The Swimming Pool

With Nancy Assheton

18 foot deep. 500 feet above sea level on the NSW New England mountain plateau.

Art by Olwen Assheton ©️2026.

Our pool was great. One could paddle in the water. It was wide. Better swimmers could swim across the pool area . I found it more difficult to swim the distance. Some areas were shallow enough and had stepping stones. The other side was quite deep. About 18 foot deep.

During a storm it was quite dangerous to walk through the water as you could get swept off your feet. One day a large volume of water was coming down. The dog throught he had to save something and dived in. A child jumped in to save the dog and though they were washed away they were both able to exit the water a distance away.

The water had pretty white cascades running over the rocks there. They were just before the swimming pool . At one stage we had a raft . The neighbours attached it to the wheels of a truck with ropes.

We used to have races. We had an Aquatics sports day. People came from all around the area. One station had children who were very good swimmers. Swimmers won money prizes if won.

We used the springboards to dive into the deep part of the pool.

I went back recently and the water is sadly only small now due to irrigation use.

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