THIS MONTH WE SWAM WITH…
Taunton Open Water Swimmers (TOWS)…
Every litle swim helps. Ella Foote goes to Tesco
One of the joys of this feature is meeting new swimmers in new places; however, when Sian Kelly said to meet at the front of the Tesco store in Taunton, Somerset, I was interested to see how this swim was going to pan out. Of course the charm of this also meant it was easy to spot my swim company outside the supermarket adorned in swim robes.
A short walk to the back of the store is the River Tone and French Weir Park. We cross the weir and Sian explains that they swim at the location of a previous bathing station. Intriguingly, Sian tells me that is how they came to swim in the river. In 1862 a bathing station was constructed below the weir with wooden changing cabins and a concrete waterfront. In 1864 the first annual swimming and diving competition took place – all male competitors swam naked! In 1920 the bathing station was replaced by a new building above the weir.