Which rivers are good for swimming on a sunny day?

[Peter Brown]

The Orchy Lochy (low water) and Blackwater at Little Garve are good but a bit far from Glasgow. Any other good rivers out there? I'm thinking rocks and pools for plenty of jumping in etc.

Not completely off topic, think of it as fun scouting when there's no paddling to be had.

[Poke]

In the Lakes then Church Beck and the upper Esk are both top spots for a bit of gill scrambling/swimming/jumping off rocks!

[Liam Kirkham]

The bottom section of the Etive around Dallness Falls has some good spots and dark gorges to jump and swim.




Rydal Beck in South Lakes. Particularly the pool at the top (Buckstones Jum) is great on a sunny day. Jumps off all sizes.





Also Coniston, Wildcat Island and the Mouth of the river Rothay, Windermere.

The river Leven has a nice little jump at Backbarrow. Watch out for kayakers when you play in the jet the rapid creates.




The River Lune, Kirby Lonsdale. A great bridge jump not for the faint hearted at around 60 foot.

So far down here I've only managed to swim in the sea and not on a paticulary sunny day.


Anyone suggest some nicer spots in Southwest? Preferably fresh water.[/img]

[Wildswimmer Pete]

Well, there's always the Clyde! I've swum it at Motherwell and I hope to try the river in Glasgow City Centre when I get the chance.



A friend of mine delivers lorries and he often takes me with him if he has a return vehicle.



My Scottish swims so far:



R. Clyde

R. Annan (twice)

R. Spey

Loch Ness.



You're very fortunate North of the Border as the Scottish "Right to Roam" includes the "Right to Swim".



You could get a copy of "Rob's Cool Places" the OW swimmer's "bible" of outdoor swimming spots. It's written and published by Rob Fryer (he is actually a printer!) and available directly from him:



wildswim@talk21.com



You could also join the Outdoor Swimming Society (it's free):



http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/



Likewise RALSA (also free):



http://www.river-swimming.co.uk



and Swimclub:



http://www.swimclub.co.uk



which has a very active open water forum.



We don't have much info on Scottish waters because many folk are under the impression that Scottish waters are too cold to swim. Not in my experience - so we'd really appreciate news of amazing swimming spots North of the Border.



Pete

[Tom_Laws]

The ardeche, just down from Pont D'Arc. Jumped from the last clear patch on the cliff at the top edge of the photo. Quite scary!

Tons of jumping in and swimming fun on the Ardeche.

[Wildswimmer Pete]

And as a special treat for Garth:

http://www.swimming-holes-wales.org.uk/


Pete

[nina]

Any top ones near-ish to Leeds apart from Linton Locks? I stopped swimming in rivers/lochs when I was little and I'm realising that I've missed it rather a lot.

[Liam Kirkham]

Any top ones near-ish to Leeds apart from Linton Locks? I stopped swimming in rivers/lochs when I was little and I'm realising that I've missed it rather a lot.

Nina,

One of my faveourites is another one the Wharfe. There is a footpath behind the Red Lion in Burnsall follow it for fifteen minutes. Here you will find a 15- 20 foot cliff with a deep pool and a clear run up. Loop or Luke scar depending on who you ask.

Another nice stretch of Wharfe runs parralel to Appletreewick town. downstream of Masons campsite on The Dales Way footpath is anothe rrocky section followed by a large natural pool and a rope swing. Just further down is Appletreewick falls which is a grade 3 plus rapid but can be dangerous in high water.

Peny Ghent Ghyll may be a nice stretch to explore aswell, its certainly fun to paddle.

http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/penyghentgill.htm

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vKVd1hY2bkE

The most obvious choice I forgot to mention was The Ingleton Waterfalls, on The river Twiss and Doe. Take care where you swim and jump but theres lots of fun to be had there.

[Liam Kirkham]

Langstrath Beck, North Lakes is another poular swimming hole in the summer.

[Shifty]

The ardeche, just down from Pont D'Arc. Jumped from the last clear patch on the cliff at the top edge of the photo. Quite scary!

Tons of jumping in and swimming fun on the Ardeche.

Tom, you suck.

[Jim]

No closer to Glasgow I'm afraid, but I have heard that the local kids swim Monessie gorge on the Spean in the summer, even jumping off the hideous fall...... I have never been quite sure how much to trust such claims though.

Jim

[Dave @ TRC]

Cwm llan top way to cool of on a sunny day after a walk

Dave

[nina]

In Scotland, Inchcailloch is a lovely wee island in Loch Lomond. It's got beaches, a campsite, bbqs, woods, graveyards and ruins. And a regular ferry from Balmaha.
Dollar Glen is nice, it's been many years since I last went up there but there's two burns (of Care and Sorrow) and one has a nice plunge pool that you can jump into. It's about 40 minutes outside of Glasgow, so might be a bit of a trek if I'm wrong/out of date.
Cheers Liam, now all I need is consistently nice weather!

[jsimo]

None it disturbs the fish and fishermen, just not fair.

[davebrads]

We had a great day once chilling and swimming in the pools at Pont Cyfyng on the Llugwy. Very low water of course!

[banzer]

Yesterday afternoon, Dom n me canyoning at Inchree (thanks to the boys at Vertical Descents!)... summer sunshine in Scotland! ONly 10 mins from Fort Bill.

[Peter Brown]

Cheers for the answers. River temp yesterday was fine for rash vest and shorts, even out of sun.

[Jim]

Banzer, the Abhainn Righ seemed more vertical the last time I looked at it, are you sure your photos are in the right orientation?

[Pyro]

Someone mentioned Langstrath Beck - Black Moss Pot is a classic jump/splash around pool in the middle of summer, and never too crowded as it's a bit of a yomp to get to. Eskdale is good - you can swim at the base of Stanley Force (near Dalegarth) and also there's a cracking jump spot on a bridge near Dalegarth Hall.

There's also a few 'ghyll scrambles' worth doing - Honister beck and Mosedale beck are two I've done in the past. There's a few high tarns that are pretty good too.

[banzer]

Banzer, the Abhainn Righ seemed more vertical the last time I looked at it, are you sure your photos are in the right orientation?

I think the photos are in the correct orientation, it's just the photographer has a severely cricked neck and his world is at 90 degrees to ours.

[Wildswimmer Pete]

BUMP!!!

Given the current hot weather, any more suggestions?

Madswimmer Pete

[banzer]

Good bump Pete.

The Allt Mheuran... everything you can paddle, you can slide down on your backside.

Polldubh on the Nevis... took the mask and snorkel down into the pool about 12 metres, lots of wee trout, lovely and clear.

[councildog]

The Allt Mheuran... everything you can paddle, you can slide down on your backside.

But I would Think Twice about Going Down Pinball On my Back


There's A cracking Bridge to jump from at the Falls of orchy

Quite good for getting some Downtime Too

[chriscw]

In summer there are still loads of pools on the Dart where you can swim and many people do. Those cooling pools are really welcome on a hot hike across the moors, its a shame the river does not go the whole way! Theres always the lees (or whatever they are called) further on.

Round here (Basingstoke) there are many rivers although mostly for rather tame swimming. The Toll bridge at Pangbourne is a good traditional jump, I've not done it due to extreme cowardice. Last time were were there the river police came and appeared to be telling people they could not jump from the bridge. They did so before the launch was even out of sight!

Barble Bar weir on the Kennet is popular with the local youth, and I swam over it a few time last night between kayaking sessions.

[David Martin]

How come no one has mentioned the Falloch? An hour from Glasgow to the Falls and plenty of bits to jump off ranging from 10 to 40+ feet. If you swim up from the Falls there is a couple nice drops to climb up and a couple of siphons that you can swim through. Only problem is that when the weather is nice the midges are hell and the place is like a dump cause all the tracksuit-ambassadors leave their rubbish behind. Get the occasional bikini though...

[Peter Brown]

Yeah, stopped off at Falloch a while back. Several generations of ned families to be seen, plus plenty of people almost hitting the rock at the bottom. Been at the Lochy and Etive with goggles this summer, v cool.