Go wild swimming

When I decided that I wanted to try wild swimming I sought out suitable local places, and discovered Lumb Falls, near Hebdon Bridge.  I was ready to go, weather and free time permitting!

Last weekend was always going to be a bit of a strange one.  I wasn't quite sure how many volunteers I had turning up and so I half expected I was going to need to work Saturday as well as Sunday, and was approaching this with tired acceptance.  When I turned up on Saturday we were ok, so I had a ride on the steam train (I wanted to pick up some veg at the market - great excuse!), and then decided it was warm enough to attempt an outdoor swim. 

The road to Lumb Falls was paved with wrong turnings, mostly my own fault.  It is fairly hard to navigate from an OS map while driving, and I usually arrive in Rawtenstall by train so forgave myself for getting a little lost.  Eventually I found the right turning, worked out which of the footpaths was probably the correct one, left the car in a pull-in, and set off down an overgrown path, until the sound of rushing water suggested I was in the right place.

Four teenagers were splashing about, jumping over the falls and generally having fun, so I waded down stream a bit, sat and read, and then decided to go ahead and get in myself.  I wonder whether I would have been so brave about climbing into a seemingly bottomless pool if they hadn't proved that nothing was going to jump up and bite my feet?  The water was cool and golden brown, what I used to imagine 'brackish' to be like until I realised that involved salt.  When I stood shoulder deep I could only see midway down my chest, and the rest faded into murky depths.  I swam for about twenty minutes, the last five in solitary splendour.  As I climbed out the chill struck, and I dressed quickly, still feeling cool to the touch half an hour later.  I was very glad I'd brought my thin fleece. 

On the other side of the valley was a shell of a farm house so I climbed up to that and had a poke around, surprising a sheep inside the sole remaining room.  I sat on a fragment of wall and read a couple of chapters of Great Northern before deciding that if I wanted to be home in time to eat I should leave fairly soon.  I reached home shortly after seven, having had a wonderful afternoon - I shall go back!

My mother thinks I was foolhardy to go swimming in a strange place on my own.  Do you agree?