Photographer, Writer and Educator
Three months ago I set out with the intention of swimming through winter without a wetsuit. The intention being to stay in water under ten degrees for ten minutes each time and to donate ten pounds to Cancercare every time I managed it. I would start on the 1st December and end on the 28th... Continue Reading →
On July 22nd 2020 there was a performance by Big Kid 'Cuban' Circus on the promenade at Morecambe. People queued, socially distanced in the rain, under the halo flare of the big top lights and a dark sky full of rain. The performance was limited to two hundred people, a quarter capacity, with masks mandatory... Continue Reading →
I am delighted to have been awarded the Amateur Photographer Magazine and MPB inaugural ‘Rising Star’ award and to have the support of both organisations and the mentoring of Peter Dench in pursuing a twelve month photography project on ‘change’ in the High Arctic. In travelling north, a huge passion of mine, but one for... Continue Reading →
I've been taking photographs for years, mainly documenting family and friends on all the usual occasions. In that time I've moved from film, to compacts, to bridge cameras and DSLRs, and finally to my new passion - light weight mirrorless cameras - that have reignited a desire to capture images of the everyday and return... Continue Reading →
I am still swimming every week and continuing to bore everyone by telling them about it. It's entirely possible I'll be de-friended by everyone I know by the end of February. I'm hoping that this doesn't disprove the idea that outdoor swimming is a social, convivial activity, which it undoubtedly is, but given it's incredibly... Continue Reading →
'In every direction there were people swimming, to my left a Bart Simpson loomed from the waves, and as I came out I passed a couple running in to the sea quickly, submerging and getting out as fast, still others were swimming distance further in to the Bay, their familiar tow-floats bobbing at pace as they moved through a flattish incoming tide.'
Lots of water has gone in to Windermere this week, raising the level of the Lake at least three feet and removing access to the jetties and the boat house, all of which have quietly disappeared beneath the water. Celebrating the shortest day and the longest night is bit of a tradition for our family, knowing we're turning back towards the light is helpful, particularly in this dark moment where fear is the prevalent mood, and connections between ourselves, others and nature are curtailed.
Thanks to the Morecambe And Lancaster Lancashire Open Water Swimmers (MALLOWS) and Ceri @ the Aquatic Body I was able to have a dip today at Capernwray Dive Centre, a remarkable place to get in to the water and amble about amidst the fish, divers, more fish and lots of similarly minded swimmers - the... Continue Reading →
A joyous second swim of the winter with snow on the fell tops and the lake temperature dipping close to seven degrees.
We woke to a frost, which seemed fitting on the first meteorolgical day of Winter. It's also the first day of my project to swim for ten minutes in water ten degrees or less, giving £10 to Cancercare each time I manage it. Hence 10 x 10 x 10. If you feel you can donate... Continue Reading →
'...to stay in the water whatever the weather and to search out spaces to swim, float and drift. To explore the precision of water whose crystalline chill cuts across the arched neck necessitated for breast stroke, and travels warming to the core, pain receptors and adrenaline feeding each other in echoing waves of the water that enfolds cold and flesh.'