Friend never went swimming in the UK on fam hols

when I was young my parents took me to the beach...14 miles away, picnics swiming sunbathing, when I had children of my own, we did the same,great times...

Never went swimming in the sea in the UK during childhood seaside days out in New Brighton and Blackpool. Did however have wonderful memorable family days out at the New Brighton Lido (New Brighton Baths as we called it!).
Baths were so great I think that was the reason we never bothered with the sea which I remember as being a bit muddy.
Also I wasn't keen on seaweed and the various large , harmless but horrible-looking jellyfish that scattered the beach.

I never swam and in fact I can't swim. I did used to go wading abd rockpooling.

Feel blessed to have been brought up in the CIs a stones throw from just one of the very accessible beautiful beaches. Was never out off the beach growing up. Now some continue to go year round but I don’t like the cold water so wait until it’s very warm usually late summer early evening high tide.

Our parents never encouraged us to learn to swim. My mother reckoned she was a good swimmer but never proved it to us! My dad couldn't swim. Swimming baths were never on the cards. So we waited to learn at school. You got one term of lessons.

I can’t swim as terrified of the water (as a child my sister pushed me in the deep end of a swimming pool & never managed to overcome my fear), made sure my children could swim from a very early age though

Oh yes, that bought back memories.
Wearing a soggy costume, eating curled up sandwiches on the beach.

My dad going off to get a pot of tea on a tray.

Was brought up near the coast and spent endless days at the beach sheltering from the wind behind a breakwater eating sand sandwiches and drinking Heinz tomato soup swearing through chattering teeth that we weren't cold. Still love swimming in the sea but don't feel that it si fair to the general public to have to see my in a swimsuit so I tend to go early evenings when most people have gone and have a dip. Last summer I was quite far out and alone when a seal popped up next to me! It was absolutely magical! We started at each other for about fifteen seconds and then it disappeared.

I was always in the sea as a child but couldn't swim. Both my parents could swim but never taught my brother and I. Mum's solution was to send us to the swimming baths. No lessons, just expected to swim! We never learned.

Only ever paddled in the sea in UK although do swim in warmer waters abroad. Not a good swimmer and not very brave, like to be able to see clear sand beneath my feet so tend to walk out in the sea up to my neck and then swim back to shore knowing that if i stop I can put my feet down on clear ground. Just call me a wimp.

My mum never swam, but very occasionally would paddle.
I always did, and our beach was full of sharp rocks and jellyfish.

We went on family holidays usually to Wales or Scotland, we always swam in the sea and never thought anything of it. I don’t know that I would do it now though 😂

paddyann54

Oh and theres no way you would get me to sit on a beach,anywhere in the world ,total waste of time .I prefer to be out seeing stuff

Haven't you ever been to a beach where there is stuff to see?
I certainly have!

And for sewage checks in places I don't know I use this map:
www.sas.org.uk/water-quality/sewage-pollution-alerts/

Family holidays on the Suffolk coast when I was a child. We swam every day, always when the tide was coming in, and had tomato soup from a thermos and ginger biscuits afterwards.
Don’t think I’ve seen canoeing on the sea. Sounds rather dangerous.

Catterygirl

Am a reasonably strong swimmer and on the two days a year it was warm enough I swam in Southend when I lived nearby. Unfortunately somebody stole me and my sister’s clothes so we had to return home on the bus in our bikinis. Can’t remember how we paid for the bus!

I imagine that the (presumably male) bus driver was happy to accommodate you on that occasion!

I love swimming in the sea both in the uk and abroad . When I was young we would holiday in Bournemouth where we had family . Cornwall and Northumberland. My dad was a strong swimmer and taught us to swim at a young age . I’m a strong swimmer as well and my DC had lessons at a young age . My DS swam for his school and for a local swimming club.
I go wild swimming in a local lake and it so lovely and peaceful with all the wildlife.

Callistemon as a child we stayed with an aunt in Llandudno and both times the sea was full of Portuguese man’o’war jellyfishes so I never went in the water there.

Those were the ones, SueDonim, I think my brother got stung once (exceedingly painful) but that was before I was on the scene.

I taught my little sister to swim in the designated swimming are at out local tarn. You cannot swim there nowadays as it suffers from blue green algae in the summer, and the swimming huts have long since been demolished.
We holidayed on the east coast and swam in the sea, brr.

We spent summers on the beach because we lived about five minutes walk away, not because we were on holiday. It was free entertainment as far as mum was concerned. She’d bring a bottle of squash and some biscuits for us, or an ice cream was a rare treat. If she had some spare pennies, she’d hire a deckchair, otherwise it was towels laid on the pebbles - ouch! As well as keeping an eye on us, she’d be reading and/or knitting as well. Always busy!

Both my mum and sister were strong swimmers but I’ve never been that good at it and hate going out of my depth.

Callistemon as a child we stayed with an aunt in Llandudno and both times the sea was full of Portuguese man’o’war jellyfishes so I never went in the water there.

Primrose valley, Filey every year with the whole family. The water was not warm but cricket afterwards sorted that out

My mother learnt to swim in the warm Mediterranean when they lived there; I can't remember her ever going in the sea in the UK deeper than her ankles.
She was very keen on us all learning to swim, though.

Oh and theres no way you would get me to sit on a beach,anywhere in the world ,total waste of time .I prefer to be out seeing stuff

Me ,never liked water apart from hot foamy baths ,wouldn't go in a hot tub though, we call them bacteria soup pots .Never felt deprived by my lack of love for swimming ...its just not my thing

We sometimes had 3 days in a boarding house by the sea. I couldn't swim until I taught myself at 13 which is the same time our 3 day breaks stopped so I think the first time I swam in the sea was when I was 18 and went by coach, with my best friend on a holiday to the Mediterranean.
Oh I always like to be beside the seaside and while it’s brilliant being able to walk straight into a clear blue warm sea, it’s something else to dip your shoulders beneath our murky, bloomin cold and probably polluted sea here, but it’s truly exhilarating too. I always feel a huge sense of achievement swimming in the uk.
Otherwise it’s paddling if it’s not pouring or just walking within sight of the sea, whatever time of year.

My parents were pretty good swimmers, I do remember my father trying to get us swimming in the sea when we were quite young, which scared the bejesus out of me at the time, I recall a lot of grizzling afterwards, they were both keen that we should learn to swim, as I was when my children were young. I did enrol my children in quite a few swimming lessons and they both swam for the school at various times, but after the lessons stopped their excellent style through coaching lapsed back into lazy style. After my mum died I found various swimming certificates from when she'd swum for both school and swimming clubs when they lived in north London. The certificates were lovely, illustrated around the edges in a 1930s art deco style, girl in swimming costume and swimming hat in diving pose.