One of the north-east’s most popular tourist attractions has enjoyed a bumper year – despite a miserable summer.
The Olympic-sized Stonehaven Open Air Pool has seen an increase in the number of visitors taking to its heated waters this year.
The pool closed for the season on Sunday after opening for the year in May.
Some 28,394 people passed through the turnstiles of the Art Deco baths – up from last year’s figure of 28,173.
Taking a dip in the moonlight is also proving increasingly popular at the pool, with 335 more people heading to midnight swims than in 2014.
This year there were 1,513 latenight swimmers, compared to 1,178 last year.
David Dobbie, trustees of the Friends of Stonehaven Open Air Pool, which fundraises to keep the attraction open, said: “The Friends of the pool are absolutely delighted that the figures for this summer are even better than last year, which as we all remember was mostly warm and sunny.
“By contrast much of this summer has been cold and wet but even on poor days the pool was reasonably busy.
“We believe this is as a result of our promotion of the pool as a fun place to be regardless of the weather.
“People are now not only enjoying swimming and having fun in the rain, they’re also telling everyone about it through social media, which is a huge bonus for us.”
He added: “Our midnight swims also capture the imagination. Whether it’s daylight or moonlight, there really is nothing quite like feeling the rain on your back, then ducking down into the
Pool’s warm water – but we’ll all now need to wait until 2016 to do that again.
“The 2015 season has really ended on a high, with even the weather finally playing ball for our final day.”