Outdoor Swimming : Farleigh

Most of us have swam outdoors at some point in our lives, for one of many reasons. But it wasn't until I spoke to an acquaintance last year that I truly considered that we could look for places for this purpose. A month or so later there was a programme presented by Alice Roberts that looked at 'Wild Swimming' and followed Alice's journey of becoming an outdoor swimmer.

The idea of swimming in outdoor places really inspired Lucy and myself. We found ourselves of being in the really lucky position of living really close to Farleigh Hungerford, the location of Alice's and our first 'Wild Swim'. Farleigh Hungerford has a weir and is the location of the Farleigh and District Swimming Club.

Upon arrival, as Lucy donned her shiny new wet suit and I, in a very manly manner, cowered at the thought of immersing myself into the water in just my swim shorts, we met some people who were camping at the site in the next field. It was their first time too and we all had a great time tentatively embracing the water before our confidence grew and we were all swimming our seperate ways!

We have since been a further 5 or 6 times to Farleigh and really enjoy the swimming there as there are so many variables, including nature, the amount of water flowing down the river, and the amount of people swimming alongside you. We recently tried 2 new places, of which I'll write about soon. Until then, here's a photo of me swimming in the river at Farleigh...

If you'd like to visit this spot, click here. Already been here? It'd be great to hear your experiences in the comments.