Why do so many of us step into the water? Compiled and edited by Rachel Jones, Toes in the Water explores the life-affirming and healing power of wild swimming. With insights from a wide range of swimmers, the book explores the community around wild swimming, interwoven with the mental and physical health benefits which swimmers gain from it. The featured swimmers share the connection they feel with the natural world, and how this can lead to a positive impact on the environment around them. Packed full of inspiring stories, Toes in the Water is a book that could change your life.

The featured swimmers include open-water coach and year-round outdoor swimmer Ella Foote, who describes how the swimming community has supported her and given her skills and confidence in the outdoors; meanwhile, Beth Pearson, co-director of the Outdoor Swimming Society, explains the motivation behind and evolution of creating a wild swimming community. Also, Yorkshire-based wild swimming guide Les Peebles reflects on how healing he finds being in the water and how much joy he finds in helping others to discover wild swimming; and Lindsey Cole, mermaid, adventurer and environmental campaigner, explains how she raises awareness of river pollution through storytelling and activism.

Rachel Jones is a keen wild swimmer, a Mental Health Swims host, helps to run Hampshire Open Water Swimmers and is a member of the Friends of the Itchen Estuary and Stop the Sewage Southsea. She swims every day, enjoying the connection to nature as well as the cold water. When Rachel isn’t swimming, she is a SEND teacher and a busy parent. She is also a keen photographer and credits swimming with helping to keep her sane and happy. She has completed the 365 Challenge, swimming outdoors every day of the year to raise money for charity. Rachel has written two innovative books on pedagogy; Toes in the Water is her first book outside that field. @rlj1981

Discounts & P&P

From Friday 1 April 2022, we offer 25% off to all newsletter subscribers. Simply sign up to our newsletter here to receive your discount code. If you're already a subscriber, we'll remind you of the code every time we send out a newsletter.

In addition, we offer FREE standard UK P&P for orders, along with options to upgrade the delivery service at checkout.

Postage costs are dependent on order weight (book/s weight plus packing materials) and are calculated automatically upon checkout, before payment is taken. Full details of our delivery and returns information can be found here. 

UK Delivery

We offer FREE standard UK P&P for orders: orders are sent Royal Mail Second Class as standard and should arrive within two to three working days. The option to upgrade UK shipping to Royal Mail 24 Next Day Delivery is available at checkout.

International Delivery

International orders are sent by Royal Mail International Tracked. Deliveries can take between a few days and a couple of weeks to arrive, depending on the delivery location. Please contact us if your country is not listed.

Dispatch

Update: September 2022. Most orders received through the Vertebrate Publishing Adventure Books website are dispatched from Gardners in Eastbourne, UK; some orders (such as signed copies of pre-orders, or limited stock items) are sent from our office in Sheffield, UK. If your order is for multiple items, you may receive more than one package, though we try to avoid this (if applicable, you would only be charged once for shipping). Orders received before 11 a.m. are dispatched the same day; orders received after 11 a.m. are usually dispatched the following business day. You will be sent a notification email when your order has been dispatched. If we are temporarily out of stock of a title we will advise by email.

Gift Cards

Gift card purchases are delivered electronically – we do not dispatch physical gift cards. Full details are provided with gift card purchases.

Ebooks

Coming soon! Ebooks are fulfilled securely by our partner Glassboxx using their app. For more details about how to access your ebook, please refer to the information in your order confirmation. 

Payment

Payment is made safely and securely using Shopify, which incorporates the world's leading payment gateways, including Stripe, Apple Pay and Google Pay. You can also check out with PayPal. All payments are handled directly by these payment gateways and Vertebrate Publishing Adventure Books does not process or store any cardholder details on the Adventure Books website.

Returns

We will happily refund or exchange any item that is returned to us in an unused, as new condition. If you want to make a return, contact us with your details. Once we've received the item(s), we will credit your account. If the item is faulty or damaged or we have sent the incorrect item we will refund postage.

If you're returning something because it's not suitable, you'll need to pay the postage costs to return it to us. We process most returns the day they arrive with us, and certainly within seven working days. Goods must be returned to us within 21 days.