February Inspiration

Snowdrops

Things that have caught my eye this month…

Community, resilience and courage is at the heart of this moving BBC documentary. Braving the Blue follows six Pembrokeshire women as they train to swim St George’s Channel.

BBC Countryfile investigated greater access rights to our rivers and lakes in a recent episode. Of interest to anyone who wants to know more about England’s blurred laws around swimming in the wild (feature comes 31 mins into programme).

I am a big fan of Whitby Wellbeing’s Yorkshire beach saunas so this new Nordic-inspired wooden sauna from Steam and Salt on Longsands Beach in Tynemouth caught my eye.

I have just finished Shy Creatures by the same Clare Chambers, having read Small Pleasures last year. Both books are inspired by real life stories, offering great characterisation and sense of time and place.

I watched Hamnet and H is for Hawk at my local cinema in Malton. I am probably dividing opinion by saying I found Maggie O’Farrell’s book of Hamnet a tad more subtle, although I still enjoyed the film. In H is for Hawk, Clare Foy was superb as grieving author, Helen MacDonald, taking acting to another level with her newly-acquired falconry skills for the role. Beautifully shot and a poignant exploration around our relationships with both humans and animals.

If you fancy joining me on some test swim walks for my new book of wild swimming walks in Northumberland and North Pennines this summer, do join my Facebook Group, Wild Swimming Walks Northumberland.