A safer sea for everyone
Ninety years of swimming on Weston’s seafront — and the community group who keep the water open, free and cared for.
What the Marine Lake is
An enclosed tidal lake, held behind a curved stone wall at the northern end of the seafront.
Weston sits on the Bristol Channel, which has the second largest tidal range in the world. Twice a day the sea walks out most of a mile and the bay turns to mud. It is a beautiful thing to watch and an impossible thing to swim in.
The lake solves that. The tide comes in over the wall, fills the basin behind it, and the wall keeps hold of the water as the sea retreats. What is left is all day, year-round water access for all — deep enough to swim properly in, calm enough to learn in, and there whether the tide is or not.
It is free. There is no gate, no ticket and no season. Sunsets are included at no extra charge.
Our history
Nine decades of swimmers, storms, closures and comebacks. The lake has been written off more than once — and it is still here.
1927
The case is made
Weston’s councillors argue for a bathing pool that does not empty with the tide. The seafront is booming, and the mud is bad for business.
1930s
The wall goes up
The curved causeway is built across the bay below Knightstone, enclosing the water and creating the Marine Lake as swimmers know it today.
1950s–60s
The busy years
Galas, diving displays and swimming lessons for every school in the town. Photographs from the decade show the wall three deep with spectators.
1980s–90s
Quiet water
Cheap flights and heated indoor pools take the crowds elsewhere. Maintenance slips, and the lake silts up.
2011
The Mudlarks form
A handful of year-round swimmers start clearing the steps themselves, then organising work parties, then raising money for repairs.
Today
Busier than ever
Open water swimming is back, and so is the lake — group swims most days of the week, a New Year’s Day tradition, and water tested through the season.
The Mudlarks
The Marine Lake is looked after by a volunteer community group. No paid staff, no membership fee — just people who swim here and would rather the lake stayed open.
We look after the water
Monthly work parties clear the steps and the silt traps, check the wall after big tides and keep the rescue equipment stocked.
We test it
Samples go off for laboratory testing every fortnight through the season. Every result is published, good or bad.
See the resultsWe swim together
Sunrise swims, sunset socials, the Polar Bear Challenge and a beginners’ session for anyone nervous about their first cold dip.
See what’s on
Sam Whitcombe
Chair · swims every day
Priya Raman
Water testing lead
Dave Elms
Work parties and the wall
Nia Roberts
Events and volunteers
Weston’s wild heart
The lake is not a swimming pool. It is a piece of the Bristol Channel with a wall around it, and it behaves like one — the water carries the channel’s own silt, its temperature swings from 5°C to 18°C across the year, and the birds treat it as theirs.
Curlew and oystercatcher work the mud on either side of the wall. Little egrets stand in the shallows at the far end. In late summer the water can turn the colour of weak tea with plankton, which is harmless and, if you swim at dusk, occasionally spectacular.
Swimming here is a different thing from swimming indoors. That is the point of it.
Plan your visit
Ninety years old, and entirely community run
The lake has no owner with deep pockets. It has swimmers — and everything they give, in money or in hours, goes straight back into the water.