Pool Bridge Farm Wild Swimming

Pool Bridge is four private lakes just outside York, in a nature-reserve setting, with a café and five lakeside saunas. Q Lake is the big family one, with jetties and ramps. Monet and the others are quieter — some adults-only, some members-only. You go because you want a lake day near York that you can actually book, and because it sells out in the heat for a reason. The lakes are dyed with a food-safe colourant to suppress algae, so they look unusually blue. That is dye, not a tropical lagoon. Depth on Q Lake runs from standable shallows to about 12 ft. It is a commercial wild-swim venue, not a farmer’s pond with a Facebook event.

Getting in

Day tickets must be bought online in advance. Nothing on the gate. If you have not got a ticket, you are not swimming. Summer day tickets typically from about £8 midweek and about £9 at the weekend — confirm at checkout, because those are typical figures, not a locked menu. Open 08:00–20:00. Out of the water by 19:45. Do not linger.

Children’s tickets only once the water is consistently 12°C+. Under-18s: one adult to three children, and 1:1 for non-swimmers. PFDs are strongly recommended for under-11s. Bring them if you are bringing kids. Tickets are non-refundable. You can only reschedule if you are more than 5 days out. Heatwave Saturday bought on Thursday is yours whether it rains or not.

No dogs except assistance dogs, and those are not in the water. Alcohol, smoke and music are out. Treat it as a swim site, not a picnic with a lake attached.

Camping exists on site. That is a stay, not this listing. Book it separately if that is the weekend.

The swim

Four lakes, not one. Check which lake your ticket is for. Q Lake is the family water: jetties, ramps, shallows you can stand in, and a drop to around 12 ft. Monet and the others are quieter. Some of those are adults-only or members-only, so a family ticket does not mean every lake. Do not assume you can wander.

There is no lifeguard. Swim at your own risk. Life rings and air horns are on site. That is the safety kit. If you need a supervised loop with a safety team on the water, this is not your lake. Hypothermia is still possible in summer. The blue water does not make it warm.

Five lakeside saunas and a café. Use them. The setting is a nature reserve, which is why the rules about dogs, music and smoke exist. Bring a towel, a warm layer, and a PFD for young kids. No tow-float rule is posted, and there is no marked 400m triangle. You are in a private lake with an entry point, not on a training course.

Worth knowing

Not lifeguarded. That is the line that matters. If someone in your group is not a confident swimmer, the 1:1 rule and the PFD advice are not optional colour. They are how you do this without a lifeguard.

Some lakes are off-limits unless you are an adult or a member. Read the ticket. Children’s swimming waits on that 12°C floor — consistently 12°C, not one warm afternoon.

It sells out in heat. Buy ahead. Non-refundable tickets mean you live with the weather. Out of the water by 19:45 even though the site is open until 20:00.

If you want a lifeguarded, marked-course lake, this is not that. Treat it as a lake day with saunas and a café, swim-at-your-own-risk, tickets bought before you leave the house.

Monet lake, Pool Bridge Farm. Photo: Lajmmoore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.