Goodness… not villages but small pretty towns

Ludlow
Keswick
Arundel
Aldeburgh

just four random suggestions that came to mind in different parts of the country to whet your appetite - difficult to know where to start really.

You want to go swimming in an English river???

Hi Thin,
What about a nice country house hotel in the middle of the New Forest in Hampshire?
There is the Limewood, near Lyndhurst, they have bikes to use on their biking trails, there are walking trails, a spa, it is 12 miles from Southhampton and 22 miles from Winchester.
They have a helipad in case you want to arrive in style wearing your opera cape. lol.

www.limewoodhotel.co.uk
I think I read something about fly fishing so that would indicate a river nearby.
I am staying at their slightly cheaper sister property in July. (also in the New Forest)
Called The Pig. www.thepighotel.com

Both places seem to get good raves for the food in their restaurants.

Or, in Ireland, rather than England, the Liss Ard estate near Cork. Also an old country house done up into a hotel, this one has lakes and ponds with rowing and kayaking etc (and I would imagine, swimming) Lots of places to ramble about on the 150 acre property and bikes supplied for cycling the same as the two above places. (and yes, I confess to a bias, staying here for four days end of June) wwwlissardestate.com

Good luck, it is so much fun planning holidays.

The New Forest came to mind. Or any of several Cotswold towns/villages (not raging rivers but pretty streams). Also several pretty riverside towns along the Thames between Oxford and Maidenhead.

I'm not clear why one poster here finds the idea of swimming in an English river odd. Another of those feckless Yanks terrified at the thought of something not overheated to meltdown or airconditioned to freezing point?

Few English riverside towns or villages are suitable for swimming. The river is often too shallow - or paradoxically, so fast running, or boat-clogged, that the local health and safety people aggressively discourage (and sometimes outright ban) it.

Public swimming pools - heated or unheated - are very rare outside larger towns, and often under financial threat so what was open last year might not be this year. Country house hotels don't often run to swimming pools, so the place raincitygirl quotes is a bit of a rarity. With nowhere more than 70 miles from the coast, there's limited demand for inland swimming places.

It's often a lot easier to find a swimming site a few hundred yards away from the town or village centre in a tributary river or a pond. Typically such places aren't signposted or listed in local guides.

There's a map at http://www.wildswimming.co.uk/wild-swim-map-uk/?multi_region=wild-swim-map-uk. And a separately compiled listing at http://www.river-swimming.co.uk/places.htm.

The listing gives the full postcode for inland wild swimming spots. In the kind of countrified area close to a small town the poster's probably interested in, full postcodes are typically about 200 yds x 200 yds, so the listing gives a good idea of how far from the village centre swimming might be. But they need to be checked on a map (just enter the full postcode into Google Maps), since in more remote areas the full postcode can be tens of square miles.

"Or any of several Cotswold towns/villages"

The ONLY example I can think of (and that just outside the AONB boundary, but still good for walks, capable of being swum in and having a hotel within a half-mile walk of the swimming spot) is Minster Lovell.

Flanner, I didn't say either of my English country house hotels had a pool and the one in Ireland has lakes and ponds.
I think I saw something on the Limewood's website about fly fishing so thought there would be a river there for Thin. But for the reasons you described above it may not be suitable for swimming.
I would imagine there would be some nice seaside places to swim not too far from Lyndhurst.

Wild swimmers and other subversives will enjoy Roger Deakin's Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain.

raincitygirl, just wanted to say I have stayed at The Pig and it is divine. The restaurant is a corker.

"I didn't say either of my English country house hotel had a pool"

I know. That's why I checked the Limewood myself. It does.

flanneruk - I can't imagine why surprise at someone wanting to swim in an English river should be described as feckless. I grew up in England, although I no longer live there, and my surprise was for the reasons you list - plus the weather. I grew up swimming in the North Sea or the Channel, but it only took one visit to the Med for me to give up such a masochistic exercise.

Nowhere in my post did I write that I wanted to swim in a river, guv. It isn't there.

I also grew up in England, but left in 1979.

Thank you for your suggestions.

I am not looking for spa experience. Looking for something simple and remote.

Cheers,
Thin

Thin,

I loved this place on the river Usk when I stayed there 20 years ago, looks like it has been tarted up since then, but possibly to the good:

http://www.gliffaeshotel.com/

Also, Wales not England.

The Rising Sun in Lynmouth, Devon, small-ish rooms and tiny bathrooms but fantastic food.

Thank you for that suggestion, cath.

My granny is from Merthyr Tydfil.

I am so sick of visiting Berks and Kent every time I go home to see my family.

Thin

Thin, I can recommend Holkham on the North Norfolk coast. You won't be swimming in a river, but it has a long sandy beach (see the closing scene of Shakespeare in Love) and the water is about as clear as you get in the North Sea. There are several charming villages with upmarket shops and restaurants in the area.

Oh, and it's a great place for hiking and cycling on the Holkham Hall estate.

Kate, glad to hear the Pig was great, am looking forward to it.

Flanner, I'm glad to hear there is a pool at the Limewood, I did not see that. Now I know I can have a swim while at the Pig.

There are some lovely riverside villages in South Cornwall, also near enough to the sea for beach swimming. The River Fal and River Helford are two rivers worth checking out. Follow this link for ideas http://postcards-pfte.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Cornwall

Hi Thin,

We haven't stayed here yet (we will be going in Sept), but you might find this interesting.
www.cotteswoldhouse.org.uk/ in Bibury, near Cirencester.

It is about a 5 min walk from the river Coln.

Don't know if these locales would be too twee for you but perhaps renting a cottage in Bibury or The Slaughters in Gloucestershire would fit the bill. If you are open to larger towns, actually small but handsome cities, I think Warwick or Durham could work for you.

a photo of each place from flickr:

Lower Slaughter (River Windrush)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smithandjones/8342923640/lightbox/

Bibury (River Coln)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcdemoura/3781238585/lightbox/

Warwick (River Avon)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidnoble/8394816515/lightbox/

Durham (River Wear)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30436878@N06/4911270533/lightbox/

Second vote for the Helford River and Falmouth.

Swim from the little beach at the bottom of Heligan gardens, magical place.

The Pandora inn

http://www.pandorainn.com/

Is about as British pubby as it gets.





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I guess you could swim in the Slaughters...why not just go over and WADE at Bourton-on-the-Water and EVERYBODY could take your picture, and I do mean everybody!!!

I have always wanted to visit one or more of these cottages. I have been on their email list for ages, but have never had (or made) the time to vacation with them. Grove Cottages: http://www.grove-cottages.co.uk/. Numerous locations to select from, generally, bikes available, and some on the coast. Walking seems to be a big feature, some canoeing, and perhaps the opportunity to borrow a dog to walk.

Other nice small towns with river walks: Salisbury and Winchester. And, of course, anything along the Thames will have access to the Thames River path. But forests other than the New Forest are pretty rare.