Netherton Reservoir Wild Swimming

Netherton Open Water Swimming is Lodge Farm Reservoir, Highbridge Road, Netherton, Dudley DY2 0HL, home of Dudley Water Sports Centre, a mile from Merry Hill. NOWCA wristband, scan in and out. Lifeguards. 400m loop, stretched to 600m and 750m when the safety team is there. You go because Dudley has a bookable reservoir circuit with showers and a coffee van, and because the NOWCA venue page still had a live weather widget on 25 August 2026. You also go knowing swimming outside their sessions is trespass, bookings are non-refundable, and the postcode without care dumps you in Saltwells car park.

Getting in

NOWCA membership first — £20 a year on 2026 NOWCA copy. The weebly rules page still says £12; that is stale. Register on nowca.org, name this venue, collect the band on site. Book on ACTiO. kscan prices: open-water swim £7.50, winter £8.75, child £5.50, guest £10, introduction £15, on-site cold-water induction £15. Other session types sit on the app. All bookings non-refundable and non-transferable. Disclaimer via their Jotform before you swim.

Summer, usually May to September: Monday 18:00–20:00; Thursday 18:00–20:00, last swimmer out 19:45, off site 20:00; Saturday 07:00–09:00, last out 08:45, off site 09:00. Times vary — ACTiO and the Facebook page. Monday evenings finish towards the end of September; winter is Saturday mornings, lighting dependent. Late, loitering, or a long chat at the gate and they may refuse you.

Satnav DY2 0HL, not Saltwells. Park in the reservoir car park at the rear of the complex, not across residents’ gates. Overflow: Copse Road DY2 0AL. Car-share if you can. Free parking. Changing, including a disabled wet room, and hot showers. Do not use the disabled changing unless you need it. Clubhouse parquet stays dry — no wet kit, no wetsuits inside, and they will lock you out if the watersports centre has hired the room.

The swim

Bright hat, every swimmer. NOWCA band, every time; only crew scan you, do not help yourself. Tow float: children 8–14, adults new to open water, and anyone in skins. Children 8–14 swim 1:1 with a full-paying adult, band on, float on. Backstroke is treated as a distress signal — swim on your front. New swimmers can be held near the jetty until the crew are happy; that can take more than one session. Cold water means a time limit. They recommend the induction on visit one.

kscan: be able to swim at least 200m in a pool before you try this. Weebly code of conduct: 500m continuous, and over 14. Both are theirs. Do not guess. Ask the crew which bar they are applying. Loop length depends on who is on safety. Coffee shop most weeks, card or cash. Dogs on a lead. Wetsuit hire and 2XU sales are advertised on the weebly home page.

Worth knowing

NOWCA Wild group on the venue page still said “coming soon” in August 2026. ACTiO is the booking. It is not a wild-swim pin. If you want a Berkswell fire-pit hour without a wristband, Lavender Hall. If you want a Bromsgrove Wednesday 400m, Aztec — until 9 September. This is the Netherton reservoir: band on, hat on, out by the time they said, and do not follow the postcode into the woods.