LOCAL HISTORY

BY SYLVIA ENDACOTT

Today we regularly see people cold water swimming in the sea, because it is seemingly good for you. Not for me I am afraid.

However, over 120 years ago, swimming was also seen to be good for you but with a quite unfamiliar perspective. Ladies could swim off the beach, however men and boys over ten years of age would have to be in a different area.

Swimming was from a bathing machine, known as a contraption on wheels, pulled out to sea by a horse. Swimmers could hire a bathing costume and a towel from our very own famous bathing lady, Mary Wheatland, before entering the machine to undress. Once they had finished their swim, they would re-enter the machine and dress whilst the machine was dragged back up the beach. On exiting they would return their costume and towel, to allow Mary to wash and lay out to dry, ready for the next swimmer. Very different from what we do today!

Mary continued to operate these machines on the beach until 1909, when she decided to retire at the age of 74. During this time, she was attributed to having saved over 30 lives and her boast was that she ‘never lost a life.’ She had strong views on modern dress. She once remarked that in her day: “Ladies wore respectable costumes, and I always wore a blue serge dress down to my feet, but today I don’t know what things are coming to!” Her view in the 1900 era, I wonder how she would review today’s swimmers!