There’s a break in the rain I’m gonna go outside Stand in the sunshine for a while … And may my love travel with you everywhere (Petty, T. 2020) In South West England, where I live, The Christmas and New Year holiday week was notable for the relentless wind and the rain – and I believe this was the same for much of the rest of the country. Fields and homes were flooded, trees were uprooted and the sea battered away at the coast. We thought it would never stop raining. And for much of the time it didn’t. But, when it did … oh what joy! We could get outside. We could go for a walk. We cou ..read more

Bend me, shape me, anyway you want me You got the power to turn on the light (Amen Corner, 1968) Last month I finally succumbed to the Covid19 virus! I was very disappointed because I have always been so careful and I couldn’t think where I might have caught it. I also felt disappointed to realise I was not, after all, ‘super human’ with an inviolable immune system. However, I was even more disappointed that I had to miss the last opportunities to swim in the glorious late October sunshine and the calm, inviting tides. I felt miserable, knowing that by the time I was able to get back in the w ..read more

Here comes the rain again Falling on my head like a memory Falling on my head like a new emotion I want to walk in the open wind I want to talk like lovers do Want to dive into your ocean Is it raining with you? (Eurythmics, 1983) This was supposed to be a blog post about a swim around Burgh Island; it was supposed to be a blog about my last swimming event of the season, the culmination of the summer and the turn towards a different kind of outdoor swimming as the water starts to cool. I had it all prepared in my head. But then the rain came! And not just any sort of rain. This was “a month ..read more

Closing walls and ticking clocks Gonna come back and take you home I could not stop that you now know Singin’ come out upon my seas (Coldplay, 2002) In the summer of 1936, a young Dylan Thomas, was invited to visit Cornwall and to stay with a friend in Penzance. He enjoyed his time there so much that he returned a year later with his girlfriend, Caitlin Macnamara. Dylan and Caitlin began their visit, in June 1937, staying in a cottage in Lamorna Cove. Soon afterwards, on July 11th, they were married, by special licence, in Penzance Registry Office and spent their honeymoon in a small hotel o ..read more

Shall I just be a lonely stranger on the shore (Acker Bilk, 1961) I recently found myself at a swimming event (The Seahorse Swim, at Studland Bay) without my usual, family support team or swimming buddy. Unusually, everyone was away doing something else and so there I was, on the day of the swim, all alone! Except that, of course, I wasn’t alone because there were a couple of hundred other swimmers there – some taking part in the swim and others supporting us as volunteer marshalls and safety crew. Connected Community Coincidentally, that same week I had been in conversation with someone who ..read more

It’s been a long time coming I said it’s been a long time coming But good things are going to come my way (Tom Jones, 1966) It’s been a long time since I wrote a new blog post. A combination of a long cold, wet and miserable early Spring and an ‘update’ to the platform I use, to write this blog, not being supported by my ageing (but not that old) desk top computer, all rather impacted my mood and motivation to write. It’s not that I haven’t been swimming (I swam all through the long cold winter, wearing just a swimsuit), but there wasn’t really anything new to say about it. Yes, it was cold ..read more

“I’m walking by the sea and the shingle sings for me” (The Who, 1971) In my previous blog post (What a Diff’rence A Day Makes) I wrote about the importance of focusing on the joy, the treasure or the ‘specialness’ that each day offers. I will admit to, at times this winter, having found this challenging. January seemed to go on for an inordinately long time and, while there have indeed been some wonderful signs of Spring, in February, this month (as is often the case) is teasing us, getting our hopes up, only to remind us a day later that winter is not over yet. It is all too easy to feel a b ..read more

What a diff’rence a day makes 24 little hours Brought the sun and the flowers Where there used to be rain (Dinah Washington, 1959) I spent the New Year weekend in Devon with my family, hoping – as we had done last year – to explore some new swimming coves and to enjoy a couple of swims in sea that is a degree or 2 warmer than at my regular beach in Clevedon. However, if the turbulence of the past couple of years has taught me one thing, it is to not make ‘big’ plans or to invest too much hope and expectation into the days, months and years ahead. For therein, as many of us have discovered ..read more

I “We read to know that we are not alone” (Nicholson, 1993) I feel very honoured to have been asked by Jane Harris and Jimmy Edmonds to contribute a case study to their recently published book “When Words Are Not Enough” (2022). Followers of this blog will be familiar with my account of how I have found solace and catharsis from swimming outdoors, in the sea; how it has helped me to stay connected with my daughter Wendy and has offered a focus and a purpose to help me ‘keep going’ when I have been feeling sad or helpless. I first met Jane and Jimmy through the outdoor swimming community networ ..read more

You are my sunshine My only sunshine You make me happy  When skies are grey You’ll never know, dear How much I love you Please don’t take  My sunshine away (Johnny Cash, 1969) In early August, this year, I continued with my resolution to return to and to swim round Cornwall (see And The Sea Is Wide) by taking part in a 2.5km group swim around St Michael’s Mount, off the shore of Marazion. Unusually, for me and the events that I enter, the weather was hot and sunny and the sea was calm, blue and clear! In fact, the sea was so clear that the swim had the added ‘wow!’ factor of affordi ..read more