
I’ve confessed here that I love swimming in cold water.
People shake their heads in disbelief or question my sanity when I talk about this.
Yet last week, the New Yorker published an article by Rebecca Mead entitled, “The Subversive Joy of Cold-Water Swimming,” and I found a community! I’m not the only crazy one!
Mead’s article focuses on the “wild swimming” culture in the U.K., where half a million people engage in regular outdoor swimming. Rather than swim laps in chlorinated pools these people prefer to venture out into the “blue spaces” — the rivers, ponds, lakes, and ocean locations. The body and mind, they say, far outweigh the closed spaces
Mead counts herself as a wild swimmer, at least for this New Yorker assignment.
The Waterlog chronicles
It’s a relatively recent phenomenon that appears to have been spearheaded by Roger Deakin, a British nature writer. His 2000 book, Waterlog, chronicles a journey he undertook around England, Scotland and Wales, swimming the rivers, lakes, ponds, and seas.
I’ve owned Waterlog for years but have never read it. When I learned of Mead’s praises, I picked it up immediately and was delighted by the layers of human experience he describes through his swimming adventures.
The book has the guise of a travelogue of Britain’s blue spaces, but it’s more deeply about our relationship to water, land and nature. It’s subtly political, humorous, and beautifully written.
At the River Itchen in Hampshire, he brazenly walks past a “Private Fishing” notice and plunges into the shallow water. He drifts luxuriously downstream a couple of kilometres past schools of trout and reed-beds. Walking back to where he entered the river, he is accosted by two angry men who charge that he’s been trespassing on the grounds and waters of the Old Wykehamist Fishing Club.
“Do you realize this is private property?”
The Wykehamists are members of an upper-crust club that only allows members to the grounds and waters around the river.
They tell Deakin the club owns sole fishing rights of the very stretch of river he was swimming in. But Deakin is ready to argue. There is nothing in the the law that mentions the rights of bathers, he charges, which scandalizes the two characters. What gives them the right, Deakin argues, to control access to the water and lands around the river when it should be common land? In Canada, by contrast, beaches and waterways are public access.
Deakin leaves peacefully, but not before giving them a piece of his mind.
“At the end of the day,” he writes, “I already felt invigorated after a really first-class swim, and now I felt even better after a terrific set-to.”
Swimming with eels
In the Fens region of Norfolk, Deakin learns about eel fishing near the the town of Ely. He later swims above a tide of eels making their way up the River Great Ouse. These creatures are mostly blind, but you don’t want to be bitten by them, he says.
Deakin owned a medieval farmhouse in Suffolk with a pair of moats, one each in the front and back of the property. He swam in them every day, except if they were frozen over. Deakin died in 2006 of brain cancer, but his Waterlog lives on — a kind of bible for the wild swimming movement.
The Hampstead Ladies’ Pond
Rebecca Mead finds hundreds of present-day cold-water devotees, even in her city of London. There are several large reservoirs in Hampstead Heath devoted to outdoor swimming. Two are secluded year-round for women-only and men-only.
The “Hampstead Ladies’ Pond” is the better known, due to the number of literary figures that frequent the pond, including Margaret Drabble and Esther Freud. The women use a vast nearby meadow for nude sunbathing, mostly in the summer. One of the club’s steadfast rules is no photography!
A collection of essays by these writers, At the Pond: Swimming at the Hampstead Ladies’ Pond, was published last summer.
Health benefits: anecdotal
Mead touches on some of the health benefits of cold water swimming, though she says most are anecdotal. There is a lack of scientific evidence. However, she cites a researcher at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals who says regular cold-water immersion decreases inflammation, which is associated with ailments from pain to depression.
Coldwater, defined for research purposes, is anything below 15º Celsius. In this range, a swimmer’s skin cools rapidly, giving the sensation of burning or prickling. Soon, the swimmer may experience “cold incapacitation,” where the limbs and arms are too weak to move. Hypothermia, brought on by compromised blood flow, neural function and cellular metabolism, eventually leads to a loss of consciousness.
I’ve not experienced hypothermia, but can certainly attest to the mood-elevating effects of cold-water swimming. After toughing through the first shock of harsh cold, I do experience deep relaxation and feeling of well-being. Worries or concerns quickly dissipate, are swept away. I feel entirely ushered into the here and now, the cold forces me there.

Affinity with nature
I also sense a greater affinity with the creatures sharing the rocks and beachside where I swim. I once had a pair of oyster-catchers fly past me, not ten feet away, shrieking their way to their nesting rock. Another time, I stepped aside from a kelp crab facing me head-on with its outstretched claws. Seals and otters watch me at a safe distance. And I’ve been in the water when a pod of Orcas have swum past.
The rule of thumb is to spend only as many minutes in the water as the number of Celsius degrees of the water temperature. That only gives me 10 minutes or so. By that time, however, I’ve begun to feel so comfortable, euphoric, that I don’t want to get out. I do, anyway, perhaps sensing the danger of spending too long in the water. I climb the stairs from the beach to our hot tub and a soothing drink to warm me up.
In one passage, Mead describes what might be called “the smug reflex: the sense of satisfaction that comes from accomplishing, and even enjoying something that most people would find unfathomably off-putting.”
Pshaw! I say. Nothing of the sort, for me! I sometimes go swimming despite feeling wimpish about the cold. Invariably, I feel great when I emerge from the water … and the promise of a glass of wine waiting at the hot tub.
First attempt at Nina’s Pain Sauvage, wild bread. Borne of simplicity: coarsely milled grain (I used spelt), freshly milled red fife flour, water and salt. No yeast, wild or commercial. A few flax seeds sprinkled on top, baked in bread tins. Tastes of grain and earth. This is Nina Raginsky’s bread. She lives on Salt Spring Island BC in an old house that she calls her Maison Sauvage, and she tends her garden, her Jardin Sauvage. She prefers living with a small footprint; loves the aimless life, but is an Officer of the Order of Canada for her photography. Read the latest Happy Monk blog post for more about Nina. Thanks to Sophie Williams @ravenbreads for sharing about her conversations with Nina back in January — a meeting of like minds and hearts, I think. Today is Nina’s 80th birthday! Happy birthday, Nina!
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#bread #wildbread #painsauvage #baker #bakers #baking #bakinglife #ancientgrains #heritagegrains #yeastfree #nosourdough #tassajara #tassajarabreadbook #edwardespebrown #woodfired #woodfiredbread
Happy Monk Tidings - April 14, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Spelt + Honey Loaf; Plus the mighty Seed Feast; Happy Monk Blog: Nina's Pain Sauvage - [ See link in profile ]
Nice bake yesterday! The Salish Sourdough turned out great. So did the Fig and Fennel Loaf, but wish I’d added more fennel!
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#bread #sourdoughbread #sourdough #baker #bakery #breadporn #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbread #figbread #fig #fennel #figandfennelbread #breadlove #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #penderisland #southpenderisland
Happy Monk Tidings - April 7, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Fig and Fennel Loaf or Your Old Stand by: the Salish Sourdough; Happy Monk Blog: Is the Baguette on the Verge of Renaissance? - [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - March 24, 2021 🍞 - Blog: The Milk Maid, Love and Bread Pudding; Bread this week: Salish Sourdough and Seed Feast - [ See link in profile ]
Hot Cross Buns are out the door and we have a few extras. The deep spice, fruit and texture of these buns evoke faded memories for me. Maybe Aunty Betty made them? Maybe they’re the stuff of dreams?
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#hotcrossbuns #sourdough #sourdoughbread #baker #bakery #easter #easterbread #easterfood #woodfired #woodfiredoven #naturallyleavened #michaeljames #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbakery
Happy Monk Tidings - March 17, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: One a Penny, Two a Penny! | Baker's Choice: Hot Cross Buns [ See link in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - March 10, 2021 🍞 - Bread this week: Your favourites: Salish Sourdough and Seed Feast; Happy Monk Blog: The Ocean Within Us [ See link in profile ]
Was windy down here this morning, but nothing like a winter storm! And look what what Mildrith made this morning just as the wind was kicking up! Polenta and Rosemary Loaf made with rosemary that grows wild on our property.
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#windyday #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaking #polentabread #rosemarybrushes #rosemarybrushes #bread #breadporn #woodfiredbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven
Happy Monk Tidings - March 5, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: Building Fences, Mending Walls; and Baker's Choice: Polenta and Rosemary Sourdough [ See link in profile ]
The mighty Seed Feast, Pender Island style, Happy Monk style. @chez_sjaan
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#seedfeastbread #seedbread #seedybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
The Seed Feast is pretty when it drops out of the banneton. Today I used a UFO bread lame #wiredmonkey to make it prettier. Nice control and it slices through those big pumpkin seeds!
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#wiredmonkey #ufolame #seedfeast #bread #breadmaking #breadbaking #sourdoughbread #sourdoughscoring #sourdough #woodfiredbread #woodfiredoven #bakery #bakeries #bakeriesofinstagram #southpenderisland #southpender #penderisland #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaker
Happy Monk Tidings - February 24, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: The Honest Baker; Bread choices this week: Salish Sourdough or Seed Feast - [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - February 17, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice Week: Mountain Rye; Blog: A Hard-Earned Homecoming - [See link in Profile]
Saturday, Feb. 13. 2:45 am. Air temperature: -3°C (26.6°F). Mildrith, the wood fired oven, had an internal temp of 977°F (525°C). Balmy! Too hot to to bake bread, but she cooled quickly enough with the open doors, then baked 68 loaves! The problem was getting the orders out to customers, as the roads were unploughed with 8” of snow. Our all-wheel Subaru saved the day and customers got their bread! I tell ya!
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#cobovens #coboven #woodfiredbread #woodfired #woodfiredbread #bakers #bakersofinstagram #bakersgonnabake #bakerylife #bakery #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker #southpenderisland #penderisland #penderislandbc #penderislandlife #earthoven #earthovens
Half loaf of Happy Monk Salish Sourdough with @clarewilkening Herringware, beautiful “stacking tableware” by Clare Wilkening, whose ceramics are about “marine and terrestrial ecosystems” and homage to the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Salish People. The bowl was a brilliant Christmas gift from daughter Ella, a long-time friend of Clare’s.
Check out the Happy Monk being interviewed on (@madbaker)Mark Dyck’s Rise Up Podcast ... wherever you get your podcasts! Scintillating conversation for baking nerds and wood-fired oven enthusiasts!
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#baking #bakingpodcast #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbaking #cobovens #breadbaking #breadmaker #bakery #bakinglife #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker #penderisland #southpenderisland #penderislandbc #podcast
@earth.oven
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 16, 2020 - Happy Monk Blog: Time to Hang Up the Baker's Peel for 2020; Baker's Choice: Fruit Sourdough [ See link in profile ]
Instead of “figgy pudding,” I made some Figgy Bread! Fig and a hint of Fennel. Doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as figgy pudding, but it tastes better! (Thus the red carpet threatment!)
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#figbread #figgybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
Salish Country Loaves tumbling out of Mildrith, the wood-fired oven this morning. There are a few extras, so if you’re interested, I’ll be at Medicine Beach until 2pm today (Friday, Dec. 11)!
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#woodfired #woodfiredoven #coboven #Mildrith #Mildriththeoven #woodfiredovenbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #breadhead #breadporn #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderislands #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 11, 2020 - Baker's Choice this week: Fig and Fennel Loaf; Happy Monk Blog: Praise the Rain! [ See link in profile ]
Volkornbrot casts a long shadow … getting bagged up for deliveries today. The aroma of 100% rye in the kitchen is otherworldly! I’m walking around in a trance.
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#volkornbrot #rye #ryebread #ryebreadlove #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
A committed aquaphobe, I wish you unsullied waters.