Success! Having counted 184 bathers on Saturday 19 August, and 237 on Thursday 10th August, we now have the evidence we need to show Defra that there are sufficient bathers to qualify for Bathing Water Designation
Although it was a breezy day, so not as inviting for swimming as our previous count on Thursday 10th August, we still achieved well over Defra’s threshold of a minimum of an average of 100 bathers/ day, counted over 4 hours on the 2 busiest days of summer. Few people stay in long, so the river never felt busy.
It was a lovely afternoon, watching people enjoying themselves, and chatting with the swimmers.
As it was a weekend, there were more punts, canoes and paddleboarders out on the river, than during the week, but everyone mixes along. Unfortunately Defra only allow us to count people as “bathers” if they actually go in the water at Sheep’s Green… But some did!
Wild swimming is a minority activity so, as usual, Lammas Land a few hundred meters away, was way busier. In late afternoon, we counted 149 adults and 110 kids there, with another 7 adults and 13 kids at the learner pool, ie 279 in total.
With just 5 people in the river at the time, this suggests that wild swimmers are only around 2% of the visitors to the area.
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