My friend Mark Thompson, who has died aged 69 after a fall while travelling in Sri Lanka, was a key figure at Bristol’s characterful Henleaze Swimming club, based at Henleaze lake, a flooded limestone quarry to the north of the city.
Mark joined the club in 1988 and became a committee member in 1990, at a time when it was in the doldrums, dealing with a drastically depleted membership, recurrent vandalism and worrying environmental issues.
