We went for a swim at Potarch Bridge today. It was smashing and I realised that it’s the first time I’ve been wild swimming in summer in Scotland. Usually I just do the idiotic thing and submerge myself mid-winter for bragging rights. After all, what’s the point of doing something if you can’t brag about it? Well, it turns out it’s actually quite pleasant and fun and just an enjoyable thing to do in its own right.
Unlike my other Scottish outdoor swimming adventures I got used to the water temperature and felt quite comfortable. The water is so clean and refreshing in the River Dee and although there was a current, it wasn’t very strong and we were able to swim right across the river to the other side without much difficulty. Indeed it was quite fun to swim breaststroke against the current and not actually travel anywhere. It was a bit like a water treadmill.
This is Daniel in the background of this next photo with the blue shorts and yellow water shoes about to leap from a rock into the river.
I got a video of Ben doing the same thing.
It was so refreshing and so perfect. A beautiful spot. Afterwards we had a picnic lunch and got coffee at the nearby Potarch Café and Restaurant: a terrific place and well worth a visit.
Nearby there’s a lovely a walk through the forest.
What a perfect day. Potarch Bridge is about 24 miles west of Aberdeen in the Dee Valley.
rachel.blog 
That’s such a lovely fun thing to do, your children are so lucky to have you to introduce them to all these adventures.
Thanks, Denise. There were other families there swimming with their kids but I do agree that they’re very lucky 🙂
Looks like s lovely day was had by all!
It was! Thanks, Colin.
Truly a perfect sounding day. Beautiful! and fun 🙂
Thanks, Chrissie. It was superb.
We used to be able to do that here in Canterbury, until the previous National government ruined it by opening up the Canterbury Plains to dairying. Over-dairying has created a great deal of pollution of our waterways now. It was an incredibly bad thing to do, but governments acting badly are almost impossible to stop. You’re lucky that kind of water pollution hasn’t happened there.
That’s such a shame. I remember all the dairy farms in Canterbury. It’s not even a particularly good environment for dairy farming there because it’s so dry.
Beautiful pictures!! Especially one of the forest with all the ferns in front of the trees 😍
Thanks! That is a good one.