyarnon Cove is no exception ? a lovely sandy beach that is popular with families. It is also the location of a beautiful 30ft-long rock pool, which is a great, current-free place for kids to swim.
Saltdean Lido, Brighton
If you want to avoid the crowds on Brighton beach, head to this Grade II art deco lido instead. At 140ft, the pool is a good length and there is also a tea terrace, sun deck and cafe.
River Derwent, Derbyshire
The glorious 105-acre gardens of Chatsworth are a perfect place to spend a summer's day. It's only a few minutes' walk from the car park to the river, which is a great place for families to swim because you can easily see the water from the banks.
Coed-y-Rhaiadr, Wales
The name means "waterfall woods", a series of wooded pools and falls in Pontneddfechan, on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The lush landscape and melodic sound of rushing water make this a unique swimming spot. Head to Horseshoe Falls, a set of plunge pools beneath a horseshoe-shaped waterfall.
Loch Lomond, Scotland
Bathe in Rob Roy's "bathtub", a huge natural plunge pool that sits under the impressive Falls of Falloch. Further pools can be found 100m downstream, and the setting is ideal for picnics.
Kate Rew is the author of Wild Swim (Guardian Books, �12.99). For more information about wild swimming, go to wildswimming.co.uk or outdoorswimmingsociety.com
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/may/07/summer-outdoor-swims-uk-review
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