It was surprisingly warm for the North of England, the sun was out, and there was little wind. Perfect conditions for a stroll by the river, and perhaps a little paddling...

Andrea had been horse riding that morning, as usual, and she saw no reason to get changed from the clothes she was wearing. So, in her tweed-effect Eqcouture jodhpurs with matching riding shirt, and a pair of Aigle Coupe Saumur rubber riding boots, she drove the couple of miles to the river. After playing for a few minutes in the maze by the carpark, she walked down to the riverbank. The water level was low and the current slow. The water was dark peaty brown and quite warm in the shallows where she dipped her hand. As she walked downstream, she inevitably kept edging towards the centre of the flow until, equally inevitably, the water breeched the tops of her rubber riding boots, trickled down inside and started to pool around her ankles. It felt delicious.

Wading deeper and deeper she enjoyed the experience immensely. She removed her jacket so that she'd have something dry to drive home in, and slowly submerged herself in the river. She splashed and swam and floated. It was cool and exhilarating and she felt immersed in nature as well as the river.

At one stage she climbed onto the bank to warm-up in the sunshine, her wet clothes getting coated in river sand as she lay on her back. After a good rinsing in a deep part of the river, she clambered back onto the rock where she had left her jacket. Pulling it on over her wet-shirt, she put her binoculars back around her neck and splashed her way upstream towards her truck. What a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours on a sunny early-Summer afternoon.