A Dip in the Pool of History

Nicola here! Last month we had a heatwave in England and now once again the hot weather is back, the grass has turned yellow and
there’s talk of banning the use of hosepipes. Our heat here (up to about 90 degrees Fahrenheit) is nothing though compared to the temperatures elsewhere in Europe and also across the world. It’s not something we’re equipped to deal with (no air con in most homes and other buildings) but at least as an island we have lots of lovely beaches and cool seas. I live as far away from the sea as it’s possible to do in England so I make do with the local swimming pool which is still very refreshing even though it’s a heated pool. Elsewhere in the country, the lidos - outdoor, unheated swimming pools - are becoming very popular again. It reminds me of the Spartan regime of my school swimming lessons which I always associate with the smell of wild garlic because they took place at an outdoor pool in the woods!

“Wild" swimming in rivers and lakes is very popular too. The Serpentine in Hyde Park in London is fed by a natural well which keep s the water fresh and one of the places I go to walk and take the dog swimming is the source of the River Lambourn which is fed by springs that rise in the chalk downland. The water is pure and clear and on a day like this you just want to jump straight in!

Swimming is a natural human impulse; we have apparently been swimming for at least 10 000 years and babies are born knowing how to doggy paddle. There is a rock painting in Wadi Sura, SW Egypt, showing swimmers 10 000 years ago and there are also depictions of swimming in art from the early Minoan, Incan and Babylonian empires. The Egyptians, Persians and Greeks were all keen swimmers with Plato going so far as to say that anyone who could not swim lacked a proper education. The Japanese were holding swimming competitions as early as 36BC. Medieval English knights used to swim in armour as one of the "seven agilities." (I'd love to know what the other six were and can't find any references - Can anyone help?) In the picture from a medieval illustration, the knight is wearing the medieval equivalent of a rubber ring (probably made of animal bladder - thanks Wench Andrea for that tidbit!)with a breathing tube so he can keep it inflated! It also looks as though he as a fake tail in the background too - another buoyancy aid? Meanwhile Everard Digby, one of the Gunpowder Plotters wrote a book called: "A Short Introduction for the Learnne to Swimme" in 1595, a sort of self-help manual for anyone with access to a lake, river or pond who wanted to teach themselves the breast stroke.

All this begs the question of where is the oldest swimming pool in the UK. There are rival claims to this status from Oxford and Cambridge universities who seem to enjoy this sort of rivalry! Emmanuel College Cambridge which claims that it has (probably!) the oldest swimming bath in the country that is still in use. This glorious little pool was in use as early as 1690 or possibly even earlier. A changing hut in the classical style was built about 1745 and the present thatched hut dates from the mid-19th century. By 1745 a 'plunge' was regarded as good for headache, and 'against the vapours and impotence'. In living memory the water in the pool was dark green with algae, so dark that a Fellow who liked to swim the whole length along the bottom complained that he lost his way. A line was painted to help him and known as Jones's Line. That sort of water quality doesn't sound very tempting and it's good to hear that these days the water is purified and re-circulated.

Emmanuel College's pool has a rival, however. In the paper this weekend was an article about the refurbishment of the pool at Christ's College. Archives there suggested that their Fellows' Bathing Pool was dug from the alluvial soil in a corner of the college garden in the mid-17th century. It was known to be in use by 1688, pipping Emmanuel by two years. The design of Christ College's bathing pool is classical with a perimeter decorated by busts of Christ's scholars including the astronomer Ralph Cudworth, poet John Milton, mathematician Nicholas Saunderson and polymath Joseph Mede.

Until its renovation earlier this year, Christ's pool was fed by Hobson's Conduit, a 400-year-old water course originally built to bring clean water into a disease ridden town. Over the past twenty years the pool had slipped into decline with various alternative uses being suggested including turning it into an ornamental duck pond. However it is now restored to its original beauty.

I like the idea of the rival colleges feverishly digging away in the mid 17th century to see who would be first with the bathing pool. Or possibly of Emmanuel College Fellows peering over the wall at Christ's College, envying them their new swimming pool, and wanting one of their own. No doubt the issue of which college, Emmanuel or Christ's, has the most ancient waters will continue to provoke debate!

You’ve probably noted that all the people who swam or wrote about it, were men. Women were not encouraged to get in the water before the sea bathing of the Georgian era although I am sure that if they lived in the country they probably did go swimming. Perhaps I should have said that swimming was not something a lady was taught to do. And sea bathing was different, of course. You didn’t have to be able to swim when there were attendants called dippers to submerge you in the waves!

Are you a swimmer or a paddler? Do you prefer the beach, a lake or the pool? Or would you rather stay in the shade on dry land with a good book?!

Comments

[Mary T]

Well, good on you Nicola for finding a nice cool subject to write about during the heat of summer. I feel so bad for women (in the past) who would not have been able to swim except in very remote and private areas.

Here in the Mid-West in the US we have actually had worse heat spells than we are experiencing right now. But I feel so bad for folks on the west coast who are experiencing hellish conditions with the extreme heat and wild fires. I see that it is happening in Europe too.

As for swimming, I have always been a rather poor at it, but I have always enjoyed the water (creeks, rivers, lakes or pools). Now that I am old and arthritic, I enjoy a senior water exercising group at my local pool. It's wonderful! When I step into the water it's as if gravity goes away (and many of my aches and pains too).

[Andrea Penrose]

Such a fun post, Nicola! It's VERY hot here across the Pond in New England, but thankfully most of our buildings have AC. I have to say, having been in London during the 90 plus degrees F temp, place like the British Museum, with their massive stone structures having no AC, were pretty much unbearable. It takes a lot to drive me out of a museum, but I gave up, especially as the galleries were very crowded, because the heat was stifling. I was very tempted to rush to the Serpentine and jump in!

I love the competition between the colleges for bragging rights on the first pool. So funny to what extent the competitive nature to be the best spills over into such arcane subjects.

[Nicola Cornick]

That sounds lovely, Mary. I think it is wonderful how the water can improve our sense of well-being.

[Nicola Cornick]

You'd have been in full keeping with tradition if you'd leapt into the Serpentine, Andrea! Yes, it's so typical of Oxford and Cambridge to keep that rivalry going in any way they can...

[Liz V.]

I loved ocean swimming until I was about to run into a lagoon in Hawaii. A friend handed me a harpoon and told me to watch for three things: sharks; moray eels: and stingrays. The beach was very nice.

[Sue McCormick]

I used to enjoy swimming; we went to a spring-fed "natural" man-made lake. When that became "civilized" with concrete flooring and poolsides, my enjoyment went WAY down.

As to "oldest" pool. I put my money on Bath! No, the English didn't swim there, but I believe the Romans did.

[Nicola Cornick]

Eeek!That would have put an end to my swimming ambitions too, Liz!

[Nicola Cornick]

Good point about Bath, Sue. That pool is big enough to swim in as well as sit around in the water. I bet there were other Roman pools as well.

Interesting that there is something much more appealing about swimming in a "natural" place than somewhere that has been made more "civilised!" Definitely there is something about the idea of wild swimming that is nice even if in practise it might be less comfortable.

[Vicki L.]

If given the choice, I've usually chosen the ocean over the pool that I have to walk by to get to the ocean. Though if it is in the middle of the day and the pool is in the shade, I'll chose the pool.

Love wading in mountain creeks and streams but I try to stay out of the mucky/murky bits since I never know what is in those sections. Also wear river shoes (ie sandels) so I have more support under my feet when the rocks roll. As well, you never know when the odd bit of glass, nail, tin can will be in there.

Definitely a paddler ie bobber in the Gulf! Or even the pool.

It really is amazing how just having your feet and ankles in 6 inches of cold water will cool your entire body off.

Usually I never worried about what I'd feel under my feet when in the Gulf of Mexico - except for those times my Grama would warn me there had been a number of stingrays sighted recently. Then I'd walk out on tipy toes and try to only touch the ground lightly at that. Swimming they aren't too much of a surprise, buried in the sand, umm...not good.

[Binnie Syril Braunstein]

Nicola -

Great post. I feel your pain at the super hot weather. Across the pond (Maryland, USA) we've had temps up to 103 or so Fahrenheit in July. And I have central air conditioning, but rely on mini fans for comfort.

Regarding the seven agilities that you referred to, I have an answer for you. (I was a librarian in my other life, and I love trying to find the answer to questions!) From the Wikipedia article on Knights,found via a Google search:

"Squires were required to master the “seven points of agilities” – riding, swimming and diving, shooting different types of weapons, climbing, participation in tournaments, wrestling, fencing, long jumping, and dancing – the prerequisite skills for knighthood. All of these were even performed while wearing armour.[30]"

I'm so glad you asked the question, because I'd never heard of the "seven agilities" despite the fact that I've read lots of historical novels with the requisite compliment of knights. Who knew?

[Sonya Heaney]

More heat?! I'm trying to figure out what to pack for Derbyshire/Yorkshire next month, and this weird weather is making it impossible to decide!

We had about a decade of severe water restrictions in Canberra (that ended a few years ago). The government took it so seriously they had people patrolling the suburbs to find anybody watering their garden!

[Annette N]

Thanks for an interesting post. Heat is a natural condition here in Texas. But, my heart goes out to everyone who is dealing with heat when they are not familiar with it.

Immersing in any nearby body of water is a good idea. Just keep your head up and carry on.

[Patricia Burroughs aka Pooks]

Do people actually swim in the Serpentine?

[Karin]

The ocean is fine for splashing around and cooling off, but for actual swimming I love an outdoor pool or lake. I don't like the chlorinated indoor pools. I grew up next door to the best swimming spot in New Jersey, so I'm a bit spoiled, it's a manmade outdoor pool fed by a mountain stream. I've never heard it called a lido, though! https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-jersey/spring-fed-pool-nj/

[Teresa Broderick]

Definitely on the dry with a good book! I walk on the beach and absolutely love the sound of the sea. It's soothing and peaceful and if life is getting to me this is what I love to do to calm myself.
Here in Ireland our weather is much the same as yours. For some strange reason it gets even hotter about six o clock in the evening and lasts for quite a large part of the night. My daughter was home from London for the weekend and she thought it was lovely here. She said the humidity is London is really bad and it's what they find the hardest to put up with.

[Nicola Cornick]

Hi Vicki, those mountain creeks and streams sound so refreshing! It is lovely to dip your feet in water on a hot day. Definitely one of my favourite things at the moment.

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you so much for sharing that information, Binnie Syril. Gosh, those knights had to measure up to high standards. That is an impressive list of accomplishments!

[Nicola Cornick]

Yes, that is a tricky one, Sonya. At the moment anywhere from Yorkshire southwards is sweltering in the heat although it could all have changed in a few days.

They were talking about water restrictions here and then it rained - now they are talking about it again. A decade is an awfully long time to live under those sorts of restrictions, but it does make us realise what a very precious resource it is and not to take it for granted.

[Nicola Cornick]

Hi Annette! My very first trip to the US as to Texas when I was 15 and I had no idea about the heat until I arrived. It was a completely different world. I think our weather here in the UK is generally quite moderate whereas in the US and Australia, for example, people must be more used to extremes.

[Nicola Cornick]

Hi Patricia! Yes, they certainly do!

[Nicola Cornick]

Karin, that looks and sounds absolutely heavenly!

[Nicola Cornick]

Hi Teresa, I think it must be several degrees hotter in cities and when I've been up to to London recently it's been almost unbearable, especially on the tube. I agree with your daughter about the humidity; I don't mind fresh heat as much but when you feel as though you are wrapped in a hot, damp blanket it's horrid! Walking on the beach is one of life's great pleasures, I think.