27 June. So today I did the Cross Windermere Swim organised by ChillSwim with Gemma and Ash. 1.2km from Wray Castle boat house to the Brockhole Visitor Centre which I completed in the rather slow (but very good for enjoying the view) time of 36mins 50secs. We went over to Ambleside last night and stayed at … More #20: Windermere

23 June. Definitely the strangest tarn experience today! I walked up to Alcock Tarn from Grasmere with Rob and Alice today. It was lovely and sunny and we stopped on the way to get some Grasmere gingerbread and an ice-cream. As I was getting changed ready to swim Rob and Alice were exploring the shores of the … More #19. Alcock Tarn

17 June. I woke up in Coniston expecting to just go home and do all my jobs – the ones that always need doing like washing and tidying and sorting stuff out. But I couldn’t resist the temptation to do a couple more swims before I left. Just down the road from Coniston there are … More #17 & #18: Long Moss Tarn & Kelly Hall Tarn

16 June. Had my biggest day yet on Tuesday with 4 swims and a very long walk (most of which I did in my wetsuit!). I stayed at Coniston Coppermines youth hostel for 2 nights so I started and finished there. I’d been looking at my map and had chosen 5 tarns that I wanted … More #13 – #16: Lever’s Water, Seathwaite Tarn, Blind Tarn & Goat’s Water

15 June. On Monday I went over to Blackmoss Pot for the afternoon with Alice, Amy, Tess, Arthur and Ryan which was fun but a bit chilly! After I left them I drove over to Coniston to spend a couple of nights in the Coppermines youth hostel. I was bowling happily along the road when suddenly I … More #12: Yew Tree Tarn

11 June. Another fantastic day and 2 more swims down – into the double figures! The whole day was gloriously sunny and warm. Drove over to Keswick this morning with Arthur and Alice and met Katharine and Chris over there and we all went up to Watendlath Tarn. Alice and I walked round to the … More #10 & #11: Watendlath Tarn & Buttermere

9 June. Two unplanned swims today! Went for a walk up Haystacks with Amy, Tess and Arthur and realised when I was looking at the map that there are 2 tarns up near the top – Innominate Tarn and Blackbeck Tarn. So I took my swimming stuff with me and had 2 lovely swims. We started at … More #8 & #9: Innominate Tarn & Blackbeck Tarn

3 June. Lovely day for a couple of swims! Took in Slew Tarn and Blelham Tarn today. Parked by Brathay and walked up to Slew Tarn through the caravan site which was a bit weird! There’s a lovely path along the road through Beck Pane Wood with bluebells galore and I even heard a cuckoo. … More #6 & #7: Slew Tarn & Blelham Tarn

Number five done! A lovely day at Brotherswater today with Mike, Sivi and Oli. We even had some sunshine! Mike didn’t swim but stayed on the bank as official non-swimming photographer. I’d never swum in Brotherswater before and didn’t realise how shallow it is – most of the time we were able to stand up. This … More #5: Brotherswater

20 May. Two more down! Ticked off numbers 3 and 4 today – Blea Tarn (the first of 3 Blea Tarns on my list. There is also a Blea Water and a Bleaberry Tarn) and Dock Tarn. Thanks to Bob for keeping me company! Parked at Watendlath and walked up to Blea Tarn. Bob decided to sit … More #3 & #4: Blea Tarn & Dock Tarn