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OSS Swim the Thames #22 Monday 9th April
by Jeremy Wellingham 04 Apr '12

04 Apr '12

Allo allo ice men and ice maidens of the Isis (for we still have not reverted fully to the Thames according to the 1st edition OS, and snow is forecast), This Easter Monday finds us afloat from Sandford Lock to Radley boat house, downriver a distance of 2.65km (thanks Neil). On our left, Nuneham Courteney, erstwhile home of the Earls Harcourt, the first of whom moved the village out of the way in order to better landscape the estate. Now occupied by the Global Retreat Centre, what oneness we shall feel with the world when we slip out of the water at the boathouses opposite. This little stretch was a favourite of Charles Dodson (Lewis Carroll), and he got wet here regularly with the young prototype Alice. The boathouses themselves belong to the boys of Radley College. Alumni of that fine establishment include the great historian Christopher Hibbert, the indefatiguable campaigning lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith, England's test cricket captain, Andrew Strauss, and who could forget Richard Gibson, best known for his exceptional performance in the complex role of Herr Flick in TV's 'Allo 'Allo. So, wet bobs (Radley slang doncha know), get ye to Radley Station carpark at 11.00am on Easter Monday 9th April. http://g.co/maps/qraq7 There will be a bit of shallying I am afraid due to access issues so pay attention (I shall say zis only once): the boathouse is about 1km from the station - we will walk there and get changed into rubbers and pack all dry gear into a couple of cars (there isn't room for more). We will then walk up to Sandford Lock - 2.5km - and swim down. On getting out, change into dry gear at the boathouse and walk back to Radley for a resurrecting lunch at the Bowyer Arms. Toodle pip until then, Jeremimi & Seffyvette and the Fanny La Fins of the Isis e-mail: oxford(a)outdoorswimmingsociety.com OSS swim responsibility statement:By attending you confirm that you are a member of the OSS and have read and accepted the OSS swim responsibility statement:http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s… swimmers swim at their own risk. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

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Re: [OSS RATS] [OSS Oxon] OSS Swim the Thames #22 Monday 9th April
by Jo-Anne Rutterford 04 Apr '12

04 Apr '12

Yup - the cold and algae has finally taken its toll on our erstwhile leader, she has gone completely bonkers!!! Good job we love her anyway :o) Enjoy your swim everyone - might go for a dip in the Atlantic myself in sympathy with you all - which I hasten to add is apparently at 12 degrees already (didn't feel like that earlier this week!!). Miss you all xxxxx Jo Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2012 22:40:53 +0100 From: sefryn(a)gmail.com To: OSSOxon(a)earth.li; ossrats(a)earth.li Subject: [OSS Oxon] OSS Swim the Thames #22 Monday 9th April Allo allo ice men and ice maidens of the Isis (for we still have not reverted fully to the Thames according to the 1st edition OS, and snow is forecast), This Easter Monday finds us afloat from Sandford Lock to Radley boat house, downriver a distance of 2.65km (thanks Neil). On our left, Nuneham Courteney, erstwhile home of the Earls Harcourt, the first of whom moved the village out of the way in order to better landscape the estate. Now occupied by the Global Retreat Centre, what oneness we shall feel with the world when we slip out of the water at the boathouses opposite. This little stretch was a favourite of Charles Dodson (Lewis Carroll), and he got wet here regularly with the young prototype Alice. The boathouses themselves belong to the boys of Radley College. Alumni of that fine establishment include the great historian Christopher Hibbert, the indefatiguable campaigning lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith, England's test cricket captain, Andrew Strauss, and who could forget Richard Gibson, best known for his exceptional performance in the complex role of Herr Flick in TV's 'Allo 'Allo. So, wet bobs (Radley slang doncha know), get ye to Radley Station carpark at 11.00am on Easter Monday 9th April. http://g.co/maps/qraq7 There will be a bit of shallying I am afraid due to access issues so pay attention (I shall say zis only once): the boathouse is about 1km from the station - we will walk there and get changed into rubbers and pack all dry gear into a couple of cars (there isn't room for more). We will then walk up to Sandford Lock - 2.5km - and swim down. On getting out, change into dry gear at the boathouse and walk back to Radley for a resurrecting lunch at the Bowyer Arms. Toodle pip until then, Jeremimi & Seffyvette and the Fanny La Fins of the Isis e-mail: oxford(a)outdoorswimmingsociety.com OSS swim responsibility statement: By attending you confirm that you are a member of the OSS and have read and accepted the OSS swim responsibility statement: http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsib… All swimmers swim at their own risk. _______________________________________________ OSS Oxon mailing list OSSOxon(a)earth.li http://www.earth.li/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ossoxon Please note that OSS Oxon exists to put swimmers in touch with other swimmers, not to organise swim events or in any way suggest that outdoor swimming is a safe activity or that you should go swimming. If you choose to swim you do so entirely at your own risk and on your own initiative, and any plans you make are your own responsibility.

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Good Friday Full Moon Swim / Swim's 18, 19 and 20 Catch Up / Swim 22 Throw Down
by Chris Dalton 01 Apr '12

01 Apr '12

Hi Gang, Seeing as Good Friday is a Full Moon I thought it would be a grand opportunity to combine the first Full Moon swim of the year with catch-ups of the last few swims and a throw down of the next for those who need them. Followed by a spot of dinner at the pub, possibly! I expect it would be a relatively free-form event as different people need to do different swims but we could all do a splash under the light of the moon before eating. Moonrise is at 19:21 which is a few minutes before sunset so the timing should work out nicely. Who's up for it? CD

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Good Friday Full Moon Swim / Swim's 18, 19 and 20 Catch Up / Swim 22 Throw Down
by Chris Dalton 30 Mar '12

30 Mar '12

Hi All, The swim I'd like to do on Friday is Folly Bridge to Kennington. This is a total distance of about 3.5km and was originally done in sections of 1.5km, 800m and 1.2km in swims 18, 19 and 20. Now the water is back into double figure temperatures this should be perfectly doable! CD

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Re: [OSS RATS] [OSS Oxon] Good Friday Full Moon Swim / Swim's 18, 19 and 20 Catch Up / Swim 22 Throw Down
by Sharon Curtis 29 Mar '12

29 Mar '12

I was going to suggest a celestial swim - if the weather cooperated, a sunset swim could incorporate not only the sun moon and stars, but also Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn! Sharon On 29 Mar 2012 20:56, "Chris Dalton" <seedy(a)breakingglass.net> wrote: Hi Gang,**** ** ** Seeing as Good Friday is a Full Moon I thought it would be a grand opportunity to combine the first Full Moon swim of the year with catch-ups of the last few swims and a throw down of the next for those who need them. Followed by a spot of dinner at the pub, possibly! I expect it would be a relatively free-form event as different people need to do different swims but we could all do a splash under the light of the moon before eating. Moonrise is at 19:21 which is a few minutes before sunset so the timing should work out nicely. **** ** ** Who’s up for it?**** ** ** CD**** _______________________________________________ OSS Oxon mailing list OSSOxon(a)earth.li http://www.earth.li/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ossoxon Please note that OSS Oxon exists to put swimmers in touch with other swimmers, not to organise swim events or in any way suggest that outdoor swimming is a safe activity or that you should go swimming. If you choose to swim you do so entirely at your own risk and on your own initiative, and any plans you make are your own responsibility.

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OSS Swim the Thames #21 - Kennington to Sandford Lock - 11:00am Sunday 25th March 2012
by Chris Dalton 25 Mar '12

25 Mar '12

Hi Gang, If any of you are planning to come along and aren’t on the Facebook Event could you please let me know as I promised the pub I would firm up the numbers for lunch this week. Ta CD From: ossrats-bounces(a)earth.li [mailto:ossrats-bounces@earth.li] On Behalf Of Chris Dalton Sent: 24 February 2012 21:23 To: OSSOxon(a)earth.li; ossrats(a)earth.li Subject: [OSS RATS] OSS Swim the Thames #21 - Kennington to Sandford Lock - 11:00am Sunday 25th March 2012 Ice Maidens and Ice Men of the Isis*, It’s time to start thawing out! By the time 25th March comes about the icy Winter waters should have been replaced by an (almost) tropical Spring flow and even the Neoprene Ninja should be looking forward to jumping in for the 1500m swim. In an attempt to confuse and disorient everyone our Glorious Leaders have delegated the organization of Swim #21 to me and, as such, we will have no tardiness or faffing around thank you very much!!! We will meet in the car park of the Kings Arms at Sandford-on-Thames at 11am (sharp) on Sunday 25th March: <http://g.co/maps/af5ag> http://g.co/maps/af5ag We will then walk upstream to the entry point at the little beach here: <http://g.co/maps/2fqgv> http://g.co/maps/2fqgv and then swim back to the lock next to the pub. There seem to be various possible routes but the possibility of getting lost just adds to the excitement! The car park costs £1 for 3 hours which will be refunded by the pub when we eat. If time is looking tight we can top up with another pound before going into the pub but I’m told that you can’t get a refund if you put in £2 at the start. It’s likely that this swim is part of a swim from Michael Worthington’s book but I don’t have a copy so I don’t know! See you all there!! Chris x * Although, strictly speaking, now we are downstream of Iffley Lock I believe it is just the plain old Thames. OSS swim responsibility statement: By attending you confirm that you are a member of the OSS and have read and accepted the OSS swim responsibility statement: <http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsib…> http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsib… All swimmers swim at their own risk.

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OSS Swim the Thames #21 - Kennington to Sandford Lock - 11:00am Sunday 25th March 2012
by Chris Dalton 24 Feb '12

24 Feb '12

Ice Maidens and Ice Men of the Isis*, It’s time to start thawing out! By the time 25th March comes about the icy Winter waters should have been replaced by an (almost) tropical Spring flow and even the Neoprene Ninja should be looking forward to jumping in for the 1500m swim. In an attempt to confuse and disorient everyone our Glorious Leaders have delegated the organization of Swim #21 to me and, as such, we will have no tardiness or faffing around thank you very much!!! We will meet in the car park of the Kings Arms at Sandford-on-Thames at 11am (sharp) on Sunday 25th March: <http://g.co/maps/af5ag> http://g.co/maps/af5ag We will then walk upstream to the entry point at the little beach here: <http://g.co/maps/2fqgv> http://g.co/maps/2fqgv and then swim back to the lock next to the pub. There seem to be various possible routes but the possibility of getting lost just adds to the excitement! The car park costs £1 for 3 hours which will be refunded by the pub when we eat. If time is looking tight we can top up with another pound before going into the pub but I’m told that you can’t get a refund if you put in £2 at the start. It’s likely that this swim is part of a swim from Michael Worthington’s book but I don’t have a copy so I don’t know! See you all there!! Chris x * Although, strictly speaking, now we are downstream of Iffley Lock I believe it is just the plain old Thames. OSS swim responsibility statement: By attending you confirm that you are a member of the OSS and have read and accepted the OSS swim responsibility statement: <http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsib…> http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsib… All swimmers swim at their own risk.

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OSS Swim the Thames 2012 - Dates for your Diaries
by Jeremy Wellingham 21 Feb '12

21 Feb '12

OSS Swim the Thames 2012 - Dates for your Diaries At the risk of reducing the spontaneity and the rather happy go lucky approach to our swimming we have set dates for the 2012 season of the OSS Swim the Thames. Don't know exactly where we will be swimming on these dates yet but these are the dates we will be swimming on. Full details will be sent in the normal way, a couple of weeks prior to each swim, via Facebook events, OSSOxon / OSSRATS mail list and the OSS website. Gives us flexibility to vary our pace to suit the conditions and how we feel on the day. Monday 2nd January End of year party Sunday 15th January Sunday 19th February Sunday 25th March Monday 9th April Easter Monday Sunday 22nd April Anniversary of Swim the Thames Saturday 5th May Camp Sunday 6th May Bank Holiday weekend Saturday 19th May Late Afternoon swim Monday 4th June Camp Tuesday 5th June Jubilee Bank Holiday Saturday 16th June Late Afternoon swim Saturday 30th June Dorset Camp Sunday 1st July Dorset Camp Sunday 15th July Early Afternoon Saturday 28th July Late Afternoon Sunday 12th August Saturday 25th August Camp Sunday 26th August Bank Holiday weekend Saturday 8th September Camp Sunday 9th September Sunday 30th September Sunday 14th October Sunday 28th October Sunday 18th November Sunday 9th December We've attached a calendar and list of dates that you can print and stick to the fridge with the dates on. We have earmarked 5 weekends for camps so we can have two days swimming and a night time dip. How this works will depend on where we are on that dates and if there is a suitable site so we will play this by ear and if we don't manage all days at least hope to get three camps this year. For the mid summer swims we're trying the idea of a late afternoon / early evening swims followed by a pub dinner as an alternative to morning swims. We can always change to the day time again if we decide that we don't like the idea after all. Pencil these dates in your diaries and look out for the individual announcements with full details nearer the time. /Sef & Jeremy and the folk from the River Bank e-mail: / /oxford(a)outdoorswimmingsociety.com <mailto:oxford@outdoorswimmingsociety.com> / / OSS swim responsibility statement: By attending you confirm that you are a member of the OSS and have read and accepted the OSS swim responsibility statement: http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsib… <http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsib…> All swimmers swim at their own risk./

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OSS Swim the Thames #20 - Iffley Lock to Kennington - 11:00am Sunday 19th February 2012
by Jeremy Wellingham 05 Feb '12

05 Feb '12

/Ice Maidens and Ice Men of the Isis, / /Welcome to the season of Winter, at least for this week and who knows for the week after next. / /Picking up the pace a little, but not too much, February’s swim will be just over a kilometre at 1.2km starting where we left off at Iffley Lock and finishing at a convenient beach adjacent to Kennington. (This will get us almost halfway towards Sandford Lock, which will be the aim of the 1.5km March swim on Sun25Mar12.) / /Once under the road bridge, visible from Iffley Lock, that carries Oxford's Southern Bypass, there are plenty of exits points along the way to allow for an early escape, if the temperature is too challenging. (January's swim was 4ºC - can't get much colder else we'll be walking on it!) / // /This swim is the first almost half of Swim 31 in Michael Worthington's I ♥the Thames book./ /We will meet in the Health Centre car park – free parking – opposite The Tandem pub at 11:00am on Sunday 19^th February 2012:/ // /http://g.co/maps/dkebh/ // /There is a short walk from there, over the railway foot bridge, to the river, where will check out the exit point before walking upstream to Iffley Lock:/ // /http://g.co/maps/gczt9 / // /At Iffley Lock we’ll jump in as near to the downstream side of the punt lock that mud allows to return to our exit point here.:/ // /http://g.co/maps/2fqgv/ // /Returning to the cars we can then repair to The Tandem pub for a spot of lunch:/ /http://g.co/maps/932ur Sef & Jeremy and the Penguins and Polar Bears of the Thames e-mail: / /oxford(a)outdoorswimmingsociety.com <mailto:oxford@outdoorswimmingsociety.com> / / OSS swim responsibility statement: By attending you confirm that you are a member of the OSS and have read and accepted the OSS swim responsibility statement: http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsib… <http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsib…> All swimmers swim at their own risk./

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OSS Swim the Thames 19 - Donny Bridge to Iffley Lock - 11:00am Sunday 16th January 2012
by Jeremy Wellingham 08 Jan '12

08 Jan '12

/Arvicola terrestris/ of the Isis, It's a New Year and resolutions made, such as swimming every month of the year outside, are being called in. After an exploratory dip on the 2nd January 2012 we are now ready to continue our quest to the end of the Thames. Initial plans suggest we could be at Maidenhead by the end of 2012, a 100km down stream. "A swim of a 100 klicks begins with a single stroke." /Lao-tzu// (604 BC - 531 BC)/. We will make a easy start to the year with a swim of 0.85km, from Donnington Bridge to Iffley Lock. Meet at 11.00am, Sunday 15th January 2012, at this car park: http://g.co/maps/s7v2s off Meadow Lane, Oxford, second-left after the canoe club. Meadow Lane is the last right turn off Donnington Bridge Road before the bridge from the town side, or the first left from the Hinksey side. The car park is an unkempt wee council number with plenty of bushes for changing in. It was free in December but bring a couple of squids just in case. We'll jump in the Thames just next to the car park, swim to Iffley Lock and, to warm up, walk back to the car park and get changed. Afterwards, we propose a pub lunch at the Isis Farmhouse, just before Iflley Lock - a must-visit on the pubs of the Thames tour that we are also engaged in - the same one we visited in December. If you listen hard enough, the river chatters, "a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea," as the great Mole once recounted in the days before he learnt to swim, and twas in these waters that the Water Rat saved the gaolbird Toad and fell asleep to the Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Prizes for anyone who can retrieve the picnic basket. Outdoor swimmers and romantic heroes, a river (/The/ River) is calling you for the First 'Swim the Thames' of the year 2012! Yours Sef & Jeremy and the Wind in the Willows of the Isis PS. This swim is the third, and final, part of Swim 30 in Michael Worthington's I ? the Thames. PPS. Watch out for weasels. e-mail: Oxford(a)outdoorswimmingsociety.com <http://ety.com> OSS swim responsibility statement: By attending you confirm that you are a member of the OSS and have read and accepted the OSS swim responsibility statement: http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsib… <http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsib…> All swimmers swim at their own risk.

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