Title
Safe swimming
Description
Pat talks about swimming at an unauthorised spot at the new Donnington Bridge and her father's reaction to it.
Date
22 July 2023
Transcription
Interviewer: So was it free to use the outdoor…
Pat: Oh, yes! Yes, completely free. Yes, we didn’t have to pay anything. And we were always safe there. And I know when they were building Donnington Bridge, a lot of children were going to look to see what was going on and they started swimming in the river round there.
Well my sister and I decided one day we would go with them, because Mum and Dad couldn’t come – or we thought they couldn’t come. And they didn’t, but somebody reported to my father that they’d seen us in there. [inaudible] “What do you think they’ve got bathing places for? Those rivers are dangerous! Oh dear.” And yet, when he was 9, he told lies to the council and swam, when he should have been 11, with a mile swim from Folly Bridge to Iffley Lock. And he did it when he was 9! And he’s got a certificate for it. So, I mean, there was him telling us. But when I mentioned it to him late when we were older and he said “but it was supervised, they had boats!”.
Of course, it’s true, those bathing places were there for safety, weren’t they?
Pat: Oh, yes! Yes, completely free. Yes, we didn’t have to pay anything. And we were always safe there. And I know when they were building Donnington Bridge, a lot of children were going to look to see what was going on and they started swimming in the river round there.
Well my sister and I decided one day we would go with them, because Mum and Dad couldn’t come – or we thought they couldn’t come. And they didn’t, but somebody reported to my father that they’d seen us in there. [inaudible] “What do you think they’ve got bathing places for? Those rivers are dangerous! Oh dear.” And yet, when he was 9, he told lies to the council and swam, when he should have been 11, with a mile swim from Folly Bridge to Iffley Lock. And he did it when he was 9! And he’s got a certificate for it. So, I mean, there was him telling us. But when I mentioned it to him late when we were older and he said “but it was supervised, they had boats!”.
Of course, it’s true, those bathing places were there for safety, weren’t they?
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