Author Topic: River swimming - the Avon and the Frome + Farleigh Hungerford Castle  (Read 10981 times)

Ruthr

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Some odd shots taken over the last few weeks. On one day we drove to Farleigh Hungerford to visit the Castle - after the castle visit we did some walking by the river and eventually ended up at Farleigh  Hungerford River Swimming Club - we joined the club & had a swim.
Other shots are at Claverton Weir - it's our closest river swimming spot to us in Bristol (It's just outside of Bath) before going there we checked out the river at Freshford for possible swims at a later date - it was a bit too deep though & access more of a problem.

Farleigh Castle - the highlight of the Castle for me was the Chapel and the Crypt, very interesting and amazingly well preserved. The gardens surrounding the Chapel were also lovely and very well labled as to which plant was which. There's also an amazing tea rooms nr to the Castle at the local farm/campsite  -they make their own cream and scones and do afternoon tea from 3-6pm -sadly we didn't have time to stop. If you do visit don't bother with the pub as we were not impressed with the overpriced worse than weatherspoons food.



Pretty gardens


Chapel


they need to use this place in Doctor Who..





Crypt



Wild flowers & daisies



Farleigh River Swimming Club - River Frome



River Avon @ Freshford


Heron catching fish - the river was litrally teaming with fish when you looked into the water so it was no suprise the heron had chosen this spot for its dinner



River Avon - Warleigh Weir (Claverton) usually this place is busy but we went on a Thursday daytime so it was devoid of the usual picnicers & familes



Looking down stream


Choo choo - wave to the passengers!



The Damselfly - actually quite hard to photograph!

« Last Edit: 11:29:56, 09/07/11 by Ruthr »
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ramblingpete

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Lovely pictures Ruth - especially the Damson fly.

Crypt a bit spooky though :o

oldboldgeezer

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Stunning pictures - like ramblingpete says, amazing one of the fly  O0
 
What's amazing is I've lived within a few miles of Farleigh Castle for the past 15+ years .. .. but never been there .. .. seeing your photos makes it look very tempting :)
 
Am with you in respect of the pub!!
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Ruthr

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Stunning pictures - like ramblingpete says, amazing one of the fly  O0
 
What's amazing is I've lived within a few miles of Farleigh Castle for the past 15+ years .. .. but never been there .. .. seeing your photos makes it look very tempting :)
 
Am with you in respect of the pub!!

Tis a shame about the pub, nice location, nice garden, but my ploughmans was dire - part bake bread, branstons pickle, half an apple, bit of cheese and some salad from a bag. If I'd paid a few quid for it I wouldn't be too bothered but at the prices they were charging expected something better! They also had no ale on tap as all the pumps weren't working?!
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oldboldgeezer

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Should have popped into Bradford on Avon and gone to The Barge down by the lock (not to be confused withThe Beef and Barge up by the marina) .. .. had an excellent meal with good beer too - just last weekend :)
 
Leave Farleigh Castle on your left - pass the campsite where they do the cream teas and at the traffic lights turn left - The Barge would be on your right in about 2 miles just as you come to Bradford on Avon .. .. well worth the detour  O0
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di36mg

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Very nice  O0

OneToRemember

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Nice pictures O0
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susiej

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Lovely pics Ruth, thanks for sharing  O0
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alewife

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Have not visited the castle for ages (since my children were small) so it was interesting to see the pics. I'm mad keen on swmming and haven't done any river swimming in this country for years - would be interested in any info. Perhaps you should post up a walk/swim meet-up.
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Ruthr

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Where abouts are you based? I'd like to do some more Dartmoor swimming, there's stacks of swimming places which look amazing.

Some good ideas with grid references here:
http://www.river-swimming.co.uk/places.htm
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alewife

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I'm in Somerset, close to Wilts Dorset border. Dartmoor and Exmoor would be great to go swimming. Not much around me, no decent rivers very close.
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yorksgal

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Nice pictures there Ruth especially liking the Damselfly one   O0

White Horse Walker

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I've walked past that swimming spot, always wondered who swam there! Great photos, I have happy memories of Farleigh Hungerford castle when our kids were young.
~
Sue

Ruthr

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I'm in Somerset, close to Wilts Dorset border. Dartmoor and Exmoor would be great to go swimming. Not much around me, no decent rivers very close.

Are you anywere near West Lydford? Aparently there's some good swimming to be had there along the River Brue.

Photo nabbed from someones Flicker
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Ruthr

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Entry point is by the church!
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