Wild Swimming at Hexworthy

As well as visiting Plymouth during family holidays as a child, we always used to spend a day swimming in the river at Hexworthy on Dartmoor.

During our recent camping trip to Dartmoor, it was therefore my duty to introduce Morgan to the joys of playing in the river. We went wild swimming at Hexworthy on two occasions, once on our first afternoon on Dartmoor and then again on the way back from Buckfast to the campsite.

It was just as aI remember it, the same parking places, the same rocks, the same gravel bank and the same chilly waters. The pool, was there just as it always has been and the relatively few parking places meant that it wasn’t too busy – There were always people there though.

Morgan loved it, despite the cold – We did have wetsuits on though which wasn’t the case when I was here as a child! We explored both upstream and downstream and jumped off the rocks into the deeper pool. Morgan made a few friends to play with and Anna relaxed in the sun reading her book. She did go in for a paddle, but not quite for a full swim.

I never see much mention of people wild swimming at Hexworthy anywhere and it isn’t seen in tourist brochures or such like so it looks as though it is a secret little spot for those in the know. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it here!

Tags: Dartmoorholidayswimming