By Louisa Gregson
You can also read this article on The Lead here
The Fylde Coast sea water was a bracing seven degrees on Tuesday, but retiree Chris Pogson donned her wetsuit and fluorescent green swimming cap and waded in at Fleetwood all the same.
Chris joined the Cleveleys Dippers in 2022. A group of likeminded women, many of them of a certain age, came together to reap the health and wellbeing benefits of sea bathing that Blackpool’s Tourism Industry was built on.
But Pogson wasn’t dipping on Tuesday. She was sampling the sea water to check for pollution.
“A lot of people have stopped dipping due to mistrust in the safety of our waters,” Pogson, who’s part of a citizen science project undertaken by local campaign group Fylde Coast Against Sewage (FCAW), told
The Blackpool Lead.
“The Environment Agency only tests the water in what they deem to be the bathing season between May and October,” explained campaign chair Barbara Kneale, who stood on the shore while Pogson retrieved the deep water sample.
“But of course wild swimmers go out in all weathers and people paddle, people walk their dogs and people let their children play on the beach all year round. Let’s not forget the water comes onto the sand that we let our children dig in.”
While beaches here are well-maintained, for many residents there are mounting concerns over how safe the water is, following worrying statistics that showed raw sewage was released into open water on the Fylde Coast more than 1,500 times in 2022.
On Monday the government announced that over £180m of investment will be fast-tracked to prevent sewage spills, with United Utilities, who operate on the Fylde Coast, earmarked to receive £39m.
Work to prevent spills can’t come quickly enough for the Dippers, who were forced onto dry land last June after a pipe burst during a storm resulting in sewage, mixed with rainwater being released into the sea and temporary bathing restrictions being imposed.
When she found out about the sewage discharges, Dipper Michelina Sophia said she was shocked.
“Our beautiful sea is being pumped full of crap. Even on days it hasn't rained, if the forecast says it might, then there's a sewage discharge just in case the drains can't take the excess water.
“You can wake up on a Saturday morning knowing the tide and weather is perfect, only to find there'd been a sewage release at midnight. Then again two days later. You don't realise how regular and ongoing it is until you start to check,” said Sophia.
“Like many older women, I have health conditions and braving the cold sea along with the movement really helped. It helped my chronic fatigue, lessened pain and was great for my mental health. We are blessed to have this free and powerful force of nature on our doorstep as a remedy for all kinds of ills.
“From dipping twice a week, I've now not been for two months. We hardly even bother what the weather's like now – as long as there's no sewage, it feels safe.”
People from Blackpool take pride in the seafront - and with good reason.
In 2016, a study commissioned by Royal Caribbean that looked at clarity of horizon, sea colour, cleanliness and other features concluded that Blackpool had the second best shoreline in the world. Blackpool South beach was awarded Blue Flag status in the same year.
EU environmental laws are credited with the improvement of the beaches where, in 1988, just six of 29 waters surveyed around Blackpool met bathing water guidelines. In 2014, all the town’s beaches passed the test.
While in 2019 the Environment Agency classified all Blackpool’s bathing water as good, in 2023 it was downgraded to sufficient for Blackpool Central and South – and insufficient for Blackpool North.
“I feel particularly aggrieved because I remember the sea being bad and then I remember it getting better with EU directives. Now I’m seeing it get bad again,” said Kneale.
Mark Sandford, 58, who owns the New Chelvedon Hotel on Chapel Street believes unclean seas and bathing restrictions could have an impact on tourism and businesses like his that rely on it.
He told
The Blackpool Lead: "The statistics are terrible. If the restrictions had carried on longer than they did in June it could have affected people coming to the town. When families come, they want to use the beach and they want it to be clean and not full of sewage.
"It is very important that the water is constantly clean. People may not necessarily stop coming altogether but they might not come as much. That’s bound to have a knock-on effect on every business that relies on tourism."
Ian Bell, 49, is a regular visitor to Blackpool, bringing his daughter to the town to enjoy the rides and swim in the water.
“I have suffered from eczema for 20 years and when I was in Mallorca the sea healed my skin along with the sunshine. We went on a family holiday to Blackpool and I thought I would go in the water, have some fun and encourage my daughter to swim. But when I got out I felt like I had been stung head to toe from jellyfish. It was quite intense.
“I heard that there had been a sewage overflow and thought, oh my god, I was swimming in that water then. It’s horrendous what’s going on. Where do these people who work in the water industry take their children? Do they not take their kids to the beach or for a trip out? Do they not tell their kids to go in the water?"
Resident Kelly Simons said she worries about the negative effects on people and animal's health. "The sea is a slurry of sewage. United Utilities are discharging into the sea all through the year. It’s a health hazard for people and pets and god only knows what harm it’s doing to sea life."