Kath writes:
Swimming in open water is in the news at the moment while our local indoor pools are closed. We know people here at Remembering the Past who have rediscovered the joys of swimming in the North Sea and have invested in wetsuits to wear as they cruise up and down our beautiful coastline.
We also know people who might think that this is a bit unnecessary, as the following contributor explains:
“When you hear the young ones moaning about the water being cold at the baths it brings back great memories of the old Hawkey’s Lane baths. This was an open air baths in North Shields and his idea of heating the water up was to tip in a kettle of hot water. The saying ‘ignorance is bliss’ comes to mind for we thought “that’s warmed it up a bit”. Of course, once you jumped in that was it, you turned instant blue, fighting to breathe because the water was that cold. But we loved it just the same.”
Hmm, I’m not sure if I’m convinced either by the wetsuit or the kettle of hot water! I’ll use that for a pot of tea next to a warm fire. Here’s a picture of the diving board at the pool, quite spectacular.
