“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth”. This week has been and gone in a flash of work and jobs at home. We decided to drop the jobs on Sunday afternoon and visit Lake Gormire which was formed by glacial erosion over 20,000 years ago and has been shrouded in mystery ever since.
The mystery of Lake Gormire is that it has no major inflow or outflow of water, baffling people who wondered how the lake was fed. Modern scientists believe the water supply comes from an underground spring, but hundreds of years ago it’s existence was magical. Gormire translates as ‘filthy swamp’ and It’s dark appearance gave rise to several myths, including that it is bottomless and conceals the submerged remains of a sunken village.
As Dougie is now the proud owner of a paddle board for his 50th we thought we would take it out for its maiden voyage in the Lake and we knew that the kids would want to try out wild swimming in the apparently temperate waters of the lake.
Getting to Lake Gormire is a little tricky and so we had to park up at Sutton Bank’s visitor centre and trek down to the Lake. The winding path through the woodland was really pretty and full of bluebells. It was quite a steep and muddy descent in parts, so not easy with backpacks and a paddle board.
Down at the lake there are 2 rope swings, so as soon as the kids were in wetsuits they were swinging into the water. Teddy wasn’t that keen on getting in after finding out there could be leeches in there!
We all enjoyed taking a turn on the paddle board and the lake was so tranquil and even more mystical in the rain. We didn’t get a chance to walk all the way around the lake but I would imagine it to be lovely to see the lake from various angles of the shore.
The Times noted Lake Gormire to be in the top 20 of wild swimming locations in the UK despite signs advising against wild swimming. Dougie and Daisy really enjoyed a short swim and confirmed it was a nice temperature. Flo also tried her hardest to give it ago but I was very happy shoreside! All in all we had a fun micro adventure and it was a lovely spot. We just wish it was easier to get to with all the kids and the paraphernalia that comes with us!
Apart from the Lake we really haven’t done much else this week. I got a turn taking Teddy and Florence to swimming this week and it was wonderful to see them enjoying the pool again. It really made me smile to see how happy all the children looked in the pool. At this rate we will all be swimming around in our gardens with all this rain in May! I’m hopeful that this week brings some warmer and drier weather.
This looks like such an adventure! Our kids wouldn’t go anywhere near a lake, they’re very ‘towny’ kids really despite us loving a walk in the great outdoors. Yours always seem very at one with nature x
Wow, it looks like a fab place to visit – I think they’re braver than me wild swimming in this weather though!
That sounds lovely what a wonderful place although I am with Teddy I wouldn’t want anything to do with the leeches either! Paddle board sounds like lots of fun.
Wow this looks like such an adventure! I’ve never tried paddle boarding – think I’d be a bit nervous. Would definitely be nervous of my two being on one, H would fall off within seconds I reckon!!