Now the heatwave has ended it feels like a distant memory but we definitely made the most of it, you can’t waste a single moment of sunny weather in this country as we don’t get much of it! Despite the kids sleeping badly due to the heat I really loved the hot weather, it makes me so happy and if it was down to me I would choose for it to be that hot all year round, maybe cooling right down for a few weeks round Christmas, hot weather at that time of year just wouldn’t feel right.
Matt took a couple of days off because his workshop was too hot and as we live near the coast we spent lots of time down there, it actually feels like we’ve been on holiday. On Wednesday we decided to do something a bit different though and after searching on Google for some outdoor swimming spots we decided to visit Spitchwick which is situated on the River Dart in Devon.
Given that it was term-time and a weekday we didn’t expect it to be that busy but we were wrong, it was heaving and this did kind of ruin the experience. There were teenagers blasting out horrible music and empty cans everywhere. Plus lots of people getting in the water shouting out the ‘f’ word despite our kids being next to them. Had it not been for that though then the place itself is stunningly beautiful and actually if you didn’t have kids then you could easily walk up a bit to find somewhere quieter, we did try this but the rocks going into the water were really slippy and the main common area has a little sandy bit for them to play in so we decided to head back to the main area. I think if you went really early in the morning then that would be the best idea, before the teenagers are out of bed 😉
We parked about 1/4 of a mile away (at New Bridge) then walked along a path taking you to Spitchwick, it takes about 10 minutes to walk there and it’s a really lovely walk as it runs alongside the river.
There are lots of places to get into the water and some tyre swings hanging from trees too. We stuck to the shallow area so the kids could play.
I wouldn’t like to say not to visit Spitchwick because it’s such a beautiful spot but I would definitely advise picking the time you go wisely, unless you don’t mind being amongst lots of other people! You can read more about it and find directions here.
