60 Scene
GOLDEN HOUR
STUFF & THINGS
Bit nippy?
The (not so) Great Outdoors
) Almost every year, in a post office far, far away, if you’re as inclined to earwigging as I am, you’ll hear a conversation between two people insisting that this winter has been the coldest winter in years. Well this year it is the coldest it’s been in a decade, and yet while taking my stupid little walks along the seafront among the bundled up masses, I see something that never ceases to horrify and appal me. Winter sea swimmers.
) Ah, the great outdoors! Grass, birds, bees, woods, the whole gamut of nature. Haven’t been able to access most of nature or the great outdoors for a while now so have kinda forgotten what it’s like to go wandering through woodland or basking on a beach.
BY BILLIE GOLD
BY JON TAYLOR
Heading outside of Brighton at the moment smacks of an unessential journey, particularly as I’d need to get there by public transport. The recent snow we’ve had gave me a yearning to go tramping through a field leaving footprints in the newly laid drifts and for them to be the only indication of life for miles around. To be away from the noise, buildings and people of the city and to revel in the peace and quiet and the stillness of the countryside. But then to come home to tea and a doughnut.
“Refusing to believe in the holistics of this barbaric practice, I decided to do some research, and the first headline I found claimed: Swimming in subzero temperatures likened to an orgasm” Now don’t get me wrong, I can see the appeal of dipping in an icy pool in picturesque Sweden, steam rolling off a new bikini just enough to post on Instagram and running into a very hot sauna, but what I find completely baffling is people I can only describe as death wish swimmers. People running scantily clad into the sea, as if we are in the middle of the Bahamas.
But, I couldn’t do any of that (although I did have the tea and a jammy treat). I did get down to the seafront while it was snowing which was rather cute but it’s not quite the same.
“People have a hankering to retire to a little village in the middle of nowhere with the English countryside wrapped around it with bird song being the noisiest thing. I think it would drive me mad after a while”
I did have one wild thought where maybe I could be that person, perhaps instead of staring grunting at an app on my phone twisting into an impossible yoga position I could be an outside girl, one that rides bikes and swims in a cold English Channel for absolutely no reason except masochism, and then it hit me, why would a bunch of people choose to freeze to death on a February morning?
I was fortunate to be able to visit Toronto a number of years ago and so visited Niagara Falls, which is an amazing sight. We visited during winter and so the surrounding area was knee-deep in snow with railings covered in blocks of ice, with daytime temperatures at -22. Was brilliant. The Falls itself is stunning and gives an indication of the power of nature and how it really couldn’t care less about us wee humans. If it’s going to do something, it will do it.
Refusing to believe in the holistics of this barbaric practice, I decided to do some research, and the first headline I found claimed: Swimming in sub-zero temperatures likened to an orgasm. Colour me more confused but it’s apparently true, the endorphins released in the brain when a person exposes themselves to extreme cold is likened to the little death, receptors flooded with the need to keep the brain and the essential organs from going into shock are sent into overdrive, leaving the swimmer euphoric.
I think we all pretty much fall into two camps though – we’re either a city or a country person. I’m much more of a city boy myself. I grew up in Brighton, went away to Northampton for University and came back to Brighton where I’ve been ever since.
“The description of it being called ‘a hangover in reverse’ by one enthusiast tells me that as admirable as freezing your bits off for a high is, I would rather watch them in awe from the safety of the pebbles”
I’ve seen the countryside from car windows and visited it usually during holidays in France where the biggest town is usually a half-hour drive away. I do enjoy it. It’s nice to look over rolling hills and to see how the sunlight changes the colours of the fields and the trees. It’s calming and peaceful. But I would also like to be able to just pop down the road to buy a pint of milk without a major operation to do so. It’s nice to visit! After a while I get a bit twitchy for the civilisation of a major metropolis.
More euphoria, more shocks to the system, still as extreme, but cleaner. Reading some of the testimonials about ice swimming it almost (read, almost) made me want to take the five-minute walk from my door down to Brighton seafront and jump in head-first, hoping to wash away all my sins, however the description of it being called ‘a hangover in reverse’ by one enthusiast tells me that as admirable as freezing your bits off for a high is, I would rather watch them in awe from the safety of the pebbles.
MIDSOMER MURDERS
To me this seems like a very uncomfortable way to get off but the effects of cold water swimming don’t end there. There’s actually scientific studies going on right now that link this kind of activity to its abilities to combat even the most serious depression, pain management problems and anxiety. An interview at the Highgate Swimmers’ Society found that about a third of the swimmers there are addicts in some form of recovery; having been a former addict myself, it makes total sense that someone would trade in a destructive addiction for one that hits a ‘reset’ button.
People have a hankering to retire to a little village in the middle of nowhere with the English countryside wrapped around it with bird song being the noisiest thing. I think it would drive me mad after a while. Also, if you lived in such a small place, imagine not getting on with your neighbours or just not liking them and they’re the only people around in a five mile radius! Plus, have you seen Midsomer Murders? That’s what the countryside will get you!
