Wild Swimming with Natasha Brooks
I first saw the film ‘Blue Hue’ by artist Natasha Brooks back in May when it was shared on the Secret Adventures Facebook page. I was entranced by the images of a woman gliding peacefully through the clear waters of still lakes, nestled in the welsh mountains. A week or so later, when a message arrived in my inbox asking if I wanted to travel to Anglesey to meet Natasha and photograph a group of strangers as they embarked on their own wild swimming and camping adventure with her, I jumped at the chance.
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Natasha invited us to her home on the first night, where the group gradually began to arrive and set up tents in the garden, battling an extremely strong wind coming from the Irish Sea. We warmed up by the fire in the wooden cabin she had built, sipping ginger beer and rum as the sun went down.
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I awoke in the morning to the sounds of people stirring and wandered into Natasha’s kitchen for a cup of tea. Having got to know each other a little the night before, the group began to get ready together for our hike along the Anglesey coastal path.
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It wasn’t long before we came to our first wild swimming spot, a small quiet bay where a couple of ladies were watching their dog play in the water. Stripping down to your swimmers in front of a group of strangers is actually much less daunting then you’d think and it wasn’t long before the group were in the water, swimming out into the bay.
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You may be fooled from the photographs into thinking that getting in was easy but believe me it was anything but balmy. The cold water numbed my skin and took my breath away as I waded out with my camera, but exhilarated me at the same time. When I wandered back out I found myself looking forward to the next opportunity to take a dip.
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Walking the Anglesey coastal path on a day like this was a visual treat at every turn. The beauty of this place is astounding – it’s green hills, azure blue seas, glistening streams, dramatic rock formations and swaying wild flowers. You couldn’t help but stop every now and then to just drink it in and take a few photographs.
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After a lunch in the sun we pushed on for another couple of hours until our destination came dramatically in to view. An old brick works nestled into the cliffs looking like something fresh out of a famous five novel. We were drawn towards it with building excitement, anticipating pitching our tents, building a camp fire and settling down to share a meal.
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Who says campfires are only good for burning sausages and boiling beans? Under Natasha’s guidance a wonderful coconut curry was prepared from scratch, using a pen knife to peel butternut squash and chop onions. We sat around the fire eating happily as the sun went down and then spent the evening playing with hula hoops, toasting marshmallows and sharing secrets. We watched as Natasha danced with fire in the darkness to the sound of a guitar.
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After a lunch in the sun we pushed on for another couple of hours until our destination came dramatically in to view. An old brick works nestled into the cliffs looking like something fresh out of a famous five novel.
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The next morning, after waking up to a sea view, we gathered around the fire again for a breakfast of eggs before a morning dip. Having already stripped down to our swimmers a few times, some of us were a little braver and opted for a skinny dip! The sun dried us in minutes as we packed up and headed off for another hike along the coast.
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By lunchtime we had reached a pub in a small fishing village where we sat down to have drinks and something to eat before saying goodbye and heading our separate ways. I scrolled through my photographs as I travelled home on the train smelling of wood smoke, sun cream and salt water. Left with a glow of warm contentment that only a weekend well spent can give you.
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The skis were old school military skis, a couple of pieces of wood basically with some straps. How are you supposed to ski on these long thin slippery things?!
