Mers from the British Isles!

[Frankie]

Any other mers from the British Isles?
I'm based in Cambridge, England.

Would be great to hear from anyone else on this side of the pond!

Xx

[Spindrift]

Ahhh really? I loved Cambridge! I remember studying at a program at Trinity College at Cambridge University. It was so awesome. I'd love to go back for graduate school or something. And you do circus art stuff too? That's really great! I have an officer position at the Juggling and Unicycling club here, although I only really do poi spinning.

[cosmo]

im from scotland its very cold and not alot of swimming areas but its a great place to live.

[Nate Walis]

I'm a writer hailing from England.

How come the Yanks get groups for every state and we all get lumped together as "Europod"?

That's sure to get the Eurosceptics backs up!

[malinghi]

I'm a writer hailing from England.

How come the Yanks get groups for every state and we all get lumped together as "Europod"?

That's sure to get the Eurosceptics backs up!


Ha. sorry. I try to group the pods so that they aren't too small, and since there aren't a lot of British mers yet I made the pod pretty big. The way I envision it is that as these huge international pods get bigger they can break off into smaller more local pods.

[LindseyLu]

I think it's great we've got mers from all over the world here!!!! :) I'm hoping the pods get more and more popular so they can be reduced in size too. I love that I can meet up with local's that share my mermaid interests! Even though I am in the North Pacific Pod and I live in Oregon, my Pod stretches up into Canada :)

[Nate Walis]

There does seem to be a distinct lack of European members around here...perhaps it's the cold climate.

[Sea Pearl]

Great to see some Euro Mers on here! I'm originally from Newcaslte, England but moved to the US four years ago. I know the waters are cold over there but keep swimming and living your dream.

[Demi]

i can't say that im from the UK but the water is just as cold where i live xD

[SeaNymph]

Neither am I, and the Bavarian lakes are not very warm too. So, if I cannot travel, I´m trapped on the land and I´m a maid without mer...
But, since we are so few merpeople in Europe, we should manage to be in one pod ;-)

[taom]

Hey! I'm in Texas right now but I'll be moving to St. Andrews, Scotland in September. We should organize a European Mer meet-up.

[Demi]

That sounds like a funny idea! :D

[Amethyst]

I'm in England! :) Cheshire to be precise :) lol

[Mermaid Marina]

Hi !! I am new to this network and I live in Devon, UK!! Hello mermaids from UK!! There are so few of us here! xxx

[Spindrift]

I'll be in London for like, 4 hours on either June 7th or June 8th depending on how time zones work...

[callum]

Hey guys,
I'm Callum from Liverpool, England good to see that im not the only 'Euromer' out there (: Seems like we have such a little pod, but i guess its because we are a rarity. Al'as I still dont have a tail as of yet but someday! Ugh the joys of being a student.

[inactive account]

Im in England, London :)

[Sea Pearl]

Hello and welcome fellow British Isles mers :) I may be back in England later on this year or beginning of next, would be great to meet some of you. Anyone live up around Newcastle upon Tyne?

[Estarriol]

Hi! One more for the Pod - I'm in deepest darkest Devon :)

[Samantha Siren]

I'm currently in Camberley! But originally from Southampton!

[Sierra Larars]

I'm up in Scotland :O Fife to be exact (I just moved from Glasgow though, I really miss it x.x). It is certainly cold for swimming here!! yet to make a tail as my fursuit/quadsuit work takes priority :3 but one day I shall!
Nice to see others on the same island!

[Sea Pearl]

Welcome Kurauno! It's always nice to see more mers from the British Isles. I love Scotland, I used to spend a lot of time there with my family when I was young.

[Lois]

Hey Im from the UK too I just got my taill from magictail.de :)

[roamingmer]

What is it like to Swim in - I was searching for something good this side of the giant pond...

[Lois]

I haven't actually tried it yet i've just got it and don't really want to take it to a pool and its far too cold to go in the sea atm

[Mia Merode]

Hi :)

I'm new here - based in London, UK. I'm pretty new to the whole Mermaid scene so any advice would be so welcome!

Thank you!
Mia
xx

[Stede Bonnet]

Mia Merode - I saw your fan page on Facebook and wanted to take a moment to compliment you on your art form. When I am not interacting with mermaids, the cabaret stage holds my rapt attention and deepest respect. It is my opinion that mermaids and cabaret performers are very similar, given that both communities call upon artistic and athletic gifts, allowing participants to express those talents with individual style.

To the question at hand....

I do not know if this individual is a member of MerNetwork, but Sandra Mermaid (https://www.facebook.com/sandramariemermaid?ref=stream) is in the UK https://www.facebook.com/sandramariemermaid

I also follow the brand new page, Morveren mermaid of Cornwall (https://www.facebook.com/MorverenMermaidOfCornwall?ref=stream): https://www.facebook.com/MorverenMermaidOfCornwall She is actually a jewelry maker, not a mermaid performer, but I mention her as someone of a kindred spirit.

Last, but certainly not least, the UK is the home of Karen Kay and her international publication, Mermaids & Mythology - Themermaidmagazine.com (https://www.facebook.com/MermaidMagazine): https://www.facebook.com/MermaidMagazine
To the best of my knowledge, none of these individuals has a MerNetwork profile, but I thought you would find the information useful nevertheless.

Rule Britannia!

[Mia Merode]

Thank you for your help Stede Bonnet - greatly appreciated!
xx

[Sea Pearl]

Welcome Mia Merode! Nice to meet you! It's nice to see someone else from the UK join us.
Feel free to pm me sometime if you have any question or just want to chat.

[Mia Merode]

Welcome Mia Merode! Nice to meet you! It's nice to see someone else from the UK join us.
Feel free to pm me sometime if you have any question or just want to chat.

Thank you :)
Everyone here is so supportive and welcoming - it's wonderful!
xx

[Lois]

Hey Guys I Was thinking wouldn't it be awesome to go mermaiding in centre parcs, you could take amazing pictures in the swiming dome and it would be so much fun going down the rapids in a tail!

[Sea Pearl]

Going to Centre Parcs would be awesome and not too far since I'm already up in the North lol I wonder if they would let you swim with a tail there? But yeah getting some picture with that swimming dome in the background would be neat. Shame I wasn't back in England to meet up with some of you. Though I am hoping to be back in England for a spell in April next year.

[Lois]

So where does everyone in the Uk go mermaid swimming? x

[Sammi Ray]

Hello i am from leicester uk :-) just thought i'd say hi :-). Yes that is pretty sucky that we get a small pod but all the tail makers are that side too. Not come across any in the uk. Who knows, maybe in a few years i could be :-)

[Sammyantha171]

I'm from england. Great to see there's other mers round here :)
Hiya to you all :)

[MermaidAqua]

I live in the south end of Britian, not only is the weather terrible here but theres nowhere to swim! Nowhere allows fins and after spending £50 pounds on a new mask I was told I coudl not use it because of the silcone nose cover on it. They said it blocks cpr and the pool could be sewed. The manager even admitted that not all the rules they enforce are on their website! He just said "Looks mate who reallylooks at the website anyway?" ARGH! So annoying, currently I am forced to just practise tricks without a tail :(

[OceanicStory]

Oh, there's a Brit thread here! :D
I'm from Scotland, up around Ayrshire. Few places to really go mermaiding (or "mermanning", rather), which is a shame, but it's nice to know there's a few others around here in a similar predicament. ;)
Those from England were worried they were alone in their passions, but there seems to be very few Scots even by comparison! Makes me feel a little isolated. xD

[Traveling Merman]

I'm from the Wirral in England!!

[Sammi Ray]

Crikey :-( thats rubbish! When i get my tail made we shall have to just go to a pool together and tell them to sling their hooks! Hello to all :-) glad to see more brits, its very american here and feel like a fish out of water!

[Lois]

Mermaid Aqua that really sucks! But as soon as anyone finds a pool that will take us we will have to all go swimming there :) or we will have to wait for the three days of sunshine that we might get in the summer :p

[Traveling Merman]

I'm in England! :) Cheshire to be precise :) lol

I live in cheshire!!!!

[Sammi Ray]

:-)

[Traveling Merman]

Hi :)

I'm new here - based in London, UK. I'm pretty new to the whole Mermaid scene so any advice would be so welcome!

Thank you!
Mia
xx

Hey Mia where do you perform in London? We probably have loads of friends in common!!

Mark x

[OceanicStory]

I'm up in Scotland :O Fife to be exact (I just moved from Glasgow though, I really miss it x.x). It is certainly cold for swimming here!! yet to make a tail as my fursuit/quadsuit work takes priority :3 but one day I shall!
Nice to see others on the same island!

Oh! Fellow Scot sighted! :O

[Lois]

if Scottish independence happens will you leave us and have a Scottish pod? :(

I don't want scottland to leave :(

[Traveling Merman]

if Scottish independence happens will you leave us and have a Scottish pod? :(

I don't want scottland to leave :(

Me too!........ But we need a Brit pod and to get out of the euro pod! Lol

[Lois]

ha ha so true :)

[OceanicStory]

if Scottish independence happens will you leave us and have a Scottish pod? :(

I don't want scottland to leave :(

I don't want Scotland to leave, either, Lois. :( But I wouldn't leave my fellow British mers behind even if it did. :p

[Lois]

aww we can all stay British in mermaid land <3

[Ondine]

I'm also from the UK! Definitely think it's easier for mermaids who live close to warm waters and sunny beaches! I've generally found the local pool are ok with me using a monofin if it's late and there's hardly anyone else in the pool, but it would be so much easier if I could head to the ocean (without running the very real risk of freezing to death...)

[Mermaid Lilium]

New member living in Blackpool =) (originally from Lincolnshire)

Looking at making my own tail (ordering my monofin in 2 weeks time) and more than up for supporting others who are trying to do the same near here just as much as having a more experienced mentor would be great. I'm also curious - do any of you know of any euro/UK based tail makers (particularly silicone tails)?

[Alice Kornicki]

Hello everyone! I'm a costume maker from London and looking to make a fully swimmable silicone tail as part of my costume BA - would anyone be interested in modelling it for a water shoot? You could have some input in the design eg surface design or your preferred fins etc . If you're willing to put a bit of money towards materials I'd be happy to let you keep it after I've got a set of photos. I've got great resources, like a full casting and molding workshop with experts in silicone and latex molding, as part of my course to help me, so I'm sure it will turn out beautifully! I'm really excited, so if anyone is interested please get in touch, or any other mers who live in London who could give any advice about suppliers, or things they like/dislike in a tail, I would be really grateful.

[Ondine]

Hi Alice! I'd be really interested in modelling a silicone tail for a water shoot - and I work with two other mers who would probably be equally up for it haha! We're based in Cambridge, so we're very close to London by train. One of the other mers I work with is also a costume designer actually (mainly for circus entertainment type work), so I'm sure she'd be really interested in having a chat with you! You can check out our website - http://www.realmermaids.co.uk to find out a bit about us, and if you're interested you can message me on here, or email me at madebymermaids@gmail.com? We're actually still in the process of arranging our first professional underwater photoshoot, so we don't have any pro underwater pics on our website - but we took a point and shoot to our swim training session this weekend, so there are a few underwater pics of us on our facebook, (http://www.facebook.com/RealMermaidsUK) and more to come once I've had a chance to go through them!

[Ondine]

I didn't think to say - we don't currently have silicone tails but are definitely looking to get them in future; so in terms of working with you on the design and possibly helping out with some costs as well, that could well be possible!

[Mermaid Lilium]

Eeeps! I was actually asking whether there were any UK tailmakers because I was thinking about going into tailmaking, especially silicone tails, but ah well ^_^'

[Alice Kornicki]

Amazing! Ondine I will email you with some more details :)

Kat - If it goes well, I might make a tutorial or something, I need to submit a full progress of how I did it with pictures for my course anyway, so I could probably upload it here if that would be useful? It would be great to stay in touch if you will be making yours at the same time!

[Mermaid Lilium]

Amazing! Ondine I will email you with some more details :)

Kat - If it goes well, I might make a tutorial or something, I need to submit a full progress of how I did it with pictures for my course anyway, so I could probably upload it here if that would be useful? It would be great to stay in touch if you will be making yours at the same time!

I probably won't be starting production until autumn/winter at the earliest so I'd imagine you'll be done longggg before me lol It'd be great if you post your progress images on the forum so we can all follow your work and process =) Kanti's doing something similar to form a tutorial for people so be sure to check out her stuff for ideas!

I wish you the best of luck with it and if there's anything I can ever do to help (even though I'm up north) then let me know =)

[Mermaid Marina]

Hi everyone, just to let you know I will be at Karen Kay's 3 wishes fairy festival on 22nd June with a group of my real mermaid friends at the mermaids and pirates party. They are having a mermaid grotto there.
Ondine - love your merlesque work!
Check our the festival, it's an amazing event xxxxx

[Mermaid Melanie]

Hey girlies I'm a scottish mer but living in thailand - home soon though and will be doing some awesome projects anyone in the glasgow and surrounding areas interested let me know ! big things to come :D

[Sea Pearl]

Mermaid Melanie: I'll be back to England for a visit at the end of August beginning of September. I live just north of Newcastle Upon Tyne so I don't know if that would be too far away? But it would be neat to meet up with some other UK mers :)

[Rhizzy]

Hi All! ^_^

I've just joined mernetwork and I am from Cheshire :) Hope everyone is ok!

[Mermaid Lilium]

Hi All! ^_^

I've just joined mernetwork and I am from Cheshire :) Hope everyone is ok!

*waves* hello! :D I've been to Chester quite a few times now if you're near there =)

[Rhizzy]

I come from Crewe it's not too far away from Chester but I'm currently living in Liverpool. I came to university here and never left :) I'm so glad it's not just me that is fascinated by the concept of "mermaiding"

[Mermaid Lilium]

I come from Crewe it's not too far away from Chester but I'm currently living in Liverpool. I came to university here and never left :) I'm so glad it's not just me that is fascinated by the concept of "mermaiding"

aaahh okies :D I've been to liverpool a few times too - 'tis a cool city to visit =) feel a bit more at home in manchester though.

[Rhizzy]

=) I like Manchester! Very pretty, also Affleck's Palace is awesome! :)

[Mermaid Lilium]

=) I like Manchester! Very pretty, also Affleck's Palace is awesome! :)

I go to manchester loads to meet up with friends XD and two places we seem to live in are starbucks and afflecks XD

Been spending a lot of time in Preston recently too (just got back from there actually! lol). Preston is nice but nothing like Manchester XD I'm getting dragged to Leeds sometime after september because my friend is moving there to study so I will have another city to explore :D

[Sea Pearl]

Welcome Rhizzy and Kat! Hope you are enjoying your time here on MerNetwork.
It's great to see some more British Mers popping up on here :) There doesn't seem to be too many of us back there.

[ameliarose14]

Hiya!

I've just joined the site today so I'm very new to everything :) I've loved mermaids since I was a little girl and can't believe there is so many people who do this kind of thing! It's amazing :)

I'm a fellow Brit as well, living in Surrey but I go to Uni in Cornwall :)

x

[Mermaid Lilium]

Hiya!

I've just joined the site today so I'm very new to everything :) I've loved mermaids since I was a little girl and can't believe there is so many people who do this kind of thing! It's amazing :)

I'm a fellow Brit as well, living in Surrey but I go to Uni in Cornwall :)

x

Welcome! :D

[Sea Pearl]

Welcome ameliarose!

[Sea Pearl]

For all you mermaids back in the UK, I was wondering where you all have had success being allowed or found somewhere to swim in your tails? I know swimming pools seem to be a lot more strict about allowing Monofins/flippers/tails back there more than here in the US. And I was just curious where others have found place to swim.

I have yet to find somewhere, other than the freezing North Sea, to practice swimming in my tail there. When I have called the pools they either freak out about the very idea or think you are having a laugh. I understand they have health and safety regulations to keep. But it really does limit it down.

[Mermaid Lilium]

For all you mermaids back in the UK, I was wondering where you all have had success being allowed or found somewhere to swim in your tails? I know swimming pools seem to be a lot more strict about allowing Monofins/flippers/tails back there more than here in the US. And I was just curious where others have found place to swim.

I have yet to find somewhere, other than the freezing North Sea, to practice swimming in my tail there. When I have called the pools they either freak out about the very idea or think you are having a laugh. I understand they have health and safety regulations to keep. But it really does limit it down.

I'm going to be emailing and calling round the various places near me over the next week or two. I'm going to try and make it worth their while by saying any bookings made through them will get 25% off, so those parties will increase their business =) I'm starting off by saying I'm training with a monofin for fitness reasons first and foremost but with the side aim of being a mermaid model/performer and explain the whole thing.

I can only try right? =) I'll let you know how it goes.

[Sea Pearl]

That sounds like a good start. All you can do is try! Sometimes all people need is educating a little bit about what you do and then they are ok with it and think it's cool :)

I'd be interested to know how your inquiries go if you want to share them. I'm coming back to the UK later this year and would love to bring my tail across and go swimming in it. It's a shame you didn't live closer or we could have gone tail swimming. There aren't many mermaids up in the North East.

[Amethyst]

I come from Crewe it's not too far away from Chester but I'm currently living in Liverpool. I came to university here and never left :) I'm so glad it's not just me that is fascinated by the concept of "mermaiding"

OMG! I'm from CREWE! lol :D Not currently living there but yeah! Cool! lol :D

[Mermaid Lolly]

wow great to see there are other mers here in England! im down in the south east so its always freezing :(

[Mermaid Lilium]

wow great to see there are other mers here in England! im down in the south east so its always freezing :(

Surely it must be nicer than living up north - especially scotland :P

[ameliarose14]

Eeeek I'm from the South East too! Whereabouts are you?

[Mermaid Lilium]

That sounds like a good start. All you can do is try! Sometimes all people need is educating a little bit about what you do and then they are ok with it and think it's cool :)

I'd be interested to know how your inquiries go if you want to share them. I'm coming back to the UK later this year and would love to bring my tail across and go swimming in it. It's a shame you didn't live closer or we could have gone tail swimming. There aren't many mermaids up in the North East.

Still haven't got round to emailing round yet XD having to finish off some uni work so I can graduate into my final year. As soon as I have sorted it all out I shall let you know =) And there's trains ;) we can always travel and meet up to tail swim!

[Ondine]

I'm going to be emailing and calling round the various places near me over the next week or two. I'm going to try and make it worth their while by saying any bookings made through them will get 25% off, so those parties will increase their business =) I'm starting off by saying I'm training with a monofin for fitness reasons first and foremost but with the side aim of being a mermaid model/performer and explain the whole thing.

I can only try right? =) I'll let you know how it goes.

The Merlesque mermaids swim at our local pool quite regularly and we've not had any problems. We tend just to do training sessions in monofins rather than full tails, and we only use monofins if the pool is quite empty, so if we get there and it's busy we hold off until it quiets down and then check with the lifeguard on duty that it's ok. I think they must be used to us by now!

[Ondine]

UK mers who are interested can also listen to an interview Merlesque mermaid Lorelei did with BBC Cambridgeshire yesterday (and see the pic of her in the studio in full costume!) here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01f8vjm

I don't know whether the BBC website allows people outside the UK to listen in so I thought I might as well post it here!

[Mermaid Lilium]

UK mers who are interested can also listen to an interview Merlesque mermaid Lorelei did with BBC Cambridgeshire yesterday (and see the pic of her in the studio in full costume!) here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01f8vjm

I don't know whether the BBC website allows people outside the UK to listen in so I thought I might as well post it here!

nice interview =)

[oaris]

Hello I am really new to the mermaid scene so friendly advice would be appreciated.
I live in the southeast, near London. Nice to see British mermaids :)

[Samantha Siren]

I'm a mermaid in London! :)

[PearlieMae]

oaris, you should introduce yourself here: http://mernetwork.com/index/forumdisplay.php?7-Introduce-Yourself

Welcome!

[Mermaid Xandra]

Hi I'm Mermaid Xandra (pronounced Zandra, short for Alexandra) and I'm new here. I haven't yet got a tail but I'm saving up. I come from the Southeast. Any friendly advice would be really appreicated as I am new to the whole mermaid scene. :)

[PearlieMae]

Hi Xandra! Welcome!

[Ondine]

Hi Xandra! Nice to have some more UK mers around :)

[Mermaid Lilium]

welcome guys! :D

[Mermaid Xandra]

Hi, thanks, I just checked out your Facebook page - Awesome, keep it up :)

[Mermaid Xandra]

Hi thanks for being welcoming. It had no idea that there was such a thriving community of mermaids, both in the UK and worldwide! It's so exciting saving up for a tail, it's always been a lifelong ambition ever since I saw films with mermaid tail props like splash. Also Mermaid Ondine, I just want to say that I've read about you on the web and I heard one of your friends on BBC radio and I just want to say that I think what you do is amazing(especially in such a cold climate!); to have taken an illness as an opportunity to fulfil your dreams... well it was really inspirational! I hope that any and all medical issues resolve themselves and that you keep swimming... very envious of your job! :) All the best, Mermaid Xandra

[Ondine]

Also Mermaid Ondine, I just want to say that I've read about you on the web and I heard one of your friends on BBC radio and I just want to say that I think what you do is amazing(especially in such a cold climate!); to have taken an illness as an opportunity to fulfil your dreams... well it was really inspirational! I hope that any and all medical issues resolve themselves and that you keep swimming... very envious of your job! :) All the best, Mermaid Xandra
Aw, thanks Xandra :) I'm really glad you were able to take inspiration from my story! Good luck with saving up for your tail. Do you already know what kind you're hoping to get?

[Mermaid Xandra]

Aw, thanks Xandra :) I'm really glad you were able to take inspiration from my story! Good luck with saving up for your tail. Do you already know what kind you're hoping to get? Thanks :) I would love to get a silicone tail, perhaps a Merbella one (they look so beautiful!) Although, I really want to make one as well- I think it would be really good practice in appreciating the beauty of each one. :D

[Mermaid Lilium]

Thanks :) I would love to get a silicone tail, perhaps a Merbella one (they look so beautiful!) Although, I really want to make one as well- I think it would be really good practice in appreciating the beauty of each one. :D

*shyly waves her little tailmaker flag* should be starting producing fully bespoke silicone tails starting this spring ;) currently in the process of designing a cherry blossom freshwater tail for Miyu while she saves up ^_^

[Vixy]

hi I'm from Cornwall.

[PearlieMae]

Hi Vixy! Welcome to the network! Happy holiday!

[Mermaid Xandra]

hi I'm from Cornwall.
Nice to meet you Vixy. It must be nice living in Cornwall, there are great waves to surf down there. Ever read Ingo? it's set there I think.

[Vixy]

It is nice, I did the boxing day swim at Porthpean this year, it was very bracing! I'm hoping to start surfing next year, and just doing more things with the sea.

I have yes, and yep it is set down in Cornwall.

[Ondine]

Hi Vixy! Slightly late to the party, but hey, happy new year! Ah, Cornwall is a beautiful place for swimming and all things oceany :D

[sparkles]

Hi, I am new to this site. I live in nottingham, I have been thinking about getting a silicone tail for a couple years now and have looked at them online. I wasn't sure I'd get the opportunity to wear it in the uk as I was not sure that British swimming pools would allow them to be worn in pools ( you know how health and safety can be these days ! Lol) but I've finally decided to take the plunge and get a tail. I'm off to disneyworld Florida may followed by a disney Bahamas cruise so thought it would be a great opportunity to wear my tail. I've enquired between mernation and finfolk productions, I can't decide fully between them both as they are both charging the same amount. Does anyone have any experience with either? Mernation has offered to meet me with the tail on holiday and hand deliver to avoid shipping fees to uk and even have a swim together which I thought was wonderful and is tipping my hand there way slightly however finfolk productions do some amazing tails
Or any experience with British pools allowing tales?
xxxx

[Vixy]

Thanks Ondine, I'm looking forward to doing some wild swimming this year and maybe go to the beach more. Now I need to start saving for a tail! I love burlesque by the way :)

[Mermaid Xandra]

this is a really good website to find places to wild swim near you, there are often places near that you didn't know about.
http://www.wildswimming.co.uk/

[sparkles]

this is a really good website to find places to wild swim near you, there are often places near that you didn't know about.
http://www.wildswimming.co.uk/

Wow what a great site.Thanks for posting it. I've found lots of great places to swim in when my new tail arrives in may as I've not had much luck with any local pools to me as they are all saying No to wearing a tail. To be honest I'd rather swim outside anyway, I've found one in the Peak District with 2 beautiful waterfalls.
Im going to put a post up in may when I have my tail to see if there are any mermaids near to me ( nottingham- midlands area) who may like to meet for swims in these locations x

[Vixy]

I'm sometimes up there for larp, mostly in Derby. So hopefully I'll get my tail sorted out by then too!

[sparkles]

Yeh would be great to go for a swim together. I found a lovely one in Peak District called the three shires head,Dane and it has 2 plunge pools with waterfalls. Beautiful x hopefully we will both have tails for the summer x

[Mermaid Lilium]

sorry for the delay but welcome to MN Vixy and Sparkles! *waves*

There's ingleton falls in West Yorkshire too btw which has a nice drop-pool but it's quite a trek around the place xx

[selkie13]

From the east coast of Scotland here!

[Sammyantha171]

Hi again everyone. I haven't been very active here so far, but I've just moved to Manchester and hopefully I'll be able to start getting into mermaiding properly now.
I'm hoping to get a wetsuit soon with the money I do have and then I can start freediving again. :)
Are any mers here also part of the British Freediving Association or NoTanx or any other UK freediving groups?

[Mermaid Lilium]

Hi again everyone. I haven't been very active here so far, but I've just moved to Manchester and hopefully I'll be able to start getting into mermaiding properly now.
I'm hoping to get a wetsuit soon with the money I do have and then I can start freediving again. :)
Are any mers here also part of the British Freediving Association or NoTanx or any other UK freediving groups?

ahh! I was just in manchester yesterday! I'm there quite a lot to see friends =)

and sadly I'm not a member of any of those =(

[selkie13]

Is anyone coming to Dee con this year?

[Mermaid Lilium]

Is anyone coming to Dee con this year?

dee con?

[selkie13]

Its an anime/comic book/game convention in Dundee and its free entry!
There's all kind of craft stalls and stuff as well as anime screenings and workshops there was kendo last year for example. Its basically big gathering of a bunch of nerds in costumes and its brilliant.

[Vixy]

It's a little bit to far for me. But I will be at Manchester, Birmingham and London conventions this year.

[Mermaid Lilium]

It's a little bit to far for me. But I will be at Manchester, Birmingham and London conventions this year.

which one in manchester? :D my friends usually go to a manchester one in april I think, and have been trying to get me there the last few years to help troll anne stokes (she committed art theft with one of my friends photos).

[Vixy]

The July one, I think my friend mentioned a convention in July and I said I'd go with her.

[Mermaid Lilium]

ah okies, the one I'm going to is MCM Manchester and like I said, I think it's in april - I would probably be more likely to get to one in july though lol so maybe I'll get to see you there =)

[Lois]

So has anyone any good beaches/rivers/lakes to go swimming in?

[Kamanaka]

Hi everyone, im a uk newbie :-) really interested in freediving as a mermaid, i live in Buckinghamshire and im currently making my own tail- just fabric with a monofin to get me started. If anyone knows any swimming places in West sussex give me a shiut as my mother lives there so i visit often. I am interested in meet ups with other mermaids :-)

[Sea Pearl]

Welcome to MerNetwork. Great to see another British Isles Mer here :)

[Pascal21M]

Someone from you will come to a meet up in Austria?

[Vixy]

I would love to Pascal but the money side of things, I've already got so much planned this year. I hope to be able to go to a meet up next year though.

[Pascal21M]

Ok i know

we have beautiful lakes here

[Mermaid Lilium]

Hi everyone, im a uk newbie :-) really interested in freediving as a mermaid, i live in Buckinghamshire and im currently making my own tail- just fabric with a monofin to get me started. If anyone knows any swimming places in West sussex give me a shiut as my mother lives there so i visit often. I am interested in meet ups with other mermaids :-)

welcome to MN! :D if you look at the top of the page your post is on, someone already posted a great website for local wild swimming locations in the UK which might give you some ideas =)

[Vixy]

Are you still heading to the cons Mermaid Lilium?

[Kamanaka]

Thank you Lilium :-) my tail is now complete and im currently visiting my mum on the coast in West Sussex so its beach life for me, probably still wetsuit weather for swimming just now! but I did have a mini photo shoot today with my tail!

[Mermaid Mhara]

Oh my...I just realised I still haven't posted in here!

Hi everyone! :) I'm a UK Mer based on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. I live just up the road to a fantastically beautiful beach, which also has a nicely sized river running through it. I consider myself more a river mer due to the fact that's where you'll usually find me in my tail ;)
alas, none of my local pools allow tails or monofins (or fins of any sort!) So I'm reduced to rely on weather (until I can get my own pool...one day!!)
Anyway, just a hello and a let me know if you ever meet up as a pod! Would love to meet some more like minded mers :)

[MermaidLilyRose]

Hi there! I'm a UK mer based in London, its so great to see more mers in the UK!

[Mermaid Lilium]

Are you still heading to the cons Mermaid Lilium?

yup! to MCM in July =)


Thank you Lilium :-) my tail is now complete and im currently visiting my mum on the coast in West Sussex so its beach life for me, probably still wetsuit weather for swimming just now! but I did have a mini photo shoot today with my tail!

No problem =) And ahh! Can't wait to see photos of your tail then! :D And yes... little nippy still hehe


alas, none of my local pools allow tails or monofins (or fins of any sort!) So I'm reduced to rely on weather (until I can get my own pool...one day!!)

Oh that sucks! Have you tried the local hotels and such rather than public pools?
If not, do you have room to set up a frame pool in your garden? =) They don't require any digging or planning permission, amazon has them at decent prices.

[Mermaid Fenicia]

I'll be at MCM in London in October ;)

[Mermaid Lilium]

I'll be at MCM in London in October ;)

ah hope you have fun! I'm already doing at least one trip to london this year and that will drain what money I have X_x

I should like to invite you all though, cause I'll be in london for my Graduate Exhibition at the Brick Lane Gallery. 17th - 23rd June, the private view is on the 18th in the evening - I'll post the exact time if anyone's interested in coming. I shall be there and probably be in london on the 17th to help set up the gallery. I'll probably have 2 images in the show from my current project 'The unexplained journey' which is all fantasy/fantastical narrative photography =)

There's a facebook page for the exhibition too: https://www.facebook.com/pages/I-exhibition-2014/249779718524942?fref=ts

and you can see my photos if you click on the photography page link in my signature <3

(PS. There's a manchester showing of the exhibition the week before for those of you up north - I will post details if anyone's interested in coming x)

[Kamanaka]

Lilium- thats awesome i love your photos, im a wedding photographer! I am rather up for your gallery if i can make it with my work roster i will let you know :-)

[Mermaid Mhara]

Oh that sucks! Have you tried the local hotels and such rather than public pools?
If not, do you have room to set up a frame pool in your garden? =) They don't require any digging or planning permission, amazon has them at decent prices.

indeed it does suck! I have been given permission by one hotel, but the hotel is so hard to get to! I don't drive quite yet, and the hotel itself is kind of a retreat in the middle of a forest, I can take a bus directly to the gates but the drive towards the building is nearly two miles down!

Unfortunately I have no room for a pool either...I'm just a poor boy from a poor family ;) hehe, our front garden is about five foot by six foot, and the back is around the same perhaps a little bigger.

I don't mind the cold river water though ;) especially in my wetsuit...however, a merman wearing a wetsuit does seem a little odd! teehee...

I'm going to Witchfest in London in November, and it got me thinking. Perhaps us UK mers could plan to make a hotel provate for a weekend for our use only (specifically one with a nice pool or two!) and we could have our own British version of a Merfest? ;) perhaps something to think about for the future! We could invite the likes of the merlesque girls to do talks...as well as whoever wants to do their own talks. And have wonderfully mermaid-esque events. or perhaps I'm just a dreamer!

[Vixy]

yup! to MCM in July =)

Oh awesome! As will I, not sure on the costume yet though! I'm hoping to do a druid from World of Warcraft if I'm able to do and finish it in time. If not it'll be steampunk.

I would also would of loved to go see your Exhibition but I'm busy busy in June as it's the summer and the pirates normally get busy with performing.


I'll be at MCM in London in October ;)

As will I :D I'll probably be seeing you there as well, look for the 501st Legion or the Toy Soldiers Unite as I'm hopefully going to have my Star Wars costume finished to troop with the Legion or my Jedi with the Rebel Legion.



I'm going to Witchfest in London in November, and it got me thinking. Perhaps us UK mers could plan to make a hotel provate for a weekend for our use only (specifically one with a nice pool or two!) and we could have our own British version of a Merfest? ;) perhaps something to think about for the future! We could invite the likes of the merlesque girls to do talks...as well as whoever wants to do their own talks. And have wonderfully mermaid-esque events. or perhaps I'm just a dreamer!

Come to Cornwall ;) We got amazing hotels and places, let alone the beaches.

[Mermaid Lilium]

Lilium- thats awesome i love your photos, im a wedding photographer! I am rather up for your gallery if i can make it with my work roster i will let you know :-)

awesome! Details should be posted on the exhibition page nearer to the time but I'll try to repost them here too! =) Even if you can't make it to the opening, I might end up traipsing round london for a day or so on my own so we might be able to meet up or something if your schedule works better that way xx


indeed it does suck! I have been given permission by one hotel, but the hotel is so hard to get to! I don't drive quite yet, and the hotel itself is kind of a retreat in the middle of a forest, I can take a bus directly to the gates but the drive towards the building is nearly two miles down!

Can you take a bike on the bus? Then you could bike from the bus stop? =) But yeah, I know how annoying that is, one of the nicer places to swim here is the most awkward place for me to get to from where I live. It's like I either have to get a lift there, or get a bus into town and then walk 45+ mins to the place X_x it's like a resort type place with its own golf course etc on the outskirts of town


Unfortunately I have no room for a pool either...I'm just a poor boy from a poor family ;) hehe, our front garden is about five foot by six foot, and the back is around the same perhaps a little bigger.

I don't mind the cold river water though ;) especially in my wetsuit...however, a merman wearing a wetsuit does seem a little odd! teehee...

*totally tries not to sing the song in her head... and fails* lol and hmmm..... what about trying some lumiere paints on a wetsuit to create something more befitting a merman? =) there's lots of creative ideas you could try.


I'm going to Witchfest in London in November, and it got me thinking. Perhaps us UK mers could plan to make a hotel provate for a weekend for our use only (specifically one with a nice pool or two!) and we could have our own British version of a Merfest? ;) perhaps something to think about for the future! We could invite the likes of the merlesque girls to do talks...as well as whoever wants to do their own talks. And have wonderfully mermaid-esque events. or perhaps I'm just a dreamer!

I've mentioned before that I might be able to talk to some local hotels here in Blackpool (which is pretty easy to get to via train, mega bus or by car) which have their own pools. The one on the outskirts of town would probably be a good bet (it's a de vere) as it has an indoor pool and a heated outdoor pool. They would probably be able to section off some time for us all to use the pool for events, but I could try talking to them =)

Once I'm set up making tails and a little further into my training, I won't mind sponsering an event like that, and I'd be up for doing talks where they'd be useful. I have a lot of transferrable skills from my photography work, I'm a self trained MUA and hair stylist (I'm constantly testing waterproof makeup lol) and I do all sorts of clothes making, prop making etc. I'd love to see some talks by merlesque in the future and maybe we can convince the lovely Raina to come over to do a talk, would probably bump the ticket costs up quite a bit though.

A big event like that is certainly a possibility and I don't mind organising something like that, but for now I'd say 'mini-meets' are probably best, even ones without tails or tailswimming just to meet up with like-minded mers and chat a bit =)

I mean... I live right near Blackpool Pleasure Beach... I'd be up for organising a mers-day-out at the theme park later this year =) (mum's head of HR there too so I might be able to swing us some extra discounts and stuff, I know they do ticket discounts for groups of 10 or more lol) We could pack our tails and head down to the beach afterwards for some photo ops and to enjoy the sunset? I could almost certainly arrange safe storage of our tails too. I might alssoooo be able to swing a visit to the stageworks costume dept.... They make theatrical costumes for the hot ice show and for other performances around the world. Might be interesting for us as performers and creatives =)

[Mermaid Mhara]

Oh my Vixy Cornwall would be amazing PLUS it's the location of Ingo...my favourite mermaid book series so far!! :D

Mermaid Lilium - I think I squealed when you said Blackpool ;) I'm obviously a bit far...but I'm so used to Blackpool considering we went there at least twice a year when i was growing up, up until we had a car accident and couldn't drive anymore. I would LOVE a meet of some kind in Blackpool hehe :3

And ooh you're getting into tail making?? I really would love a silicone tail but so many things are stopping me, mainly I guess I'd like a strong chance I can use it Very often if I'm investing into such an expensive type of tail, and the other thing is I'm sure the shipping alone from the US, along with custom fees would be through the roof. So now I think I'll wait for you to start :D !! There ya go ;) already getting customers hehe

[Sammyantha171]

I have never been to Blackpool, or Cornwall, either would be amazing. :)
I don't have my own tail yet, but I'm hoping I'll soon be able to get my own freediving fins and a wetsuit that actually fits properly, I'd definitely be up for a mers day out sometime.

[Kamanaka]

lilium- Londo day out sounds good we can take the cameras :-)
tall making, I wish we lived closer we could work on a tail project/ tail making group!
I found a free diving course in Cornwall, they do a leisure one so not forced depth work required, and I'm.sure we could get them to allow tails too if we booked as a small group, it's £215 -for two days though!
blackpool.is a long way away from me but don't count me out as it sounds fab!

[Vixy]

I've never been to Blackpool, it'll be interesting to go. Unless we go on a route of doing different places, a meet in one place and a meet in another. I would love to see different parts of England so it'll be nice to do.

I'm quite excited at the idea of doing our own meet ups :D

[Ondine]

It would be fun to have a bit of a MerFest-type event in the UK - I'm sure there would be interest from mers from the rest of the Continent too! Some places have pools which are split indoor/outdoor pools which would probably be something to look out for given the weather! But I'm sure I speak for the other Merlesque ladies when I say that we'd be very up for doing some talks on whatever people were interested in hearing about - different aspects of professional mermaiding, I guess!

There are a couple of mermaid-themed events coming up in the UK this summer, although I don't believe either of them are intending to have swimming involved and it's not going to be a mermaid convention type event - but there's the March of the Mermaids in Brighton, and the Folkestone Mermaid Festival as well. Can't remember the dates as I don't have my calendar on me, I'm hopeless without it!

[Vixy]

There are a couple of mermaid-themed events coming up in the UK this summer, although I don't believe either of them are intending to have swimming involved and it's not going to be a mermaid convention type event - but there's the March of the Mermaids in Brighton, and the Folkestone Mermaid Festival as well. Can't remember the dates as I don't have my calendar on me, I'm hopeless without it!

There's plenty of pirate events or faires going on around the country too.

Although now I got visions of a group of mermaids with pirates at one of those events :P


Oh my Vixy Cornwall would be amazing PLUS it's the location of Ingo...my favourite mermaid book series so far!! :D

I've read those books too :D I like em as well.

[Mermaid Lilium]

Mermaid Lilium - I think I squealed when you said Blackpool ;) I'm obviously a bit far...but I'm so used to Blackpool considering we went there at least twice a year when i was growing up, up until we had a car accident and couldn't drive anymore. I would LOVE a meet of some kind in Blackpool hehe :3

well once I've graduated in July I'll start organising something - can you guys start thinking of a date you'd want this to be? =) I'd say late august but some people will be busy with festivals and stuff around then. Pleasure Beach is open til the first week of November x


And ooh you're getting into tail making?? I really would love a silicone tail but so many things are stopping me, mainly I guess I'd like a strong chance I can use it Very often if I'm investing into such an expensive type of tail, and the other thing is I'm sure the shipping alone from the US, along with custom fees would be through the roof. So now I think I'll wait for you to start :D !! There ya go ;) already getting customers hehe

YYYup, I'm much delayed on when I wanted to start sculpting for molds... we're soon going to be moving into temporary rental accom cause our house is being sold in like a month's time and mum can't get a mortgauge cause of her ex she owns this house with, wrecking her credit rating and stuff. Once we're in a proper house (me and my husband live with mum and my brother)I can start sculpting for my own tail and the first commercial design...FINALLY lol

And if you're seriously interested, there's a thread on here where I shared some of my designs - I've been designing a special range of 'plant' based tails =) Miyu is lined up to commission a cherry blossom tail once she's saved up. I'll dig out the link if you struggle to find it. Or you can click on the link in my signature to my mermaid page on fb and I shared the album on there with all the drawings and such. Hopefully I can find ways of keeping material costs down because yes you'll save on rediculous postage costs but the materials that everyone wants (dragonskin silicone) cost more to import. Would you care if I used a european equivelant silicone out of interest? =)


lilium- Londo day out sounds good we can take the cameras :-)
tall making, I wish we lived closer we could work on a tail project/ tail making group!
I found a free diving course in Cornwall, they do a leisure one so not forced depth work required, and I'm.sure we could get them to allow tails too if we booked as a small group, it's £215 -for two days though!
blackpool.is a long way away from me but don't count me out as it sounds fab!

Aye =) I haven't been to london since I was around 8... so I'm going to use a day off to be mega tourist :D

And we could always communicate on facebook if you'd like about tail designs etc? I'm going to be commercially selling tails once we're in the new house etc so you could always commission me too at some point =)

And that course sounds awesome... cornwall's awkward for me to get to but could be done ^_^ I'll nosey around when I have time and see if there's any good ones up north too xx


It would be fun to have a bit of a MerFest-type event in the UK - I'm sure there would be interest from mers from the rest of the Continent too! Some places have pools which are split indoor/outdoor pools which would probably be something to look out for given the weather! But I'm sure I speak for the other Merlesque ladies when I say that we'd be very up for doing some talks on whatever people were interested in hearing about - different aspects of professional mermaiding, I guess!

There are a couple of mermaid-themed events coming up in the UK this summer, although I don't believe either of them are intending to have swimming involved and it's not going to be a mermaid convention type event - but there's the March of the Mermaids in Brighton, and the Folkestone Mermaid Festival as well. Can't remember the dates as I don't have my calendar on me, I'm hopeless without it!

Awesome :D would be interesting to hear you guys talk about being a pro mermaid in England and your approach to it.

I'm also hoping to get to brighton for the march of the mermaids... juuuust depends on funds X_x

The de vere here in blackpool has an indoor pool and heated outdoor pool which is the only one to have that set up in blackpool, it's also accross the road from stanley park which has a huge lake in it - I could find out from the council if it's save for wild swimming with their permission. The only issue is that the de vere is a bit of a hike from the center of town and the beach (like a 45 min walk or a £6ish taxi ride) and it's the more expensive hotel in blackpool but they might do a group booking discount or something. Oh and the de vere is right next to blackpool zoo if anyone would be interested (which has sealions and penguins and I'm sure I could arrange a chance to go in and meet the sealions for a small group of us if we get things organised and confirmed with enough warning). All the other hotels in the center of town have smaller indoor pools and the council run pools and the sandcastle indoor waterpark don't allow fin swimming. x

[Squall]

Hi, new south west London merman checking in. I'm still very new to all this, only found out about the Mer community a few weeks ago and quite by accident, pretty much decided there and then that I wanted to get involved but held off joining here in case it was a fad, seems it isn't. Even if things do go to plan I've a long way to go until I get a tail, can't even really swim at the moment LOL, never had an incentive to learn until now. So for fear of repeating myself more, I'll just mention I've a bigger entry in the introduction section if you want to find out a bit more.

[Mermaid Lilium]

Hi, new south west London merman checking in. I'm still very new to all this, only found out about the Mer community a few weeks ago and quite by accident, pretty much decided there and then that I wanted to get involved but held off joining here in case it was a fad, seems it isn't. Even if things do go to plan I've a long way to go until I get a tail, can't even really swim at the moment LOL, never had an incentive to learn until now. So for fear of repeating myself more, I'll just mention I've a bigger entry in the introduction section if you want to find out a bit more.

Hii! Welcome! *waves*

and don't worry we all did the lurk for a while =) And don't worry about the not swimming, Raina couldn't swim until she got in a tail and then she was zooming round the pool and getting strong! Get a friend to teach you slowly or find a class near you, it's not hard I promise <3 Most important thing is not to panic and just stay calm and go at your own pace. xx

[Kamanaka]

Lilium - awesome I'll message you my fb details! Hope you can get established in a home soon with tail making space, garage required, I have a garden shed lol!
Im planning on making another fabric tail this week when my finis foil arrives, hoping it will fit into my case and voila I'll have a travel tail!
Ive also bought some gold scale vinyl material to have a go at making a thicker maybe slightly more realistic tail, it might fail but hey I'll give it a bash!

[Kamanaka]

Squail- hello :-) all hobbies has it's beginning and if mermaiding inspires you to learn to swim then that's fantastic :-) you will have to keep us updated with your progress.

Lilium- you mentioned using a Dragonskin equivalent we'll quite honestly who could tell the difference if it's pretty much the same thing :-) I think keeping costs down would be a far bigger plus for everyone than using expensive imported goods! :-)

[Mermaid Mhara]

well once I've graduated in July I'll start organising something - can you guys start thinking of a date you'd want this to be? =) I'd say late august but some people will be busy with festivals and stuff around then. Pleasure Beach is open til the first week of November x


YYYup, I'm much delayed on when I wanted to start sculpting for molds... we're soon going to be moving into temporary rental accom cause our house is being sold in like a month's time and mum can't get a mortgauge cause of her ex she owns this house with, wrecking her credit rating and stuff. Once we're in a proper house (me and my husband live with mum and my brother)I can start sculpting for my own tail and the first commercial design...FINALLY lol

And if you're seriously interested, there's a thread on here where I shared some of my designs - I've been designing a special range of 'plant' based tails =) Miyu is lined up to commission a cherry blossom tail once she's saved up. I'll dig out the link if you struggle to find it. Or you can click on the link in my signature to my mermaid page on fb and I shared the album on there with all the drawings and such. Hopefully I can find ways of keeping material costs down because yes you'll save on rediculous postage costs but the materials that everyone wants (dragonskin silicone) cost more to import. Would you care if I used a european equivelant silicone out of interest? =)



Aye =) I haven't been to london since I was around 8... so I'm going to use a day off to be mega tourist :D

And we could always communicate on facebook if you'd like about tail designs etc? I'm going to be commercially selling tails once we're in the new house etc so you could always commission me too at some point =)

And that course sounds awesome... cornwall's awkward for me to get to but could be done ^_^ I'll nosey around when I have time and see if there's any good ones up north too xx

Oooh just had a nosey about on your designs and they are fabulous! I'd love to talk to you about designs :) And no, of course I wouldn't mind a dragonskin alternative! :) Whatever is easier, cheaper, and of course better for you is great! :D

I'm not 100% I'd be able to do it this year yet...with a LOT of things planned out already I'd have to run it over and think about costs etc :)

[Vixy]

We could always have a mini meet at one of those large cons one day, I go to the cons quite a bit. :D

[Mermaid Lilium]

well it's probably going to be towards the end of the year by the time we get in a new house and settled X_x and I want to make myself a silicone tail ready for NCmerfest if I can (planning on going and repping us brits ;D) cause I want to work out the kinks on the process before I take orders. I want to show I can be trusted to make what is paid for and at a high quality (I'm a perfectionist and I'm never going to take on crazy numbers of orders because I don't want to overload myself). So it gives people plenty of time to save and work with me on designs if they want to. Feel free to PM me and/or add my fb (www.facebook.com/stargirlphotography is my personal page) if you want to talk about ideas/designs etc or just to talk XD I'm a friendly mer I promise lol

and okiedokes I'll look into euro equivelant silicones then once I get my last uni project done.... life shall resume after the 14th :')

And yeah... been going with mum to look at houses and a garage/workspace is a must haha, been vetting them on each place. We got a house picked out and an offer accepted but mum can't get a mortgauge yet cause of her credit rating cause of her ex partner (who owns half the house we're selling). Been trying to nudge us towards houses with enough space to set up a frame pool too but not having much luck on that one due to our budget =(

And a few of us seem to be already planning on meeting up at the cons this year, so maybe we can plan some proper mini-meets next year or something =)

[Vixy]

Of course, should be fun. Busy but fun! Especially saturdays..... Cons are really always busy then.

[Mermaid Lilium]

Of course, should be fun. Busy but fun! Especially saturdays..... Cons are really always busy then.

I can imagine X_x Never been to a con before (well, other than a photography one but that's not the same lol) but I know how crazy manchester gets when there's big events on.

[Vixy]

Oh goodness, when I was London on the saturday I was just pushed around because it was sooooo many people.

[Kamanaka]

I've just bought some neoprene :-) will make it a future plan of mine to paint it up. Saw an amazing one online http://firepixiefashion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/how-i-made-my-neoprene-swimming-mermaid.html

oooh frame pool, I wonder how big and deep they are? Can't imagine a garden one being too practical for me though. ,y boyfriend wants a swimming pool I doubt we would ever get the space though :-(

[Mermaid Lilium]

I've just bought some neoprene :-) will make it a future plan of mine to paint it up. Saw an amazing one online http://firepixiefashion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/how-i-made-my-neoprene-swimming-mermaid.html

oooh frame pool, I wonder how big and deep they are? Can't imagine a garden one being too practical for me though. ,y boyfriend wants a swimming pool I doubt we would ever get the space though :-(

I think I saw a 51" deep rectangular one.. like 35ft long? it's about a grand or more on amazon lol

Congrats on the neoprene! I have had my roll sitting in the hallway for like 2 months now, waiting for uni to be done and for me to have the time to work on it. Going to make a black stretch velvet training tail first though as I know I'll take ages over painting and sewing the neoprene one lol

[Squall]

Hii! Welcome! *waves*

and don't worry we all did the lurk for a while =) And don't worry about the not swimming, Raina couldn't swim until she got in a tail and then she was zooming round the pool and getting strong! Get a friend to teach you slowly or find a class near you, it's not hard I promise <3 Most important thing is not to panic and just stay calm and go at your own pace. xx

Thanks for the welcome. All my friends are too distant to help, but I have found a pool not too far away that holds lessons at 8pm, the time is important as I have one of those jobs where I never know when I'm going to be finished. I'm actually ok in the water, at least I was as a kid, never had a problem going under. For now I'm using the bath to get used to water going into nose, spent just over a minute face up while submerged last night, it's definitely getting easier so I'm hoping that will be one less thing to worry about when I start lessons.

[Kamanaka]

Squall that's great that you are comfortable in the water and your enthusiasm will be a great advantage for you!

Lilium- managed to get my neoprene on ebay. I made another tail today a purple and silver one with a silver fluke, it fits my finis foil which will be my travel fin. I'm planning on making a navy and gold one tomorrow as I found some gorgeous fabric today. It's navy with gold scales all over it in slightly varying sizes, just using the typical spandex/Lycra stuff for now.

Managed to to get some string style belts in the £1 shop today, they look a bit like fishing nets too. Have been looking for something like that fir a while as think they look pretty and lots of mere seem to use scarfs and belts to help stop the tail slip. Thinking of starting a uk bargains thread so we can share tips and supplies we find on uk soil?

[Mermaid Lilium]

Squall that's great that you are comfortable in the water and your enthusiasm will be a great advantage for you!

Lilium- managed to get my neoprene on ebay. I made another tail today a purple and silver one with a silver fluke, it fits my finis foil which will be my travel fin. I'm planning on making a navy and gold one tomorrow as I found some gorgeous fabric today. It's navy with gold scales all over it in slightly varying sizes, just using the typical spandex/Lycra stuff for now.

Managed to to get some string style belts in the £1 shop today, they look a bit like fishing nets too. Have been looking for something like that fir a while as think they look pretty and lots of mere seem to use scarfs and belts to help stop the tail slip. Thinking of starting a uk bargains thread so we can share tips and supplies we find on uk soil?

Ah! I got mine from ebay too haha and ooo those sound pretty <3 Please share photos when you have them! And I have a load of foil spandex cause I was going to be doing a mer-group photoshoot for my current project... now just doing one golden mer on the beach at sunrise (yep we're getting up and ready to shoot at 5.30am :P) So I could make a bunch of tails from all of that once I have time... only problem is I know i'd look horrendous in the shiny foil spandex >_< stretch velvet should be a little more forgiving for now!

and a UK bargains thread sounds like fun =) I raided wilkos the other week and they had some awesome aquatic plants that I'm going to use for making some accessories! :D were like £1.50 a pack!

[Mermaid Martha]

Hi Everyone!
I'm really hoping this message works because i completely suck at all things computery!
I am new to mernetwork but not new to mermaiding. I'm a freediver and only found out a few months ago that you can buy realistic tails so i have been saving ever since i found out! Very excited to have found other mers in the UK, Mernetwork has a lot of US mermaids and I didnt think there were many of us!
I have a question about any mer-festival/cons/get together things that might be happening or might be in the future? I was just wondering because it would be fun to meet up with everyone :) x

[Kamanaka]

arghh you should have said before I went into Wilkinsons yesterday :-) I made a little hair accessory but I'm planning a bigger less rushed piece.
aw j think spandex would still look fine, you may have to make both as you do have the fabric :-)
when are you doing the sunrise shoot? 5.30am is still later than my start tomorrow and I don't get to hang out on the beach :-)

I made my new navy and gold tail today, so pleased with the scale fabric I got, I know need to track it down in every colour!

[Kamanaka]

Hi Martha :-)
freediving that's awesome! I'm hoping to take up a freediving course when I've built my lungs up again, it's certainly on my must do list! I've always spent a lot of time underwater!
Are you going to get a fabric tail while you save up?

[Mermaid Martha]

Hi Kamanaka!
I don't know whether it would be worth me buying/making a fabric tail or not... Would you say it is worth getting for practice? I currently only use a monofin
It's good fun but its very intense!

[Kamanaka]

Hi Martha, we'll the tail I made today cost me practically nothing and didn't take long either-although I'm not too bad with a sewing machine! I think today's fabric was about £7, the one in my photo cost more but not too much, the sequins added to the price. Today's one was about something pretty and durable to take away with my finis foil. I'm finding tail making quite addictive I need to start a tail making thread to pop them online. I think the tail adds a finishing touch fur me.
Id love a silicone tail but then the weight of carrying it around and more importantly having somewhere to swim in it puts me off, not to mention the maintenance involved. My future plan is a neoprene tail which I will paint. :-)

[Vixy]

So I kinda plugged the idea of mermaid entertainers down here in Cornwall. :D The lady I spoke to who works at one of those children's play worlds seems quite keen on the idea on having mermaids on her events. Now just get a tail :P But I also mentioned about having a mini con one day.


Hi Everyone!
I'm really hoping this message works because i completely suck at all things computery!
I am new to mernetwork but not new to mermaiding. I'm a freediver and only found out a few months ago that you can buy realistic tails so i have been saving ever since i found out! Very excited to have found other mers in the UK, Mernetwork has a lot of US mermaids and I didnt think there were many of us!
I have a question about any mer-festival/cons/get together things that might be happening or might be in the future? I was just wondering because it would be fun to meet up with everyone :) x

Mermaid Lilium and I are planning on meeting up for the Manchester MCM in July.

[Mermaid Lilium]

Hi Everyone!
I'm really hoping this message works because i completely suck at all things computery!
I am new to mernetwork but not new to mermaiding. I'm a freediver and only found out a few months ago that you can buy realistic tails so i have been saving ever since i found out! Very excited to have found other mers in the UK, Mernetwork has a lot of US mermaids and I didnt think there were many of us!
I have a question about any mer-festival/cons/get together things that might be happening or might be in the future? I was just wondering because it would be fun to meet up with everyone :) x

Hello! Welcome! :D

There's quite a few of us as you may have seen and maybe by the time you save up, i'll be offering silicone tails if you'd be interested :)
At the moment I'm meeting up with vixy in manchester in july at MCM con, and I think some people are going to a london anime con. I'm also possibly meeting up with people in london june 17th-18th while i'm down for my graduate show.

I'm probably going to be arranging a meet-up in blackpool for late august/early september. Probably a day at the pleasure beach and then chilling out on the beach in our tails afterwards, weather permitting =) Next year I might try to arrange a 2-day event or something, based at one of the local hotels and get some talks and decent events organised.


arghh you should have said before I went into Wilkinsons yesterday :-) I made a little hair accessory but I'm planning a bigger less rushed piece.
aw j think spandex would still look fine, you may have to make both as you do have the fabric :-)
when are you doing the sunrise shoot? 5.30am is still later than my start tomorrow and I don't get to hang out on the beach :-)

I made my new navy and gold tail today, so pleased with the scale fabric I got, I know need to track it down in every colour!

Sorryyyy! At least you know for next time =) they also had a little mermaid tank decoration for like £1 too, she's now sat above the fireplace lol
Don't bother with the 'airator' type ones btw, they're too fluffy to work for hair clips etc.

Maybe I'll sell a couple of custom spandex tails this summer to raise money for my silicone... hmmm
and we're planning on a 5.30 shoot, will have to do her hair and makeup before-hand so probably a 4am start X_x I'm fairly nocturnal by nature so should be interesting lol and yayyyy! Excited to see photos of this tail and the fabric =)

and on the note of whether it's worth doing fabric tails first - YEP! Definately! It's worth making a cheap tail to practise in for the time being to get used to having your legs bound together in the water xx

[Mermaid Martha]

Hi Mermaid Lilium!
The con sounds good but unfortunately I'm not around during the mcm in Manchester.

Do you have any pictures of silicone tails your making? Or any progress shots? I would be very interested in a UK seller as the US costing charges are ridiculous!

Ill have a think about a fabric tail as it might just be fun to play around with! :)

[Mermaid Lilium]

Hi Mermaid Lilium!
The con sounds good but unfortunately I'm not around during the mcm in Manchester.

Do you have any pictures of silicone tails your making? Or any progress shots? I would be very interested in a UK seller as the US costing charges are ridiculous!

Ill have a think about a fabric tail as it might just be fun to play around with! :)

there's a thread somewhere on here with some sketches etc I have, you can also find them on my fb mermaid page (link in my signature)

Sadly not been able to start sculpting etc for tail yet, have to wait til later in the year to start doing that and constructing tails. I'm actually making a fabric tail tonight so will be posting a behind the scenes pic of it and the shoot on wednesday morning, on my instagram (katherinearnold) So feel free to have a nosey at those pics and the photos of me making other stuff for my shoots.

I'm going to be making my own silicone tail later this year, and want to do this before I consider selling them to work out the kinks in the process and to give you guys an example of my work. =)

I'll soon be hunting down some european equivelant materials for the silicone tails to keep costs down, otherwise the tails will be really expensive as I would have to be importing dragonskin from america. So should have a better price guide in a month or so x

[Mermaid Martha]

Mermaid lilium :)
I would reply with what you said I'm my reply but my phone won't let me!

I can't find your sketches so I don't suppose you could pop a link on here? I have searched on here and in Facebook and can't find them.

I will definitely keep an eye out for those shoot pics! :)

[Kamanaka]

Lilium can't wait to see the shoot pics, I love the crown you made- clever idea! :-) I added you on Instagram.

Im debating a sequin neoprene tail, with ail, with the huge shell sequins, the added weight might also help? Quite a costly project but maybe one for the future?

[Mermaid Lilium]

hey guys the link to the sketches ablum is... https://www.facebook.com/stargirlphotography/media_set?set=a.10151808181002345.1073741827.63707 2344&type=1

and the thread on here is.... http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?4870-Ok-so-it-was-suggested-I-post-my-designs-%28image-heavy%29&highlight=suggested

I think I'm going to be reshooting the mermaid shoot from wednesday just due to how grainy the images turned out due to crappy weather killing the light levels >_< will give me the chance to properly finish the tail though! Gotta add this gold/orange taffetta sections to the fluke and velcro to secure the end of the fluke, and I want to paint a scale design on it to make it more realistic... on the plus side it fitted like a glove lol

and yeah i'm wanting to make a sequin tail at some point in the future - I'll be just painting my neoprene tail at first but at some point I'll be taking it in when I shift some weight so might re-make it with sequins to get a decent second use out of the tail =)

sequin tails take a long time so my suggestion is to paint it and gradually cover it with sequins - the paint just means you can use the tail in the meantime x

[Kamanaka]

Ah grain, I hate using high ISOs it's usually dim lit churches that make me curse a little, when the use of flash of banned too!
I like the gold tail :-) that sounds a plan with the neoprene tail, plus means you get a painted tail and then get to experience a sequin one too! I just want somewhere I can swim, went to my local pool today and I loved the 3.8metre depth, at reception I asked about fin and mask use and she said I wouldn't be allowed to use either at all, but then I asked a lifeguard and he said if it's quiet I can use my fin and I can use my mask anyway, so that's a small result now need to figure out pool quiet times!

[Vixy]

Oh wow, there's plenty of things to do down here for when I get my tail. Pirates festivals with tall ships, and plenty other things. I think I'm gonna look at organising a mini con down here if anyone is interested in going?

[SiaTheMermaid]

Hey everyone!

I'm new to all of this; the forum posting, mermaiding etc. but I thought I would look around on here to see what is happening in the UK (since the majority of mermaids are in the US) I'm from Scotland, Edinburgh to be precise and I was just wondering if there was anyone else nearby? Doing this sort of thing in Scotland may seem a bit... eccentric to some people so it would be nice to meet some of you at our very own version of a Merfest. :)

[Mermaid Martha]

Thanks for the sketches lilium! They look amazing! I really like the first design.
Hello Sia! I think organising a UK merfest is a great idea! However Edinburgh is very north so a middle ground might need to be found for an easy meet up :)
Welcome to a new mer from the UK

[SiaTheMermaid]

Thanks Martha! :)

Yeah Edinburgh is a bit too north, even for myself. Although it does host an arts festival every year which could be very useful to a mermaid with a travelling tank, just putting that out there for you folks incase it applies to you.

[Mermaid Lilium]

It might be something to consider in the future especially if in the future I get the funds together to commission a portable tank so that we could all perform at the festival =) but a middle-ground location is probably better for now so that more people are able to attend as there's not tons of us in the UK ;)

Martha I'm glad you like the first sketch - that's the design for my own personal silicone one :D will be done in purple and black and be rather gothic looking =)

and guys I FINALLEH just handed in the last of my uni work, so other than helping sort stuff out for the exhibitions, I'm done and free of uni :D this means I'll have time to organise an event. If I were to organise an event for august, the week before the bank holiday weekend, would people be able to attend? On the tuesday?
and would you want it to JUST be ONE day, meet up in the morning and get trains home in the afternoon, or should I talk to the local hotels with pools about organising something for at least one overnight stay for everyone and possibly hiring the pool for us to use privately? I was thinking that a multi-day meet might be a bit much for everyone this first year money wise, but if everyone wants to come and wants to stay over to do a bit more than just one day then I can start making calls xx

list of some possible things to do:

- Pleasure beach (something to do when Ideally you can get to blackpool for 10am and spend the day there til at least 2/3pm)
- Mess around on the beach (was thinking after being at PB cause I could organise storage of our tails, I already mentioned it to Mum and she doesn't think her bosses would have a problem with that)
- sealife centre (also has pirate themed indoor mini golf)
- Blackpool tower, tower dungeons, madame tussauds. (you can buy a multi pass which gets you into these plus the sealife centre which saves some money if we'd be doing all of them)
- Hire one of the hotel pools
- Sandcastle waterpark (heated indoor waterpark with slides etc but they don't allow fin swimming)
- Might be able to organise a boat excursion but would have to do some reasearch on that one

[SiaTheMermaid]

I would love to attend a meet up, but i'll probably be there for just the one day due to finances (The life of a student, UGH) but I definitely think it is something we should do especially for those who don't have a more local group of people to meet up with. :)

[selkie13]

I'm from Angus and there is meant to be some kind of meet up in the summer for us scottish mermaids.
Scottish mer i think is organising it. I don't know if its an official thing or if we are all just meeting up for a swim, i think its the later.

[SiaTheMermaid]

There is? I'm trying to remember if I've seen it mentioned before. I think I have... My memory is really bad haha

[Kamanaka]

Hi Sia, I live down South but I spent a lot if time in Scotland, I night stop in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen :-)

Lilium- that's awesome well done :-) so happy you managed to finish it all, such a relief and now you can have some time to make a tail fur yourself :-)
a meet up sounds fantastic to me, I would only be able to make an overnight things as it's so far for me, hiring a hotel pool would be fantastic, I swam in a hotel pool yesterday for pretty much the whole day in my fin! Amazing and the pool was lovely and quiet too :-)

[SiaTheMermaid]

Hi Kamanaka :) Why would you want to spend a lot of time up here? It's freezing :lol: But it is really pretty though so I guess that saves it ^_^

[Mermaid Lilium]

Hi Sia, I live down South but I spent a lot if time in Scotland, I night stop in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen :-)

Lilium- that's awesome well done :-) so happy you managed to finish it all, such a relief and now you can have some time to make a tail fur yourself :-)
a meet up sounds fantastic to me, I would only be able to make an overnight things as it's so far for me, hiring a hotel pool would be fantastic, I swam in a hotel pool yesterday for pretty much the whole day in my fin! Amazing and the pool was lovely and quiet too :-)

okiedokes. Is there anyone else who would be attending overnight this year if we book for mid september (aka once the schools are back in)?
and is a weekday or weekend event better? Need answers guys so I can start organising this ;)

[Vixy]

I'm busy 19-21st and I can't promise anything. But if I'm free I'm up for it.

[SiaTheMermaid]

Weekends would be better for me, purely because of university :)

Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Lilium]

okay so we're looking at the weekend of Saturday 13th September then?

do we want it to be friday and saturday? Or saturday and sunday? (Im suggesting we do the main activities one day so that those that aren't staying over won't be missing out)

I'm thinking we could do a day like...

- meet in the center of blackpool (probably blackpool north train station) as early as possible (can you all please check the earliest you can arrive in blackpool asap!)
- If we can meet in town at 10am then we might be able to sneak in a visit to the sealife center en route to the next bit (if not we could do it on the 'short' day as a treat for those staying over.)
- Spend like 5 hours at the pleasure beach
- Go for a walk on the beach and possibly pose in our tails for photos
- Head back to the hotel and tail-swim in the pool before the light fails, this way we'd only need to book the pool for a few hours later in the day

(this plan works better if we do this on the saturday and have the 'short' day on the sunday or do everything on the friday with the short day on the saturday)

[Kamanaka]

Sia- I get sent to Scotland for work :-) my best friend lives in Glasgow so I'm always happy when I get sent there!!

Arghh September is out for me as I'm going on holiday with the boyfriend :-( I couldn't afford two breaks or time off in one month. I'll let you know though if anything changes, work should sent me to Blackpool!!

[SummerRogue]

I don't know whether I could make it It depends on whether I get a dealer table at mcm glasgow or not. I wouldn't have any money otherwise :)

[Mermaid Mhara]

Oh my gosh I so wanna come! I'm going to try my hardest :)

[Vixy]

I would really like to come but I know I'll be running around a campsite/forest one weekend dressed like something from a Persian or Arabian Knights fantasy novel.

[Mermaid Lilium]

Would early october be better for everyone?

[Kamanaka]

Early October works for me :-)

[Mermaid Lilium]

any other votes for a weekend in early october? Vaughan? Vixy? Sia? Summer?

mum is getting me a printout of what dates and times the park is open this year cause it changes as it gets towards november when the park shuts.

Also, there's a huge dancing fountain on the park. Would anyone be up for posing in mer gear in front of the fountains as a group? We can give a copy to the PR team cause I'm sure they'd love that for their facebook page =) We might even be able to swing a photo op of getting us in mer gear on the kids log flume but i'd have to talk to park ops about them doing a risk assessment lol they probably would have to pose without the ride running or something, or just a shot with accessories and no tails, just leggings or something haha

I will be going to scout these things out when I'm on the park for something else in july =)

[Mermaid Mhara]

I'm up for any date!!

OH MY GOSH THAT FOUNTAIN YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES MERMAIDS NEXT TO THE FOUNTAIN. IN BLACKPOOL. YES YES YES.

I was a major Blackpool holiday goer growing up haha :')
Sad I had to stop going, makes me want to come even more this year!!!

Are we also planning a bigger more structured one in a certain location with maybe talks and such for next year? :)

[Mermaid Lilium]

Are we also planning a bigger more structured one in a certain location with maybe talks and such for next year? :)

We'll get this one out of the way and see how it goes, but I would be hoping to plan something like that for next year x

[SiaTheMermaid]

I can do Saturday or Sunday in October, most likely just the Sunday because of my new job but this sounds brilliant! I might just pull a sickie and stay over ;D

Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Lilium]

I can do Saturday or Sunday in October, most likely just the Sunday because of my new job but this sounds brilliant! I might just pull a sickie and stay over ;D

Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk

*loans you her LED halo* ;D

[Sammyantha171]

Any time from August onwards works for me, September or October would be really good, I'll keep an eye on this thread! :)
I don't have a tail though, or even a monofin yet, but I'd still love to come along to a mini MerFest. I'm really excited for this already!

[Mermaid Mhara]

Don't worry! All you need to be is a Mermaid at heart hehe ^_^

How many of us is that deffo coming now? :) I count about 5, any other takers? I'm so excited already!! hehehe

[Mermaid Melanie]

I could maybe swing it in September I'll be back in uk/Ireland for a few weeks


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[Pascal21M]

I would come but i live in Austria.

[Mermaid Lilium]

hey guys for those who are in the south east, like I said I was going to be, I'm heading down to london on the train tomorrow, arriving about 3.30 in shoreditch and leaving at 7pm on thursday.

I will be busy during the day tuesday and busy wednesday morning til the exhibition is all finished being set up and then it's the private view Wednesday night from 6pm at the Brick lane gallery (you're more than welcome to attend, no ticket or invite required!) The exhibition is then open to the public thursday - saturday evening. =)

I'm free to meet up with people other than those times I mentioned i'll be busy, and I'd really love to meet some of you, especially if you know cheap but great places to grab dinner in london ;D. Going to be having a touristy day on thursday before I leave and maybe a little tomorrow once I get my case to the hotel in case anyone local wants to play tourguide to show me cool places that aren't neccessarily the obvious tourist places!

If anyone wants to meet up my mobile number is 07789 957017 and my personal facebook is www.facebook.com/stargirlphotography
I will be able to check my email and facebook via my phone but probably won't be able to see MN msgs and replies as i'm almost certain that the wifi in the hotel will be expensive (easyjet's hotels so you can imagine LOL)

[Jadestone]

I will in the US for August, but hopefully back in England sometime in September/October--if I'm here in time, I'd love to join a meetup! I won't know my return date for sure until closer to september, so don't factor me into planning--I'm more likely to make it if it's later in the year, but since it's unsure as of yet I don't want to mess anything up, haha.

[Ondine]

Hey guys! I have been totally absent, we are into our busy summer season at Merlesque so apologies! But if any UK mers are interested, there is a big mermaiding weekend coming up - there's the Folkestone Mermaid Festival on the 19th - 20th July down on the South coast and also on the 20th July one of the Merlesque mermaids is appearing at the Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire, for those of you who are a little further north! More details on our facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/RealMermaidsUK)and blog - www.realmermaids.co.uk/blog (http://www.realmermaids.co.uk/blog)(there's also a voucher for £3 off tickets to the Blue Planet Aquarium on Sunday if you're interested).

If you're coming to the Folkestone Mermaid Festival, check out the main stage at 7pm when we'll be performing our comedy mermaid cabaret act, with alternative takes on some well known mermaid songs :)

[Mermaid Daenerys]

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place to introduce myself but hopefully someone can redirect me if not!
I'm Mermaid Daenerys; I'm a student, so I divide my time between London and up North (where I go to uni), and just kinda wanted to say hi to all the other British mers that are here - I had no idea there were so many of us! I am as of yet tail-less, but I have got a monofin I'm training with, and am sewing/painting a tail over the next couple of months, as well as saving for a more realistic tail. So, that's me, I guess, nice to know I'm not alone on here xD

[Lucinda]

Hi, and welcome Daenerys!

I'm not British myself, but I was born in England so I guess that counts for something. :)

Don't worry about being tail-less. Plenty of us (still) are. ;)

[MerSkye]

From good o'l london ^0^

[Ondine]

I realise this is super late, but welcome :D

[Jadestone]

Man, of COURSE the big mermaiding weekend was during the two weeks I went back home to the states :/ I'll be back in Cambridge after tomorrow though, so I guess I'll just hope we get something figured out for september/october!

[Mermaid Grace Official]

New Mermaid on the block!
Well, not quite...As my name states, I'm a mermaid in training!

Anyone know of any pools in the Berkshire area of England where I can train with my monofin? I'm not having much luck so far :(

And a great big HELLO to all the mers in England!

[Mermaid Neri Elvina]

Hey everyone! Great to see so many mers in the UK! I love the Ingo books! I would love to meet up with fellow mers like me but I am in the south so I wouldn't be able to travel very far. My name is temporary as I am still thinking hard about my mermaid name. I am tail-less now but hoping to get the FinFun Asian Magenta Tail (with monofin of course) I have been swimming since I was young, I am 13 now and was interested in getting a tail when I was 8. I am new to the Mernetwork and I am still finding my way around the vast ocean that is the Mer community!

:) :mermaid kiss:

[Mermaid Daenerys]

Hi there, Tempest and Mermaid in Training! Great to see so many new mers popping up in the UK!
Regarding your training with your monofin, Mermaid in Training, what I can suggest is a release letter (though that may not work if you're not above 18 and thus an adult). Anyhow, a release letter is a letter or email you send to your pool, explaining what your monofin is, that you know how to use it and are safe, and that you 'release' them of any blame if you have an accident while using your fin. It also doesn't hurt to explain that you'll be using it at quieter times if you can, such as late evenings, early mornings and during the middle of the day when most people are at work/school, because another consideration they have to take in is what happens if you hurt someone else with it. Put emphasis on the fact it's a swimming aid, not a hindrance.

[Lucinda]

Anyone know of any pools in the Berkshire area of England where I can train with my monofin?

I used to live in that area when I was little... ;)

[Mermaid Neri Elvina]

I am hoping to get my tail soon, I have just started saving. I have also decided on my mer name and it is Neri. What do you guys think?

[Sammyantha171]

Hello everyone :)
Did a date get decided for the mer meet in Blackpool?
I may not be able to get to it in October, I won't be able to book any holidays off, but hopefully I won't be working the days anyway.

[Lucinda]

I am hoping to get my tail soon, I have just started saving. I have also decided on my mer name and it is Neri. What do you guys think?

Interesting choice. :) Did you know that the main character in the Australian sci-fi show "Ocean Girl" (aka "Ocean Odyssey" in the UK) was also named Neri?

[Mermaid Neri Elvina]

Interesting choice. :) Did you know that the main character in the Australian sci-fi show "Ocean Girl" (aka "Ocean Odyssey" in the UK) was also named Neri?

No I did not! Did you know it was also the name of the spirit of wisdom in the Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass?

EDIT: Just looked it up, why haven't I not heard of this before, it's freaking Jonathan M. Shiff-creator of H2o and Mako Mermaids!

[Lucinda]

No I did not! Did you know it was also the name of the spirit of wisdom in the Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass?

EDIT: Just looked it up, why haven't I not heard of this before, it's freaking Jonathan M. Shiff-creator of H2o and Mako Mermaids!


Not familiar with the Zelda games, but choosing a name that some associate with wisdom isn't a bad idea. :)

Overall, Jonathan M. Shiff's programmes seem ridiculously hard to get a hold of here in Europe. I checked Amazon.co.uk, but the first season DVD set for Ocean Girl is "currently unavailable" and has been unavailable for over a year maybe even longer. (I think their supplier might have run out of DVD sets but Amazon is still waiting for more. Just a theory)
Anyway, I put H2O on my Christmas wishlist last year. Getting a hold of the show proved quite a challenge for my brother and my dad. There doesn't seem to be a British release so they had to go through the process of deciphering the German Amazon site instead. I now have the German DVD sets for season 1 and 2. Fortunately, we can set the audio to English. :)

Edit: I found Ocean Girl on German Amazon. If you're up for a challenge, you can order it from there: http://www.amazon.de/Ocean-Girl-M%C3%A4dchen-Staffel-Digi-Pack/dp/B00IF7O16O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1410873701&sr=8-2&keywords=%22Ocean+Girl%22
(This box set includes seasons 1 and 2. You can flip the language to "Englisch".)

[Mermaid Neri Elvina]

Really?! That hard to get hold of ?! H2o was shown on Nickelodeon for quite a while! There are three seasons, all of them were shown. As for Ocean Girl, I had never heard of it, so I guess it wasn't as popular in Europe...

[Mermaid Lilium]

heya guys sorry I've been AWOL.... things have kinda been falling apart for me =( I doubt I'm going to get the blackpool meet organised in time for october, so would you guys be okay if I delay it until the spring? Like March or April?

FYI had the pleasure of meeting Toni from meet a mermaid a few weeks ago here in Blackpool and can confirm she's as lovely and beautiful as she appears online lol

[Lucinda]

Really?! That hard to get hold of ?! H2o was shown on Nickelodeon for quite a while! There are three seasons, all of them were shown. As for Ocean Girl, I had never heard of it, so I guess it wasn't as popular in Europe...


Well, it's difficult to find Region 2 English DVD releases of these watery shows. H2O was on TV here in Finland a couple of years back, but I didn't know that it was the kind of show I'd appreciate so I didn't watch it then. It's getting a hold of it afterwards that proved more difficult.

[Vixy]

heya guys sorry I've been AWOL.... things have kinda been falling apart for me =( I doubt I'm going to get the blackpool meet organised in time for october, so would you guys be okay if I delay it until the spring? Like March or April?

FYI had the pleasure of meeting Toni from meet a mermaid a few weeks ago here in Blackpool and can confirm she's as lovely and beautiful as she appears online lol

Not at all. It'll be easier for me to save and get time off. My boyfriend is wanting to show me around Blackpool so perhaps can try and arrange something.

I'm here if you need a chat *hugs*

[Mermaid Lilium]

Not at all. It'll be easier for me to save and get time off. My boyfriend is wanting to show me around Blackpool so perhaps can try and arrange something.

I'm here if you need a chat *hugs*

well if you're heading up here I'm living opposite the pleasure beach currently so even if you wanna stop by for a cuppa just let me know =)

It's looking hopeful for bannatynes gym saying yes to me training too btw - waiting for the sales manager to check with the gym manager and get back to me, but he's said he can't see it being an issue. When I hopefully go for a trial day, I'll ask about hiring the pool for events, and at the very least once I'm a member there I can buy a £5 guess pass for you to come swim with me if you want to =) It's halfway between town and my house (20 min walk from town or my house)

If they say no then the meet will likely have to take place at the de vere (expensive resort one) or I have yet to ask some of the out-of-town caravan/lodge parks that have their own gym and pool but those would be troublesome in terms of transport

and thankyou hun <3 I may msg you on fb this week if I see you online xx

[Mermaid Neri Elvina]

Well, it's difficult to find Region 2 English DVD releases of these watery shows. H2O was on TV here in Finland a couple of years back, but I didn't know that it was the kind of show I'd appreciate so I didn't watch it then. It's getting a hold of it afterwards that proved more difficult.

I had trouble finding Mako Mermaids online, the only one I could find was on a Spanish site - the episodes were in English though!

[Lucinda]

Shouldn't Mako be available via Netflix?

[Mermaid Wesley]

It is on netflix. It's a netflix original show


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[Mermaid Neri Elvina]

I don't have Netflix but I have almost finished season 1, on episode 18 I think

[Ondine]

I've totally forgotten if we have any Scottish mers on here - but if we do, or if any of you fancy a trip to Edinburgh for a weekend, me and Mermaid Melusine from Merlesque will be swimming in the shark tunnel at Deep Sea World Aquarium (in Queensferry, just outside Edinburgh) this weekend the 4th and 5th October, plus for a special event on Friday evening (tickets are still available: http://www.deepseaworld.com/planning-your-trip/events). It's the largest collection of sharks in Europe, and the mermaids will also be popping up in the tropical rock pools for meet and greet sessions (and photos!) - we'd love to see you there :) Plus, if we're not enough to tempt you, the aquarium also has some adorable seals, which I am excited about getting to see haha!

[Mermaid Lilium]

I've totally forgotten if we have any Scottish mers on here - but if we do, or if any of you fancy a trip to Edinburgh for a weekend, me and Mermaid Melusine from Merlesque will be swimming in the shark tunnel at Deep Sea World Aquarium (in Queensferry, just outside Edinburgh) this weekend the 4th and 5th October, plus for a special event on Friday evening (tickets are still available: http://www.deepseaworld.com/planning-your-trip/events). It's the largest collection of sharks in Europe, and the mermaids will also be popping up in the tropical rock pools for meet and greet sessions (and photos!) - we'd love to see you there :) Plus, if we're not enough to tempt you, the aquarium also has some adorable seals, which I am excited about getting to see haha!

I seem to remember there being a few =)

and good luck guys! Hope the weekend goes well for you! :D I'd love to go but I already have plans in Manchester! *sad*

[SiaTheMermaid]

There are a few of us Scottish mers on here, although I've been AWOL for a while. I'm from Edinburgh, so I might stop by Deep Sea World to see you guys!

[Jadestone]

I've totally forgotten if we have any Scottish mers on here - but if we do, or if any of you fancy a trip to Edinburgh for a weekend, me and Mermaid Melusine from Merlesque will be swimming in the shark tunnel at Deep Sea World Aquarium (in Queensferry, just outside Edinburgh) this weekend the 4th and 5th October, plus for a special event on Friday evening (tickets are still available: http://www.deepseaworld.com/planning-your-trip/events). It's the largest collection of sharks in Europe, and the mermaids will also be popping up in the tropical rock pools for meet and greet sessions (and photos!) - we'd love to see you there :) Plus, if we're not enough to tempt you, the aquarium also has some adorable seals, which I am excited about getting to see haha!

Wow! I'm so envious, I'd love to swim with sharks someday! Too bad this isn't during the weekend I was hoping to visit Scotland during. Have fun though!! Post lots of pictures!

[selkie13]

No!! If only I can on sooner! Why do I not come on more often


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[SummerRogue]

I've started a go fund me and I don't really know where to post it? Anyway here it is :) http://www.gofundme.com/flbm0c I'm still getting used to my fabric tail atm but I hope that soon i'll be moving on to silicone :) I've tried to swim in Loch Lomond but I nearly froze my fins lol I will be swimming indoors from now on.

[Sammyantha171]

That link's not working for me SummerRogue, it just says "campaign not found".
Do you know what kind of silicone tail you're getting? I'd love to see some pictures of the design if you have some. :)

[SummerRogue]

Sorry Sammyantha I had to delete my tail fund, I should have said, I've started a more serious campaign to raise money for my local foodbank and people were getting messages say thanks for donating to mermaid Summer's tail fund instead of the foodbank message :/ They were really confused lol

[SummerRogue]

I've set up my gofundme page again :) http://www.gofundme.com/MermaidSummer

[Samantha Siren]

Hey Summer, which tail maker are you going with?

[SummerRogue]

I've decided mernation :) I'm getting my measurements done in person in april!

[SummerRogue]

I've just payed for my tail from mernation! Am I the first Scottish mer to have a silicone tail? It will be ready for me in April and I'm soooo excited!

[Mermaid Neri Elvina]

Congrats Summer!!

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[Scottish Mer]

Congrats Summer. I've had my latex tail for about a few years now so don't know if that even counts on the silicone tail thing? xD

[SummerRogue]

Latex is different than silicone, I hope we can all meet up soon :)

[Mermaid Melanie]

Hey guys ! So I have made a big decision recently and would like to let you all know that I will be moving back to Scotland from Thailand in July ! After 5 years out in paradise its time to return to the homeland ! Im super excited to be coming back although I'll be giving up warm waters for a while I will be more selkie than ever ! I would really love to meet up with you all sometime this summer for a fun swim and maybe some photoshoots? I have some awesome places in mind for a mer-meet and photo session ! I will also be offering silicone tails in the UK when I return and get settled in so I hope you guys will take a look and possibly consider them in the future ! Ive applied to university to study Marine Science and couldnt be more excited/anxious waiting to find out if I have been accepted ! If not Ill be making tails and doing college for a year to try and get into the course next year ! fins crossed for me :P Anyhoo lovelies, please send me a little message and get in touch, I would love to get to know you all better ! xxx

[SiaTheMermaid]

Wow Mel, I hope you get into your Marine Science course! It's a course that I myself am doing :) I'll definitely take a look at the tails you will be offering when you get here, we need more UK tailmakers

[Mermaid Melanie]

Thanks Sia ! Thats awesome what uni are you studying at ? Ive applied to university of the Highlands and Islands in Oban! It sounds like the perfect course for me and in the 3rd year they have the option to study in Svalbard in the Arctic at UNIS ! Really hope I get in but counting on my personal statement and work experience as my SQA's are a little out of date ! If I don't ill try and get in next year after doing some access courses this year !

[SiaTheMermaid]

I'm studying at Edinburgh Napier University. It's a rather small uni but it does the job :) We have the option to exchange to a different uni for 6 months to a year in countries like America and Australia

[Mermaid Melanie]

Nice ! Sounded like a great course when I had a look at the outline ! What year are you in now ? How are you finding the course so far ? x

[SiaTheMermaid]

I'm in second year. First year was just your basic biology, mostly learning the foundations but there's a course on evolution included and it's fantastic

[Mermaid Melanie]

Ah thats great - its been a long time since I was in school so I might have to do some refresher courses before I get accepted but hey it will be worth it in the end ! What sort of career are you looking at for when you finish ? x

[SiaTheMermaid]

I honestly don't know really

[SummerRogue]

Awesome Melanie, we have got to do a Scottish met meet up sometime this year. I'd love to meet more mers in person . And a Scottish tail maker would be amazing!


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[selkie13]

Hope you make it into your course :)
Quick word of warning it is really difficult (at least where i am) in Scotland to find a pool that will let you use a tail. The pool I was using for my monofin stopped letting me use that too in the new year. Beware extreme health and safety.


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[Mermaid Lilium]

will be great to have you back here in the UK melanie! :D

I should be making silicone tails by the end of the year, so maybe at some point we can do a colab ^_^

[Mermaid Melanie]

Thanks so much guys ! Sia - ah I guess you have time to figure out what you will do with your degree later, Im sure lots of people start off with an idea and by the end of their course are interested in a different line of work !

Summer- Yes for sure Id love to meet up when I get back, where are you based ? ! :D

Selkie - I was thinking it might be difficult to find a place that will let me mermaid ! Im hoping that my qualifications as a dive/freediving instructor might help me along with being EFR trainer that might give them some reassurance - and I would make sure to have a buddy with me but fins crossed ! If you guys know of any pools that do allow it, Id love to know !

Lilium - thats awesome ! would love to see your work ! For sure would be fun to work on a project together ! :D Im hoping to ship home my molds that I made my first tail from but I think I will need to reinforce them with strong fiberglassing before I do or they might smash into pieces lol. Will be creating new fluke and scale molds when I get back so will hopefully have a selection for people to chose from and will also maybe consider custom fluke designs, but thats all a bit in the future yet !

Feel free to add me on Facebook guys and if there is a group for UK or Scottish Mermaids there, please do add me to it, if not maybe we can create one ? xxx