Can I Swim Here?: the UK Wild Swimmer's Guide to Where You're Allowed, What's in Water, and Coming Home Again

Nobody at the car park tells you whether you're allowed in.You have heard people talk about it: the cold, the quiet, the feeling afterwards that lasts all day. Then the questions start. Can I swim in that river? Why is there a sign on the reservoir? Is the canal really off limits? What is in the water after all that rain? This is the cheerful, exact guide that answers them for England, Wales and Scotland.- Canals. The Canal & River Trust's byelaws do not permit swimming in its canals outside licensed clubs.- Reservoirs. Most have no swimming rules, for reasons you cannot see from the bank.- The tidal Thames. The Port of London Authority permits swimming only in named stretches, and the book names them.- Scotland. Access rights extend to swimming, subject to local byelaws.- Rivers in England and Wales. Genuinely contested, with both sides set out fairly.- Coming home again. Cold water shock and why you take a minute, the RNLI's Float to Live, rip currents and beach flags, weirs and locks. In 2025, 57% of accidental drowning deaths in the UK happened at inland water.- What's in the water. Bathing water classifications, Swimfo, sewage after rain, and leptospirosis from the NHS.Twenty-eight short chapters, a ten minute swim plan, two worksheets and a swim log.England, Wales and Scotland. Nothing in this book is sold.