A rather select group of our hardy and brave members dipped more than their toes in the water at the lake in Beckenham Place Park on a warm but overcast morning in July. Our morning began with an introductory talk to help reassure us about our fears which ranged from cold water, being out of our depth, duck mite bites and eels! All of these proved unfounded as we quickly gained courage from each other and took to the water swimming with dabchicks, Egyptian geese, moorhen and coot chicks. We all enjoyed it so much more than we expected and it was nice to have experienced swimmers Alison and Carys with us too. Having thoroughly enjoyed our swim we rewarded ourselves with a nice warm drink and cake from the cafe and even promised to do it again! It was great fun doing it together and it was a real example of what the WI is all about: trying new things, mutual support and a great deal of fun! Many thanks to Tom from PTP for our introductory talk and to the two Kays for organising.
Booking is easy through PTP coaching: https://www.ptpcoaching.co.uk/
“Many thanks for organising today’s trip. Most enjoyable and not as cold as you might think. Great to be on the same eye level as the ducks and no bites so far!”
“Seeing dabchicks up close and personal and especially mums feeding babies was the highlight! Well done to all!”
“Oh my, what fun we had!”
“Wonderful experience I’d put off for years!”