UKC

Its really hard to find legal places to swim other than the sea. Ive had a look on the wild swim website where there is a useful map but there isnt much I can see in my area.

Anyone know of somewhere I can swim (not just a dip) in the Denbighshire / Conwy areas? (not the sea)

I know the alternative is just go to a remote lake and be discrete.

In reply to The Potato:

Try Llyn Geirionydd. I've been in a couple of times but go to the end away form the boat slipway. 

In reply to The Potato:

Geirionydd is a good suggestion. I've never swam there, but Llyn Aled came to mind and a quick search gives this:

http://goneswimming.co.uk/index.php/blog/160-llyn-aled

In reply to The Potato: Not quite the area you’ve mentioned but a friend has regularly swum in Llyn Padarn. Park up at the country park car park.

In reply to The Potato:

Why do you need to be discrete?

In reply to Mike Peacock:

Ive been to Llyn Aled a few times, not very scenic but a good place to swim, but there are no swimming signs there too.

Good Idea on llyn Geirionydd, I hadnt thought of that one.

In reply to The Potato:

A bit further over but Dorothea and surrounding area has a few other holes for swimming

In reply to The Potato:

thanks for the additional suggestions Padarn and Dorothea, but Im really only looking at Conwy and Denbighshire. I know a lot of the good ones in Gwynedd but I dont go that way as often anymore.

In reply to The Potato:

Llynau Brenig and Alwen away from the dams (there's even a hidden diving board on the edge of Alwen), there's a small and silty pond at Bod Petryal and a few dipping spots on the Afon Clywedog near Bontuchel.

thanks Rich - I wouldnt risk swimming in Brenig, its fished all year round and usually fairly busy. You mean Alwen reservoir rather than lake? The res is quite nice, especially the bridge end quite scenic, again not really allowed to swim there either - good old welsh water. Lake Alwen is a bit of a walk to get to but that makes it ideal I guess.

Plenty of places so long as I dont mind breaking the rules.

Ill take a look at bod petryal never been there!

In reply to The Potato:

So it does:

http://tinyurl.com/y5fl4b72

Some of the other Gwydyr lakes might also be ok, eg. Llyn y Parc and Llyn Goddionduon. I'd be tempted to avoid Llyn Bodgynydd as there are contaminated land signs not for from there.

Some of the Migneint lakes might be good if you like bleakness, eg Llyn Serw and Llyn Dywarchen.

In reply to The Potato:

It's worth picking up the wild swimming book if you're looking for inspiration.

It's taken me to some interesting swim spots locally that I wouldn't have thought of and it's great for getting you to places you would never have known about when visiting a new area.

My wife and I did a couple of swim holidays using the book, we would decide  where we were going to next based on where we wanted to go for a swim. I also use it to break up long journeys if there is a swim spot roughly on the way that doesn't involve too much of a diversion.

http://www.wildswimming.co.uk/wild-swimming-new-book/

In reply to Mike Peacock:

Most of the lakes in Gwydr will be contaminated to some extent - there are 40+ lead/zinc mines in the forest area. 

Geirionydd is often referred to as a 'dead' lake because of the metals (a stream comes directly out of an adit of Pandora lead mine, and passes through the carpark area which is itself a spoil heap). 

The contaminated land in the bodgynydd area is the site of one of the old ore dressing/processing areas, so particularly contaminated in the topsoil. 

In reply to Ron Rees Davies:

Agreed, but it's whether the altered water chemistry is harmful to people (I guess not drinking it would be a good start). Geirionydd always seems moderately popular with swimmers but I'm not sure if there's any 'official' advice concerning safety.

In reply to Mike Peacock:

Tend to agree that you're probably fine if not taking significant amounts of water orally and if microbial pathogens aren't likely to be a problem. If keeping head above water should be OK. Surely the presence of many animals and plants, especially fish, should be a good safety indicator.

In reply to Mike Peacock:

We used to go fishing as kids in the 70s to Llyn Bod (bodgynydd). Remember swimming there a few times when getting bored. Ate a fair amount of fish from there too. Not aware of any lasting consequences, although might explain a few things

In reply to The Potato:

Bala Lake Llyn Tegid,  river Dee in a number of parts,  all the way to Chester.  Llyn Geirionydd,  Lyn Padarn Fairy Glen or some of the other mountain lakes. 

Lots of choice,  may need to be discrete and change plans

Look up a few groups on facebook,  I'm a member of Chesterfrosties,  and whilst most of our swims are Chester and Shropshire,  we do also venture west

In reply to JamButty:

thanks for the chesterfrosties suggestion I hadnt thought there would be FB groups.

With regard to the other suggestions Llyn Padarn is in Gwynedd as are the mountain lakes, and Llyn Tegid where I used to swim when I worked in south Gwynedd, gets a bit wavy in wind but a nice lake otherwise.

Other than time constraints, Im also trying to be mindful of environmental impact of driving regularly to get to some of these locations hence looking for ones closer to home/work in Denbighshire and Conwy as I specified in the first post.

In reply to The Potato:

“Its really hard to find legal places to swim other than the sea.”

unless a navigation authority has been appointed by an act of parliament than any inland river is legal to swim in and if you can get to the water from a public area/road/path etc or with the land owners permission then you won’t be committing trespass.

Ignore any signs saying “swimming prohibited” - whoever put the sign up doesn’t have the authority to take the public right of access away from you.

In reply to rogersavery:

I like the sound of that!