see url:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jul/11/troubled-waters-the-cambridge-river-dividing-town-and-gown
see full story...Lovely story for a Sunday afternoon read...The
difference between town and gown. I went swimming in the River Cam
once, near there...and caught a bug...never did it again...but you can
take a turn at wild swimming there, if you want to...😉 But this guy
aint for turning...😉
Quote<<<
It is a muggy, overcast day in Cambridge. Down by Grantchester Meadows,
accompanied by butterflies and bursts of birdsong, Camila Ilsley is
enjoying an illicit swim in the River Cam.
This inviting stretch of river – incongruously known as Dead Man’s
Corner – is one that Ilsley, a local resident and wildlife charity
worker, swims in regularly with her children and friends. “During the
pandemic, we’ve all really needed it,” she said. “I’ve swum in that
river all my life, but over the last year it’s really been a lifesaver.”
Her mood, like that of the other swimmers present, is defiant. Ten days
ago, King’s College, Cambridge – which has owned the meadows since 1452
– put up a sign banning wild swimming in the area, abruptly denying
residents a freedom they have rejoiced in for more than 400 years.
But that was far from the end of the matter. Since then, a petition
started by Ilsley has attracted more than 20,000 signatures, and this
weekend a mass “protest swim” was organised on the river to highlight
the restrictions imposed and to demand that the sign be removed.
The college has now told the Observer it wants to “temper the language
of ‘no swimming’ to a less prohibitive form of words”. It is planning to
meet Ilsley and local authorities this week and says it has no plans to
stop any swimmers who continue to swim there while it attempts to
“quickly find a solution for the benefit of all”.
There seems little chance, however, that the row that has erupted over
this famous pocket of land – beloved by figures ranging from Lord Byron
and Rupert Brooke to Virginia Woolf and Pink Floyd – will die down any
time soon.
>>>End of Quote
