A bucolic beauty in BS10

Tucked away in a secret corner of Henleaze on the site of a former quarry is the Henleaze Swimming Club, an exclusive enclave of hardened outdoor swimmers which has a history dating back to the early 1900s.

Membership currently stands at 2,000, with a waiting list of 900 and on a hot summer’s day it’s not hard to see why.

Many members have been coming for decades, since they themselves were children and can recall idyllic lazy hazy days at the lake. They now watch with pleasure as their children and their grandchildren splash about happily.

But even in the chilly depths of winter, a hardcore of seasoned bathers were braving the elements for the club’s first-ever winter swimming season.

Mark Thompson, a trustee of the lake, who has been swimming here for 25 years said: “When it was just two degrees, we did have people swimming, myself included, although if we had to break the ice off the water, we normally didn’t allow it.

“It’s been incredibly popular, with about 200 members signing up and usually 30 appearing for each session and those that have braved it every month have been awarded a winter swimming badge.”

Most swimmers don wetsuits, socks and gloves before venturing in, but there are the hardy few that don’t.

Mark added: “I think people like it because it’s quiet. You’re right in the middle of Bristol but it can feel like the heart of the countryside.

“The thrill of swimming in open water is also addictive. 

“You have to get over the cold shock of the first minute when your body reacts a bit but after that you really get into it. People do seem to get a real buzz out of it and you go into the sauna afterwards and everybody is chatting away very happily.”

But for those keen to get a taste of the lake’s charms this summer, membership is an elusive prospect.

“On a summer’s day it can get incredibly busy and that’s usually when we have our record numbers, but throughout the rest of the season we do have a hardcore of regular swimmers who come rain or shine,” Mark said.

“We get very little turnover in our membership with perhaps just 50-100 spaces opening up each year as many of our adult members have been coming since they were kids.

“We don’t want to increase membership as we have to be careful about safety and on a summer’s day you can have 70 people in the water. Regular members don’t tend to come on the warm weekends when it’s very busy.”

Usually within hours of the sign-up slot for the next season opening, all the spaces have gone, although those that are interested in swimming in the week and joining the waiting list for weekends stand more chance.

The club employs about a dozen superintendents with two to three on duty when the lake is open, responsible for everything from opening the gate and checking the water temperature to signing in guests, acting as lifeguards, ensuring members stick to the rules, and even policing stowaways in vehicles, keen to get in for a free swim with members.

The most important rule of the club is that every member, children included, must pass a 50 yard swimming test as there is no spot in the water where you can stand and touch the bottom.

As a rule the superintendents must take a swimming test every month and they all attend first aid courses.

Superintendent Charley Peak-Payne, 25, joined the club in 1998 when he was eight and was growing up in Westbury-on-Trym. 

“I’ve kept coming all these years because it’s just great,” he said. “We used to come as a family but now I’ve finished uni, I appreciate it all the more. It’s just a lovely environment to be in and you see some real characters.”

His colleague Roy Pitt, 64, has been coming for 20 years and has been a superintendent for six.

He said: “It’s a nice place to work and in the summer when the weather’s good, there’s no better place to be.

“You see people swimming here in their 70s and 80s; some go in just for a dip, others for longer swims.

“Back in the day it was quite elitist and it has kept that members-only club feel.”

Linda Ward, 67, from Ashley Down, said: “I’ve been a member for 30 years. I started coming here when my son was a boy and he’s 38 now.

“I’m wild about open water swimming but I’d never done winter swimming before. It’s been fantastic coming this season. 

“You get a real kick of endorphins and I always go somewhere for tea and toast afterwards. 

“My son and my grandsons and daughter are all still members.

“I’ve also got a lot of friends who come here as it’s a very sociable place. It’s in the middle of the city but everybody says it’s a haven. During the summer I like to come for early morning swims.”

Derek and Joyce Klemperer have been coming since the 1950s, even buying their house specifically to be close to the lake and the junior school. They were also secretaries and treasurers of the angling club for 32 years and have written a book chronicling the lakes’s history.

Derek, 85, said: ”We became members in 1953 and it was one of the reasons we moved to this area, but the trouble with being a member for so long is that the place becomes filled with the ghosts of people who are no longer with us. 

“It is wonderful it’s still so popular and has kept to the rules of being a members’ only club, although once upon a time there was a crèche and mums brought toddlers but that doesn’t happen now for safety reasons.

“Our youngest child was five years old when we joined. My own children still swim here when they can and I swam a couple of times last season but I do have to be careful with my health.

“We used to pick the children up from school and come straight to the lake on summer days. It’s just a magical spot and even though I am now fully retired the club is still very much part of our lives.”

Joyce, 86, added:”It’s such a lovely spot and if it’s a beautiful day, there’s no better place in Bristol.”

One of the first rules was that the club should be called Henleaze Swimming Club and be for members only and that has been strictly observed to this day. 

But even with the centenary approaching in 2019, members are keen to keep change to a minimum and it does feel somewhat like a place that time forgot. Even installing the sauna caused some opposition by members.

Mark said: “Many of the club’s members have been coming for decades and what the club to remain exactly as it is, but the sauna has been a real boon.

“Everybody talks in there after their swims and members have got to know each other and it’s great for club spirit.”

The quarry where the lake is located was closed in 1912 when it was filled with water and became known as Southmead Lake. Records show that locals enjoyed ice skating there as early as 1907 and informal swimming had been happening for many years.

The first official record dates back to a drowning in 1908, with the coroner at the inquest passing comment that the water was only suitable for competent swimmers. 

Major Badock, the then lessee, filled it with trout so he and some friends could enjoy boating and fishing there and part of the lake was leased to a Mr Curtis for bathing but after a drowning it was closed to swimmers.

Following this move, a group of keen swimmers joined together to petition Major Badock, and after some discussions, the club was formed in 1919.

Major Badock was extremely concerned about safety and insisted back then that ‘it is no place for non-swimmers or beginners and I wish this to be strictly enforced’ – a rule that persists in the club’s rulebook to this day.

Water polo featured strongly in the club’s activities in the pre-war years, with many open water swimming championships and galas held there as well as diving and water polo competitions.

The club bought the land and lake from Badock in 1933 and while there was little activity during the war, in the later 1940s Olympic trials were held there with some of Great Britain’s biggest hopes training and it was not unusual for spectators to throng the surrounding cliff sides to watch.

Sadly the 1950s saw a deep decline in membership but it has enjoyed something of a revival in recent times.

Trustees have fought off various attempts to fill in parts of the lake, trespassers, attempts to bring babies and toddlers and four years ago became a charity to protect the land from development.

They are currently busy with a redevelopment project underway for the centenary and are keen to upgrade the buildings and bring them up to modern standards, although there will not be a trendy cafe and members will continue to make themselves teas and coffees in the club room.

Mark said: “We do have some really substandard buildings which need bringing up to scratch but at the same time members are keen that we keep things as similar as possible- some members have been coming here for more than 50 years and just don’t want it to change.”

And on a sunny summer morning as you hear the gentle splash and sharp intake of breath as swimmers enter the depths, it’s easy to understand why.