Elizabeth Alker’s inquiry into the links between water and spirituality (1 November) began high in the hills of the north of England. Here our intrepid presenter and a select band of associates – these included The Guardian’s northern editor, Helen Pidd – were readying themselves for a spot of wild swimming in a remote millpond.

Judging from the shrieks and gasps of rapidly exhaled breath, a great deal of somewhat chilly fun was being had. But to Alker, raised as a Baptist and given the full immersion treatment at the age of 15, each step into the deeps had a profound spiritual significance. Friends might talk, metaphorically, of “washing your troubles away” or “a sense of cleansing”, but it seemed clear that water was more than restorative. To her, being close to nature – jumping off the jetty at Lake Windermere, say – was being close to God.