articles about swimming ponds

This is something I have thought about for a while, ever since first coming across the concept. I really don't like 'normal' swimming pools, they just look fake and require too much maintenance. But it is going to be so hot there that having somewhere to go for a dip would be good.

A natural pool, aka a swimming pond, seems like it would be a good solution. My only concerns are 1) if it was natural would that mean we risk snakes going into it (my pet horror), and 2) would not the natural appearance be spoiled by the legal requirement to have a fence around it? Or perhaps it would be spared that, by virtue of not being an official swimming pool, like dams are spared.

I have toyed with the idea of it being dug into the hillside, in the space where there's a kind of mini hollow, just down from the olive trees. It would have lovely views there and, if fencing were required, the ground is steep enough that perhaps we could have the fence out view when you're in the pond.

Obviously, this is a luxury so not something we'd rush into, but still worth thinking over.

Here are a couple of articles about it, and I'll add more as I find them.

Take a swim on the wild side - The Garden, July 2005



Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6


Swimming ponds - The Garden, May 2004



(This is part of my slightly insane project to 'file' potentially useful articles that I read, so I have a chance of finding them in future)