The Lido Guide: Stonehaven Open Air Swimming Pool

Emma Pusill, author of the newly updated The Lido Guide, lets the train take the strain and finds that an Art Deco lido, double dipping and aqua-zumba make Stonehaven a dream ticket for swimmers

Autumn is bittersweet. The golden colours, sun still warm on our shoulders; but the water temperature starts a decline to the depths that some of us love, and some of us shun in favour of a swift retreat indoors. Even the most committed winter swimmer reaches a point where their quiet inner voices start talking of towels and togs that dry out rapidly between swims and the absence of any need for thermal underwear.

When that inner voice elevates above a whisper most of us start to think about planning our summer swim programme. My advice would be to turn your thoughts to next summer as soon as the leaves start to fall. Time will be your friend. Time for dreaming, time for research, time for negotiating with your loved ones and, should your dreams involve going big mileage-wise, time for upping the training.

The art of planning a lido adventure

Usually, I am a diligent planner. It’s in my nature and I really don’t enjoy the slightly sick feeling I get when I know I am busking it… like the second time I did the Bude Sea Pool channel challenge in a team of four off the back of inadequate mileage outside. Thanks, lads, for having my back – you all know who you are.

Janet and I’s enjoyment of the planning side of things is why we wrote The Lido Guide. The book was designed to be rugged enough to have handy in the summer months, but it comes into its own for those dark winter evenings planning the following year’s adventures. It’s laid out by UK constituent country, broken down into counties and then alphabetically by pool. There’s a whole country map at the front – you can literally run a pencil through it to plan your journey and join the lido dots, so to speak.

But this summer, I’ve done quite a bit of busking it and in doing so I’ve had experiences that I probably wouldn’t have had otherwise. As I write this, I am just back from a glorious swimming weekend to Oslo. All of it planned with no more than a couple of weeks’ notice. More of that in a later edition, if Ella and the Outdoor Swimmer team will be so kind as to indulge me.

The joys of Stovehaven Open Water Swimming Pool

My primary trip, however, was to Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire. To produce the first edition of The Lido Guide we partnered with Historic Pools of Britain, so when the opportunity to make their July event in Stonehaven a focus for the official launch of the second edition came up I jumped at it. The dates were already set, so I had no planning leeway. I managed to create a little space in my work diary and settled down to practicalities. I’d have loved to have taken the Caledonian Sleeper from London to Stonehaven, but it was full. So I resigned myself to ten hours’ worth of travel on various day-time trains. That train journey was worth it, although I wish I had discovered Seatfrog before the return journey. The app lets you bid on, or buy, a cheap upgrade to first class. It will transform my future lido train trips!

I booked a small cottage in the heart of town, and I co-opted my cousin Ruth. She didn’t take a lot of persuading! Stonehaven itself has so much to offer swimmers. My focus was the brightly coloured, Art Deco, heated 50m saltwater lido. One of the best in the country – and not just because of the fabulous slide. Until now it has been seasonal, but this year they are looking into opening unheated through the winter so don’t dismiss this for an offseason trip. Although in winter you won’t have the pleasure of the aqua-zumba that is laid on at no extra charge to swimmers by the Friends of Stonehaven Open Air Pool – volunteers who do all they can to enhance this facility in cooperation with the council. There were around 35 of us, mainly laughing our heads off for an hour while getting exercise we didn’t even notice. I was surprised to see my watch tell me I had burned 500 calories.

That proved useful because the café at the lido is excellent, as are many other places in the town. The lido sits right on the beach, so you can swim in the sea and run straight across to the lido for double-dipping. Or you can dash to Aunty Betty’s ice cream parlour where toppings the size of a small country come as standard and the view across the bay is incredible. That bay is perfect for putting in some serious sea miles. It is gently sloping, and the tides are reasonably benign but in rough weather you need to risk assess your entry and exits very carefully – particularly at high tide when there can be a bit of shore dump and some concrete steps to content with.

Swimming across Stovehaven harbour

You could swim all the way down to the harbour (crossing the harbour mouth with care). It is the heart of the old fishing village, and swimmers can use the beach to the left of the harbour walls as you approach from sea. Come ashore there and a horsebox sauna will be waiting for you – pre-booking advisable.

If you’ve worked up an appetite by now The Ship Inn is a traditional harbourfront pub, or for something more informal there is fresh sea food to be had from the Seafood Bothy, another converted horsebox pressed to good use on the harbour walls.

And if the mood for something a bit fancy takes you there is the Carron to Mumbai – an Indian restaurant set in possibly the best-preserved art deco interior I have ever seen.

The non-swimmers in the family can enjoy the museum, cafes a plenty and walking the bay on the promenade, from where they will be able to watch you swim. Stonehaven is the dream ticket for swimmers and their families. Get planning, and go there