Paradiso Cinema Club - Wild Water Swimming - Double Bill!

Wild Swimming

In a change from our normal format Paradiso Cinema Club is delighted to present a unique evening exploring wild swimming. The evening will commence with a talk and Q&A by Devonian author Simon Tozer. Amongst many of his titles Simon is the author of “Wylde Swimming”. We will follow with the award winning film, Wildwater. A fascinating look at and a dive into the cold water swimming community at England’s highest beach. (Click on the white arrows to scroll through the pictures.)

Simon Tozer

Simon Tozer is a Devonian author who writes novels and guidebooks about the county he loves. He wrote his second novel "Wylde swimming" in 2022 and so many people thought it was a guide to wild swimming places that he decided to write two of these in 2023. As a keen lover of walking and local history, he started to add these in too, so the books grew and they have proven very popular. To date there are three novels and three local guidebooks with more on the way for 2024.

Wild Swimming on Dartmoor - You will hear many people say "Wild swimming? when I was a kid it was just called swimming". Whilst that might be true, some of the locations on Dartmoor are truly "wild", whereas others are much more popular and busy. Where are the best places to swim? How should you go about it? What is the history behind these swimming locations? What are my own experiences of swimming on Dartmoor as a child through the present day.

Simon Tozer photo credit Poppy Jakes

Wildwater

What drives somebody to swim in a freezing reservoir, and what do they find on the other side? ‘Wild Water’ tracks the landscape and the people as they use the restorative powers of cold water to reconnect with their mental health, identity, nature and each other. This film is a documentary with Yorkshire’s Gaddings Dam providing the backdrop to swimmers’ lives and the story of their community.

Gaddings Dam is a reservoir hidden in the West Yorkshire moors 780 feet above sea level. The bleak but romantic landscape, steeped in the poetry and prose of Ted Hughes and the Brontës, is home to England’s highest beach. The small strip of sand acts as a magnet to a community of swimmers, day-trippers, walkers, bikers and runners.

There is a rhythm as people come and go, having made the twenty-minute trek up a broken footpath, each drawn to the beauty as it changes with the seasons; always the same, always different. Some hardened locals brave the wind, rain and snow to wild swim all seasons for escape, comradeship, to keep the black dog at bay or just for the sheer thrill. As they hit the water, all experience the same visceral hit, taking away everything except the moment.

But there is more to this place than just swimming; a whole ecosystem of activity circulates around the reservoir. There are the volunteers who maintain the footpaths in all weathers, the pub landlord fighting to keep vehicles out of his carpark, the farmer and whose cattle need rescuing, the Gaddings Dam Preservation Society, and the January Daily Dippers.

Awards

· Hawaii International Film Award 2023

· Kendal Mountain Festival 2023

· Toronto Documentary Feature and Short Film Festival 2023

Tickets are priced at £7.50

Please note tickets are non-refundable. There are only a limited number of tickets available and are released on a first -come first served basis with Paradiso Cinema Club members having early access.

Doors at Wickham Hall will open at 18.45 and we will be diving into the evening at 19.30.  Non- alcoholic drinks and light snacks will be available to purchase. There will be an intermission for refreshments and leg stretching.

Please note there is limited on street parking at the venue and we recommend that you park at the Riverside car park - a short 5-10 minute walk. Wickham Hall is a wonderful venue for our Cinema Club nights but is not the purpose built cinema that we will have at Paradiso  - you may wish to bring a cushion with you on the night to improve the seat comfort!