Brothers Water, Hartsop Valley (Lake District)
September 2022
We left the house late morning and I could feel the chill in the air. But I had a new pair of 2mm 'Dive and Sail' wetsuit pants burning a hole in my bag and I thought I was invincible.
The roads were winding on the way and it felt very 'nature'. The views were amazing. The weather...not quite so much. Although secretly, I felt anticipation at the prospect of swimming in the rain for the first time. We watched the temperature display on the dashboard in the car slowly deplete to 9 degrees as we approached. It's easy to spot the water from the hills on the way down.
After tucking ourselves in to the tiny car park, we set off walking towards the pathway down to beautiful Brothers Water. Literally the most beautiful setting (despite the dark grey cloud) surrounded by trees, green fields and imposing mountains beyond.
We had read that it was reed heavy so we continued along the edge of the water attempting to find a good spot to enter. In the end we decided we were comfortably clear of the danger zone and offloaded our bags onto a large rock at the base of the woodland.
My cheap water shoes were wet when I got them out of the bag. On closer inspection it was only the right foot. It seemed odd and surely it would have dried since last weekend. Instinctively I brought it up to my face to smell it and realised it was cat wee. One of the cats had decided to have a lake water swimming protest in my shoe.
The pants were easy enough to pull on and I couldn't believe the difference they made. I barely felt the change in temperature as I entered the water. I was aware of the cold...but that icy burning feeling on the skin wasn't nearly as noticeable. The best feeling though was knowing that less of my skin was exposed to unseen weird fish / lake life lurking under the water. I decided then and there upon a wetsuit. Or at least a wetsuit top to match. It felt like there'd be no turning back now I'd experienced the luxury of a cloth barrier.
We didn't spend long in the water. I was nervous about the possibility of a 'sudden drop' having read about it in the book, and I was also intensely aware of being freezing on my top half (maybe the downfall of covering up below the waist?)
Coffee from a flask and a packet of Skips upon dry land, then a short drive to The Brotherswater Inn...who had stopped serving food.
I had two glasses of white wine instead.
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