Autumnal Treeton Dyke – with a water temperature of 13.4ºC
Alistair back at Treeton Dyke
It was great to be back in Treeton Dyke this afternoon! The dyke has been weed-ridden for the whole of the summer period and despite the jet-skiers and water-skiers attempting to chemically reduce the effects of the weeds, swimming has been a virtual no-no for ages. Added to the weed problem this summer was a very aggressive swan who was rather protective of his nesting partner and their young. Take it from me – avoid swans who have nesting partners or youngsters!!!
Anyway, with today being one of those amazing warm Autumnal days, and the fact that I had an hour to spare after a meeting in Rotherham, I decided to pop in on one of my favourite open water swimming venues and see if the weeds had receded or not.
I am pleased to say that the weeds are nearly gone, but not quite.
I managed to swim from our ‘usual’ starting point – the grassy bank, by the ‘no swimming sign’, near the Falconer Lane entrance – and could quite happily swim into the middle of ‘swimmers bay’. The weeds, which during the summer covered the entire surface of ‘swimmers bay’ and even further round the corner towards the water-skiers clubhouse, looked as though they had completely gone.
It’s in the middle of ‘swimmers bay’ that things got a bit awkward as the weeds, which although are dying off, have gathered together making a thick barrier just under the surface of the water that prevents you from swimming much further. Despite the weeds, I had a great swim around swimmers bay, which although is very swimmable, might be hard-going for those of you who don’t like the feel of weeds on you as you swim. Today’s temperature was a cool 13.4ºC – quite warm for the end of October.
Treeton Dyke is a beautiful place for a swim – it’s an amazing little place considering how close it is to Sheffield and Rotherham! So, for those of you looking for nearby wild-swims you’ll be pleased to know that there is another access point that is still fairly swimmable – often described as ‘Jay’s Place’.
If you walk anti-clockwise around the lake, from the grassy bank entrance point, (which is at the southern most point of the dyke) you’ll come to an opening in the woods where there is a bench and a muddy ‘beach’ allowing access for swimming – Jay’s Place. Do take care here as the water is full of felled trees, and the residue of the summers weeds which have been pushed towards the bank by the wind. It is possible to swim (or rather glide!) over the 6ft wide floating raft of weeds and find perfectly swimmable water. However, this takes you into water often used by the water-skiers and powerboats, so please take care if you venture this far up the dyke.
Despite the submerged wall of weeds, it was great to be back in Treeton Dyke – just over a year ago it was here that myself, Leon and James did our Ice Miles, so it brought back some great memories.
At a guess, I would estimate the weeds will be long gone in just a couple of weeks time – I guess this is one of the slim blessings of our cold English winters? So, hopefully, we’ll be able to get some long wild winter swims in Treeton Dyke soon!