New woodland sauna and cold plunge attraction opens in North Yorkshire spa town
You will warm to this cold water attraction! (Image: Darren Greenwood)
A new outdoor sauna and cold water bathing site has opened in Harrogate, reviving the town’s historic spa traditions.
Cold Bath Plunge, located off Crag Lane beside the Bamber & Brown café, welcomed its first visitors on Friday, September 25.
The site includes a wood-fired sauna, three cold plunge tubs set at different temperatures, hot and cold showers, and changing cubicles.
Sessions last 50 minutes, cost £16, and must be booked in advance.
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Guy Coates, who grew up in Harrogate and later moved to London for work, is the founder of the project.
He said: "The job and the whole environment felt empty to me, and I got nothing out of it.
"I tried medication and therapy and neither really helped.
Splash out and have some fun! (Image: Darren Greenwood)
"I'd been reading about cold water and its effect on anxiety and depression, so as a bit of a last resort I started going to Parliament Hill lido on Hampstead Heath every morning.
"Within a few weeks my head felt clearer.
"The sauna afterwards ended up mattering just as much as the swim, because you get chatting to strangers, which isn't something I expected to enjoy as much as I did."
After years of working as a financial services consultant in London, Mr Coates decided to leave the city behind and return to Yorkshire.
It's bath time! (Image: Darren Greenwood)
He said: "Building my confidence back up took time, but once it was there I took the plunge and handed in my notice at work.
"I wanted people at home to have the chance to get what I'd got from it."
He moved back in with his parents and spent the following months building Cold Bath Plunge from scratch.
The site is off-grid and set in a quiet, wooded area.
Mr Coates plans to offer regular free sessions to local community groups and hopes to make cold water bathing accessible to more people.
The sauna (Image: Pic supplied)
He said: "That history is a big reason I chose Harrogate.
"It's a spa town, but people mostly talk about that as something that used to happen.
"It feels like a waste when the town was built on people coming here for the water.
"I'd love to help bring some of that back."
Harrogate’s spa history dates back to 1571 with the discovery of its first mineral spring.
More than 80 springs were eventually recorded in the area, attracting visitors for nearly 300 years.
To celebrate this heritage, Mr Coates has teamed up with local historian Harry Does History to create 'Taking the Plunge,' an Instagram series exploring Harrogate’s bathing past alongside the development of the new site.
Sessions at Cold Bath Plunge run from Wednesday to Sunday and can be booked at www.coldbathplunge.com.