| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk 11:39 - Apr 27 with 2304 views | ThisIsMyUsername |
Does anyone know of any lakes in Suffolk where it is a) safe, b) nice and c) viable to swim in?
There appears to be some lovely lakes at West Stow Country Park but I called them and they said they that swimming is not permitted (though whether or not people do of course is another question).
Thanks in advance. |  |
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 14:04 - Apr 27 with 1997 views | GeoffSentence |
It's not a lake but wild swimming is allowed in the river stour at Fen Bridge between Flat ford and Dedham |  |
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 15:19 - Apr 27 with 1926 views | Lord_Lucan |
I’d be careful.
When I was a kid I was playing pitch and putt by the river in Chelmsford on Waterhouse Lane. There was a big commotion and a load of police etc and they pulled another kid out of the river after getting tangled up in weeds.
I’ll never forget that.
To think I used to swim in there as well.
all a bit dangerous IMHO. |  |
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| I got a.... on 15:28 - Apr 27 with 1891 views | Bloots |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 15:19 - Apr 27 by Lord_Lucan |
I’d be careful.
When I was a kid I was playing pitch and putt by the river in Chelmsford on Waterhouse Lane. There was a big commotion and a load of police etc and they pulled another kid out of the river after getting tangled up in weeds.
I’ll never forget that.
To think I used to swim in there as well.
all a bit dangerous IMHO. |
....hole in one over there once when I was a kid.
The one where you hit it off the top of the hill.
Good times. [Post edited 27 Apr 15:33]
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| "One of the best posters on TWTD and a really good bloke" - Anon (April 2025) |
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| I got a.... on 15:31 - Apr 27 with 1877 views | Nthsuffolkblue |
| I got a.... on 15:28 - Apr 27 by Bloots |
....hole in one over there once when I was a kid.
The one where you hit it off the top of the hill.
Good times. [Post edited 27 Apr 15:33]
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You had a creme egg to celebrate?
That's a mean edit to make! [Post edited 27 Apr 16:56]
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 16:24 - Apr 27 with 1797 views | ThisIsMyUsername |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 15:19 - Apr 27 by Lord_Lucan |
I’d be careful.
When I was a kid I was playing pitch and putt by the river in Chelmsford on Waterhouse Lane. There was a big commotion and a load of police etc and they pulled another kid out of the river after getting tangled up in weeds.
I’ll never forget that.
To think I used to swim in there as well.
all a bit dangerous IMHO. |
Scary!
The first post about Dedham is probably the best answer, as it's a common spot I believe (and hopefully therefore probably safe).
And there's swimming in the sea of course.
A nice swimming lake somewhere would be nice though. I think there are a couple but you have to turn up at a certain time slot and pay. | |
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 16:27 - Apr 27 with 1785 views | jontysnut |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 15:19 - Apr 27 by Lord_Lucan |
I’d be careful.
When I was a kid I was playing pitch and putt by the river in Chelmsford on Waterhouse Lane. There was a big commotion and a load of police etc and they pulled another kid out of the river after getting tangled up in weeds.
I’ll never forget that.
To think I used to swim in there as well.
all a bit dangerous IMHO. |
Talking of dangerous swimming we used to swim in what I can only describe as a sluice pond at the side of Bourne Park. I look at it now and think bloody hell.. |  | | |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 16:45 - Apr 27 with 1731 views | StNeotsBlue |
As others have said be careful, when I was a kid did mad things, like jumping off the A428 bridge into The Great Ouse, I'm have been horrified if my daughters had done similar.
A couple of years ago a couple of brothers I know were fishing near Godmanchester on a lovely sunny day. The younger guy, father of two and in his early 30's dived in to cool off and smashed into a submerged concrete block he's now paralysed from the neck down and would have been dead if his brother wasn't there to drag him out. |  | | |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 17:26 - Apr 27 with 1659 views | Whos_blue |
The biggest risk with open water swimming is cold water shock. Even after prolonged periods of sun, the ambient water temperature rarely gets above 15 - 18c. In gravel pits this may be less as the water can be so deep. 30 metres is not unusual and that will never really warm up sufficiently. A 16 year old boy died in Peterborough 3 weeks ago. Just ran and jumped in. Got into trouble instantly and went under.
Always best to acclimatise to the water. Make sure you don't go alone too, just in case.
Some very good life safety advice available here too:
https://rnli.org/safety/float [Post edited 27 Apr 17:27]
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| Distortion becomes somehow pure in its wildness. |
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 19:08 - Apr 27 with 1562 views | ThisIsMyUsername |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 16:45 - Apr 27 by StNeotsBlue |
As others have said be careful, when I was a kid did mad things, like jumping off the A428 bridge into The Great Ouse, I'm have been horrified if my daughters had done similar.
A couple of years ago a couple of brothers I know were fishing near Godmanchester on a lovely sunny day. The younger guy, father of two and in his early 30's dived in to cool off and smashed into a submerged concrete block he's now paralysed from the neck down and would have been dead if his brother wasn't there to drag him out. |
Bloody hell.
At this rate I'm going to stick to dry land. | |
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 19:19 - Apr 27 with 1535 views | _clive_baker_ |
I like West Stow, the walks are nice especially by the lake, but I’ve never seen anyone swimming there.
Depends what you mean by ‘swimming’ I guess in your criteria. Not a million miles from West Stow there’s Knettishall Heath which is a lovely spot, loads of wild ponies roaming about and an area a friend recently described as ‘the closest thing to the new forest as you’ll find in Suffolk’. There’s a small natural pool to dip around in, at its deepest probably only head height. It’s not big enough for proper swimming, but if you’re looking for somewhere to take kids for a dip it’s nice.
Make sure you pay for your parking to avoid getting done. |  | | |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 19:55 - Apr 27 with 1458 views | textbackup |
Town fan I met on holiday was the main guy pushing to get the Broomhill funding. So that might be an option soon from what he was telling me |  |
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 20:02 - Apr 27 with 1419 views | baxterbasics |
If you don't mind straying over the border a little into Norfolk, Thetford Forest has some sections of river which are popular for swimming. |  |
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 20:14 - Apr 27 with 1399 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 19:08 - Apr 27 by ThisIsMyUsername |
Bloody hell.
At this rate I'm going to stick to dry land. |
Don’t do anything stupid like diving without knowing what you’re diving into, and you’ll be fine. The risk is very, very low.
Most of the publicised Suffolk spots tend to be rivers. You can find this out yourself from web searches, but this site had a few spots and some good advice https://absolutelylucy.com/wild-swimming-norfolk-suffolk/ (there re many similar).
I wasn’t going to post as it’s been years since I swam in our rivers, but the thought of you being put off makes no sense to me. As long as you follow best guidance you’ll be fine. It’s amazing and well worth doing. |  |
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 20:21 - Apr 27 with 1390 views | JB61 |
The estuaries are the safest places to go.
Plenty of good spots on the Deben, Orwell and Stour. You can check at low tide if there are any under water hazards, then swim at high tide. The water is generally shallow and gets much warmer than lakes, plus the water gets changed twice a day. |  | | |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 21:13 - Apr 27 with 1337 views | blueasfook |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 19:55 - Apr 27 by textbackup |
Town fan I met on holiday was the main guy pushing to get the Broomhill funding. So that might be an option soon from what he was telling me |
Lol, only been waiting 23 years for broom hill to reopen. It will never happen. There's a new "setback" now i believe. Yet another in two decades of setbacks. |  |
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 21:16 - Apr 27 with 1299 views | _clive_baker_ |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 21:13 - Apr 27 by blueasfook |
Lol, only been waiting 23 years for broom hill to reopen. It will never happen. There's a new "setback" now i believe. Yet another in two decades of setbacks. |
If they incorporate a lido in the Snoasis plans we won’t need Broom Hill. | | | |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 21:20 - Apr 27 with 1272 views | tcblue |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 19:08 - Apr 27 by ThisIsMyUsername |
Bloody hell.
At this rate I'm going to stick to dry land. |
There aren't many in Suffolk lakes, I'll concede, but the fact remains that sharks have never tasted dry human. | | | |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 22:41 - Apr 27 with 1202 views | blue_curacao |
Gosfield Lake
might be just over the border in Essex (not sure) | | | |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 01:32 - Apr 28 with 1090 views | bournemouthblue |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 21:13 - Apr 27 by blueasfook |
Lol, only been waiting 23 years for broom hill to reopen. It will never happen. There's a new "setback" now i believe. Yet another in two decades of setbacks. |
Broomhill was all set before CoVid and then CoVid happened, it is a lot closer to happening than ever before and the Borough had done a lot to secure everything needed
They have a company in place who run other lidos but the insane levels of inflation won't have helped, no doubt the costs keep spiralling
I'm not from that part of Ipswich so there's no nostalgia for me personally but do appreciate a lot of people want it back |  |
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 05:43 - Apr 28 with 1029 views | dickie |
If you're a very wealthy individual, the moneyed types who enjoy Wilderness Reserve near Yoxford get to do supervised wild swimming in the lake there (for a fairly hefty fee) | | | |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 06:42 - Apr 28 with 981 views | Warkystache |
Alton Water on Shotley usually allows people in for a dip - it had some sort of algae issue a few years ago but does host an annual swimming thing. |  |
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 07:38 - Apr 28 with 928 views | itfc_bucks |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 21:16 - Apr 27 by _clive_baker_ |
If they incorporate a lido in the Snoasis plans we won’t need Broom Hill. |
Snoasis - there's a blast for TWTD's past | | | |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 08:42 - Apr 28 with 861 views | textbackup |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 01:32 - Apr 28 by bournemouthblue |
Broomhill was all set before CoVid and then CoVid happened, it is a lot closer to happening than ever before and the Borough had done a lot to secure everything needed
They have a company in place who run other lidos but the insane levels of inflation won't have helped, no doubt the costs keep spiralling
I'm not from that part of Ipswich so there's no nostalgia for me personally but do appreciate a lot of people want it back |
Yep exactly that.
I don’t recall the exact figures he mentioned, but it was around the £400-600k mark that now has to be found.
And it’s all due to the delays that various parts have put in.
The stupidest part he mentioned was Anglian water needing to do a new survey on the drainage, which hasn’t changed in the slightest from getting the original go ahead. | |
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 09:41 - Apr 28 with 770 views | blueasfook |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 08:42 - Apr 28 by textbackup |
Yep exactly that.
I don’t recall the exact figures he mentioned, but it was around the £400-600k mark that now has to be found.
And it’s all due to the delays that various parts have put in.
The stupidest part he mentioned was Anglian water needing to do a new survey on the drainage, which hasn’t changed in the slightest from getting the original go ahead. |
I think the latest issue is Fusion Lifestyle (who are providing a chunk of the funding) are in financial difficulties. It just seems to be one setback after another. I honestly question the effectiveness of the Broomhill Trust. It's just been years and years of excuses and it's becoming tiresome. Not even that bothered anyway if they don't have the 10m diving board anymore - which I dont believe they are going to. | |
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| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 09:44 - Apr 28 with 749 views | textbackup |
| Swimmable lakes in Suffolk on 09:41 - Apr 28 by blueasfook |
I think the latest issue is Fusion Lifestyle (who are providing a chunk of the funding) are in financial difficulties. It just seems to be one setback after another. I honestly question the effectiveness of the Broomhill Trust. It's just been years and years of excuses and it's becoming tiresome. Not even that bothered anyway if they don't have the 10m diving board anymore - which I dont believe they are going to. |
I asked about the diving boards, he said that once the pool gets the go ahead then they can apply for things like the diving boards. | |
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