A colourful mural featuring wildlife often spotted in Stonehaven bay has been delighting visitors at one of the town’s top attractions.
Stonehaven’s open air pool opened for the season last month, and already scores of families have enjoyed splashing around.
This year, an extra bit of colour has been added to the terrace – thanks to the efforts of volunteer Pete Hill, from the Friends of Stonehaven Open Air Swimming Pool.
The group fundraise for the pool throughout the year, and work tirelessly to ensure it looks its best before summer.
This year Mr Hill decided to touch-up the old mural, but on closer inspection realised it needed to be completely redone – so began seeking local inspiration.
The retired geophysicist – who remembers being told at school he was hopeless at art – said: “I made a little montage of what I would like to paint, and showed it to the guys in charge down and they pool and they gave the nod to do it.
“All the things in the mural can be seen in or around Stonehaven bay. The heron stands in the Cowie, the seals come in at Downie Point, and I’ve seen the dolphins in the bay. The yachts obviously come in and out too.
“I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out. It’s not often you get the chance to paint a 200sq ft wall.”
Mr Hall added he was delighted the group had let him carry out the project, as this is the first year he has been able to dedicate so much time to sprucing up the pool.
“To be given this sort of responsibility and that amount of trust was absolutely fantastic,” he said. “They showed a lot of faith and trust in me.
“The feedback from the friends and visitors so far has been 100%.”
David Culshaw, vice-chairman of the friends, said: “We are all amazed by the mural which Pete planned and painted in such a short space of time.
“The mural is now being enjoyed by all the visitors to the pool, whether swimming, spectating or sunbathing.”