Blog

‘Swimming, confusion, and plenty of brews: Negotiating ambivalence within Windermere’s fragile waters’ My first peer reviewed journal article was published in Health & Place earlier this month – a huge milestone for the project.  Access Article The article forms part of a forthcoming Special Issue (The Blue Un/Commons: Tracing New Directions in Research on Outdoor […]

Yesterday was my last day on placement as Communications and Engagement Assistant for the Freshwater Biological Association (FBA). The FBA are a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) and charitable trust dedicated to understanding and conserving freshwaters across the globe. Based in Windermere, Lake District National Park – the FBA has been shaping and driving internationally significant research […]

The second Windermere Science Evening on Wednesday, 20th March 2024, at the Old Laundry Theatre in Bowness-on-Windermere was a huge success. We hosted guests in-house and online, with a combined audience of over 140 people. Thank you to our speakers, and to everyone who attended, shared the event, generated questions on the night, and provided […]

That’s a wrap. One hundred visits staggered across September 2022 – September 2023. Last Sunday morning marked the end of my twelve month fieldwork at Windermere. Thank you to the Rayrigg regulars for letting me join in your weekly dip during my final visit. There is no way I can summarise an entire year on […]

Environmental concerns at Windermere are again making local and national headlines, generating significant attention around sewage pollution and the seasonal fluctuations of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae).  I recognise this attention has created further adaptation, ambivalence, and avoidance within the swim communities, so I thought it may be useful to offer a snippet of my reflections explored […]

The summer in the Lake District National Park is a recurring pressure point marked clearly on the calendars by residents and the authorities. The warmer months present many social tensions as more visitors surge its narrow roads, small towns and villages, tired footpaths, and fragile waters. These pressures are also present at Windermere, housing many conflicting […]

I am nearing the halfway point of my twelve-month fieldwork at Windermere. An inquiry that continues to spark reflection, concern, and a need for practising care with those we share these watery spaces with. There have been many highs within the project, but still, this research can be challenging. Sometimes exhausting. While excited by the […]

The summer months are now long behind us as swimmers and dippers adjust to the mighty bite of Windermere’s dropping temperatures. Fortunately, the colder waters have not completely curbed curiosity and participation in the swim-along interviews. A slight concern of mine before committing to the 12-month fieldwork at the Rayrigg Meadow and Millerground public bathing […]

In a couple of weeks, I am due to begin my 12-month fieldwork at Rayrigg Meadow and Millerground at Windermere, two popular public bathing sites nested within the Lake District National Park. Spaces that I have grown increasingly warmer to over the past two years.  During the first year of my PhD, I decided to […]