Wild Swimming

Wild swimming in our beautiful woodland lakes has been enjoyed since the early 80’s, however we have seen a massive boom in the activity over the last few years. Whether you are a keen wild swimmer for mental and mediative wellbeing or are a keen open water competitor:  swimming in our lakes can offer you a great experience. Calm Water Lake (Upper Lake) is around an acre in size, whilst Kingfisher Lake (Lower Lake) is a little smaller, very private, but equally as magical, surrounded by ancient woodland.

How to get started

You don’t need to do an induction before you start swimming at Barefoot & Bower, although we do encourage new swimmers to do so- we run regular cold water inductions throughout the colder months- information on these events will be posted on the events section. Please note, there is a useful induction you can do on the www.nowca.org if interested.

To read more about cold water inductions CLICK HERE

If you are keen to visit Barefoot & Bower lakes regularly or other venues, we encourage you to consider joining  https://nowca.org/home-test-2/

NOWCA is the UK’s largest network of safe open water swimming venues! 

Their integrated systems help to deliver the highest level of safety for open water communities. NOWCA provides insurance, plenty of relevant interesting information and enables you to download ACTIO, the bookings and payment platform where you will find our venue listed, and you can book a time slot from 6am -9pm summertime and 7am-5pm wintertime, 7 days a week.

If you have friends joining you who are not NOWCA registered, they are welcome, and you can use ACTIO to book them by booking consecutive time slots or by contacting Bronwen on 07940 500 345

Swims at Barefoot and Bower are £8 for two hours

If you are an irregular swimmer, you can contact Bronwen on 07940 500 345 to book your wild swims

Sunday Social Swims

This manned event is primarily to welcome new swimmers and to catch up with our regulars. It runs every Sunday from 9-11am. We have a campfire in the colder months and offer complimentary hot drinks all year round. If you have joined NOWCA, it is an opportunity to collect your wrist band.

You can just turn up, please bring £8 cash. Whether alone or with friends, no need to pre book, however you are welcome to also book this session on ACTIO.  

If you haven’t visited before it’s a great place to start 

Nature Swims

Andy Guilding runs our nature swims (costume optional). During the summer months they run on Friday and Mondays 7-8pm and during the colder months they move to Saturday and Sunday at 3pm. Please note that there is nudity at these sessions. They are a super friendly group and encourage everyone, including costume swimmers, to give nature swimming a try. These sessions can be booked via ACTIO or through Bronwen or pay Andy in cash, £8.

Children 

A lot of our swimmers use our lakes for tranquillity and escape from the stressful world, the Lower Lake is reserved for peace and quiet. Children under 11 must be booked in through Bronwen directly and are not encouraged. We kindly ask families to use Calm Water Lake (Upper Lake) for swimming. Extra caution needs to be applied with young children.

The upper lake is open for families however, please do check before using in the summer, exclusive hires are often booked - weekdays are generally good.

Please always be vigilant- if you notice anything unusual please don’t hesitate to call Bronwen 07940 500 345

Rules 

Our lakes are not permanently manned, you can not swim alone, always come with another swimmer or watcher, watchers are not charged if they do not access the water.

Toe floats are encouraged especially on Calm Water lake. If you would like to meet other swim buddies a good place to start is our Facebook group

We are a zero-waste site all guests are asked to take all rubbish away with them including any dog poop bags.

Waiver

Barefoot & Bower Swimming Tribe  2024

Release of Liability, Waiver of Claims, Assumption of Risk and Indemnity Agreement

By receiving this document and choosing to use the lake facilities, you agree to waive certain legal rights, including the right to sue and that you recognise and fully understand that:

  • AT NO TIME ARE THE LAKES SUPERVISED OR IS A LIFEGUARD ON DUTY.

  • YOU (THE USER) ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF DURING YOUR USE .

  • THE USE OF THE LAKES DURING YOUR PERIOD INVOLVES A NUMBER OF RISKS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

    • The risk of injury because of possible malfunction of equipment during your use.

    • The risk of injuries resulting from slips and falls in and around the lake area. 

    • The risk of injuries resulting from lack of lake supervision. 

    • The risk of injuries because of running jumping diving into the lakes or any similar actions. 

    • The risk of other injuries resulting from any other actions in and around the lakes and surrounding areas.

EACH USER AGREES TO RECOGNISE AND FULLY UNDERSTAND THAT THE ABOVE LIST IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST AND ONLY PROVIDES EXAMPLES OF RISKS THAT COULD POSSIBLY OCCUR WHILST USING THE LAKES AND FACILITIES.

In exchange for ‘BAREFOOT & BOWER allowing you to utilise the lake facilities and surrounding area during your session, you hereby agree to the conditions laid out below.

  1. To waive any and all claims that you have or may have in the future against ‘BAREFOOT & BOWER and its owners or representatives, relating to my use of the lakes and surrounding area.

  2. To release ‘BAREFOOT & BOWER owners and representatives from any and all liability for any loss, damage, injury, expense, or other cost that you may suffer or that your next of kin may suffer in connection with your use of the lakes and area of to any cause whatsoever, including negligence on the part of the owners or representatives.

  3. To indemnify the owners or representatives from any and all liability to property and personal injury, to any third party, resulting from use of the lakes and lake area.

  4. You confirm that you are over 18, and that you are responsible and will adhere to all the rules and regulations of the premises a copy of which can be found in the communal kitchen on the upper lake and in the pyramid store at the lower lake.

  5. That this waiver, Release, and Agreement is fully effective and binding upon you, and your heirs, next of kin, executers, administrators, and assigns or anyone else authorised to act on your behalf or on behalf of your estate.

  6. That you will NEVER swim alone.