News / wild swimming
How the fight of river bathers is being highlighted on the big screen
“It’s really quite breathtaking, especially when you get in the water,” says Charlotte Sawyer, as she gazes out onto the light-dappled waterway at Conham River Park.
Two paddle boarders are gliding past nearby almost noiselessly, their misty breath forming like fleeting clouds in the cold weather. A dog walker pauses for a moment to take in the view.
“I love looking in that direction as the valley is really lovely – a real kind of arresting beauty,” she continues.
is needed now More than ever
“You can only hear the birds and the leaves rustling. I’m so lucky to live here, yet I know it could make me sick if I put my head under the water.”
It was Sawyer’s love and admiration of this small section of the River Avon in St George and a growing sense of frustration at the illnesses it is linked to, that inspired the filmmaker to create a feature-length film documenting how people are reclaiming the beauty spot and campaigning for it to be made safe.
‘Mermaid’ Lindsey Cole (left) and filmmaker Charlotte Sawyer (right) – photo: David Morris
For generations, the area in the Avon woodlands has been popular with swimmers, many of whom take to the water in all weather and seasons and deeply value the benefits of the activity from boosting mental health to enriching connection to nature.
But a 2009 bylaw bans swimming at the beauty spot all the way up to Hanham Lock, meaning the water quality is not officially monitored and the river is not made fit for bathing.
In 2022, Wessex Water discharged raw sewage directly into the river 23,524 times for a total duration of 151,258 hours.
That figure is according to local activist group Conham Bathing, which has been working since the pandemic to overturn the bylaw and create a designated bathing water area, which would force more rigorous testing for faecal bacteria.
Their campaign attracted strong backing with a petition gathering thousands of signatures and a loud and colourful protest taking place outside City Hall in October 2022, where bathers donned their swimming costumes and caps to call for safe swimming at Conham.
View this post on Instagram
Almost 18 months on, a spokesperson for Bristol City Council told Bristol24/7 that due to the existing bylaws, it is not in a position to support the application for bathing water status as it would encourage prohibited activity.
They said that without professional safety supervision and direction, swimming in the Avon would carry “significant risks” from boats, also highlighting the risk of illness, cold water shock and strong currents.
The council added that safe harbour swimming sessions are set to return to the Floating Harbour in April.
A bylaw currently bans all swimming in the harbour and along the Avon – photo: Charlotte Sawyer
Sawyer, who lives minutes from the river and swims there regularly, describes her documentary film, titled Rave On For The Avon, as a “tapestry” of users’ stories – from other wild swimmers who find solace in its waters and families using the river as a free outdoor activity to activists using art and creativity to highlight the bathing status campaign.
Speaking in the film about the role of the river in his life, 72-year-old cleaner Frank says: “If you push yourself past resistance, it always pays.
“That little effort spills over to every other aspect and you are replenished, pacified and drenched in a kind of holy silence.
“Over the three years, my connection to nature has hugely deepened without any effort – it just happened. It’s like a kind of food.
“Water is just such a great friend to you.”
An activist ‘married’ the Avon in a ceremony in 2023 – photo: Charlotte Sawyer
Also featured is Megan Ruth-Trump, dubbed the River Goddess, when she ‘marries’ the Avon in a flower and cardboard fish-fuelled ceremony in a bid to grant ‘legal personhood’ status to the much-loved river, as well as Bristol ‘mermaid’ Lindsey Cole on her mission to raise awareness of water pollution and swim coach Wafa Suliman taking Mehbooba Ferdoush cold water river swimming for the first time.
“I wanted to capture people reclaiming the right to free blue spaces,” explains Sawyer.
“The only thing there seems to be a right of currently is the right of companies to make money. So this film is about love and joy, from people’s love of a spectacular river to the love that they get when they swim there.”
The 85-minute-long film is perforated by a soundtrack of Bristol artists, including Elder Island, DJ Ngaio Anyia and Maz McNamara, mixed with visually rich, sweeping shots of the river and its wildlife.
As well as shining a light on its beauty, the film aims to directly pressure the council to remove the bylaw at Conham River Park and make rivers safe for swimming in Bristol and beyond.
“I want Wessex Water and the council to know that we are watching and we are not impressed,” says Sawyer.
“If we share the film nationally, there’s the hope that it points people who live near a river or a lake to start a bathing application.”
‘Rave On For the Avon’ is premiering in Bristol on March 23. For details and tickets to the screening, Q&A and DJ night featuring artists from the documentary, visit www.eightysita.com/raveonfortheavondocumentary
Main photo: Charlotte Sawyer
Read next:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
