Paying £12 to swim in the Forth really is a loony dook

THE last time I was in the North Sea I was about four years old but I can still remember the cold and I’ve not been back in it since. If there is a colder and bleaker place on Earth then good luck to anyone who visits there. The North Sea, unlike the

Caribbean or Mediterranean, is purely for looking at from the safety of a beach or during a bracing coastal walk.

Quite why anyone would pay to dive in to it is beyond me, but hundreds of people do every New Year’s Day as they take part in the Loony Dook at South Queensferry.

Not only do they pay, but they are forced to fork out £12 including £2 booking fee as it now forms part of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations.

When it became part of Hogmanay in 2011, tickets were a mere £6 which means the price has risen faster than rail fares and at least with them you get to sit on a late and overcrowded train rather than swim in the Firth of Forth for ‘fun’.

Now I am not against wild swimming, it is an increasingly popular past-time and Scotland is full of glorious spots to do it in too, but North Queensferry isn’t one of them and certainly not for £12.

I have had many a hangover that I would have been delighted to pay for it to end, but no hangover is worth £12 to get rid of by plunging into the Firth of Forth.

But the real problem I have with the Loony Dook is that it is another example of how Edinburgh is being turned into a glorified theme park to generate cash in the name of culture.

The Hogmanay celebrations have now become so big that residents are being given wristbands to attend their own homes. Not only that, they have restricted numbers of visitors so while 100,000 non-residents party like mad outside, if you live within the zone then you can only have about half a dozen folk round to see in the New Year .

Call me a killjoy, but that is plain wrong. As is taking over North Queensferry the day after so that visitors can parade through the town before going for a swim.

Locals who wish to do the same either have have to buy a ticket or find another spot to swim.

Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities on earth but it is in grave danger of being crushed by its own success.

Soon, Hogmanay will follow directly on from the Festivals in August and the city will become a year-long festival of something for visitors to enjoy with scant regard for residents.

I suspect even Mickey Mouse would disapprove of that.