Rivers and Children

I was out at my local river (Calder) early this week as flood waters had dropped to a fishable level. There was still a huge amount of debris floating around and the water was still around 2ft higher than usual.

I was setting my gear up and was approached by two young kids of around 13/14 years? They were chatting away interested in what I was going to try and catch. They then proceeded to tell me they had come to swim in the weir pool and had got their swimming gear in their rucksacks… I obviously told them this was not a good idea and tried to persuade them not to do it. They were quite a few miles from home, parents didn’t know, it was in the evening with only a couple of hours daylight left and the river was not in a good state. The pool was full of debris and snags etc.. it was running very high and fast. I was pretty worried to be honest.

Despite my efforts to persuade them not to do it, the kids stripped down to their shorts and bare feet, jumped in and slid down the weir and into the pool… they spent the next hour or so playing,  swimming, sliding around in the weir and in the fast the runs below until it was almost dark. I have no idea how they didn’t end up cutting themselves, getting snagged on the debris, or dragged under or washed away?

Maybe I am too soft but I was really worried for them, I think we should be educating the younger generation a little better about the dangers of rivers, particularly when in flood?