Here’s a delicate and reasonably beautiful documentary concerning the neighborhood of untamed swimmers who dip all 12 months spherical at Gaddings Dam on the West Yorkshire moors. An attractive spot, the dam is England’s highest seashore – although it’s unlikely to be profitable any awards for the sunniest. Not that lashing rain, storm-force winds or thick ice postpone the hardy year-round dippers. They’re a jolly bunch – barely bonkers, which is supposed kindly. Most don’t do wetsuits; when the water temperature drops, on go the woolly hats, gloves and booties to guard extremities.
The dam is a mill pond constructed within the 1830s; about 20 years in the past, underneath menace of being drained, it was rescued by a bunch of enthusiastic locals. Veteran dipper Clive, now in his late 60s, says he racks up 500 or 600 dips a 12 months. The movie’s director Ben Davis interviews different swimmers: amongst them members of the Saturday Morning Crew and the January Every day Dippers, who swim daily in January to lift cash for charity. Some swim for health or to attach with nature; others to enhance their psychological well being. One lady began wild swimming to cope with menopause signs. They is perhaps hardcore, however the swimmers interviewed listed below are beneficiant concerning the fair-weather paddlers who pack out Gaddings come a heatwave. Much less tolerant is the pub landlord with the closest automotive park to the dam; it’s rammed in summertime. “They don’t respect yellow traces,” complains an area.
There’s a homespun, DIY-ish appeal to Wild Water, with a plinky plonk rating that jogged my memory of muzak you hear in yoga courses. It’ll presumably be principally watched domestically – and by wild swimmers across the nation. (Outdoors the north of England, it’s screening in Poole, St Ives, Eastbourne, Falmouth and different seaside spots.) Nonetheless, what a heat portrait, made with actual affection and enthusiasm.
