Bright future for Midlands wild swimming and wellbeing retreat praised by tourism bosses

A wild swimming and wellbeing retreat in Worcestershire praised by tourism bosses is looking to improve its offering.

Watersedge, near Evesham, offers year-round open water swimming and a range of wellbeing experiences including yoga, sauna and spa days.

Sisters Sophy Howard and Emily Lang started the business in 2022.

“It was Emily’s vision,” said Sophy. “As a family we’d bought the lake off the golf course 20 years earlier and ran it as a fishery, but mum wanted to turn it into a wild swimming lake.

“She fell ill in 2020 and passed away nine months later. I was due to move back to London and didn’t really get it at first but when we got the stretch tent up and we started doing yoga sessions, I looked around and thought ‘this could be really cool’ and I got really into doing the social media.”

Sophy describes Emily as the “brains and financial” side of the operation while she takes care of social media and spends more time at the site.

“It’s a place I love being at and we complement each other really well,” she said.

The business is clearly a family affair and the gym studio at Watersedge is named after the sisters’ mum Susan Howard.

“It’s all been done with mum in mind and a lot of people know that,” said Sophy. “It’s a healing place – there’s an energy here, it’s calming. It’s nice. Mum would have loved it.”

Plans for a two-storey timber building submitted to Wychavon District Council would allow Watersedge to hold more of its wild spa days, which Sophy said are “great for bringing people together”.

“The application is for a new building that will provide much needed storage for our merchandise and equipment, along with a proper office space for our team, as our current setup really isn’t adequate anymore,” she said.

“The building is really important to the business, helping us improve the experience for the people already visiting Watersedge and supporting the team behind the scenes.”

Lorna Robinson, visitor economy manager at Visit Worcestershire, said: “Watersedge is well-placed to contribute meaningfully to Worcestershire’s growing reputation as a destination  for outdoor recreation, wellbeing retreats, and nature-based experiences.

“The enhancements proposed would help ensure its long-term sustainability and enable it to continue supporting both local residents and visitors seeking high-quality rural leisure opportunities.”