Stow Hill Public Baths, Newport - old school pools with changing rooms in rows on each side. Learner pool merged with the 10' deep diving pool, with a steel barrier between them ! Freezing cold, except for the exposed heating pipes running through each changing room, hot enough to take your skin off. There was also an extensive Turkish baths underneath, the source of many lurid rumours. My kids can't believe that, as 9 year olds, we took a bus across town on our own to the baths - to learn to swim!
We used to walk into Barnsley to go to the baths every Saturday, very much as you described but not too cold. The coldest baths I ever went into was Derby Baths Blackpool sea water almost fresh from the Arctic. You belly flopped in and every hair on you body stood up like porcupine quills. You had to swim and keep moving or freeze to death
We used to go to Tooting lido it had the highest boards in sarf london,it was always on the BBC news Christmas day where swimmers would take an early morning swim sometimes even breaking the ice
We had Bulmore lido just outside Newport on the river Usk. A mate worked there but got electrocuted whilst mowing the grass wearing flip-flops.....
Used to go to Rotherham baths with school....the old type with changing booths right by the pool...boys on one side, girls on the other. Going down the steep corridor to the pool was a bronze bust of William Burgess, whosenose we all rubbed for luck, he was a Rotherham lad who swam the channel after 36 years and 70 attempts....persistent us Rotherham folk!
We had an open air swimming baths on Haslam Park (long time closed) with cubicles all around the outside for changing & 3” paving slabs making up the edge of the pool where you could quite easily brain yourself.... brings a shudder down my spine... it’s a wonder nobody died (from the cold!) It was NOT fun!
I have always hated swimming - probably traced back to my first visit to Queens Drive Baths in Walton, near Liverpool in the early 50s- typical old Victorian style - stepped out of the changing cubicle and within minutes I had been pushed in - so as a non swimmer - nightmare. Fast forward 30 years to when we were in Monte Carlo ( not staying there but on a day trip from our campsite in Frejus)with our own kids and went into the swimming pool there ( it's on the front by the F1 track, which is why I went there in the first place) . My elder son loved swimming and he challenged me to jump off the high board (he was only 8) -so I had to do it - nightmare!!
Didn’t you go to Frome Victoria Baths, at the top of Bath Street, behind 1707? I went once. Proper old swimming baths with the ‘changing stalls’ down the side.Went a couple of times, then the new ‘Sport Centre’ opened in ‘73.
I used to spend my summer holidays at my nans on the outskirts of Bradford a place called greengates if anyone knows the area, opposite her house was an old mill with a resiviour we used to play all day there swimming and sailing boats we had made, happy memories
As nippers in Hemel, we used to get marched off to Churchills baths in Boxmoor, come rain or shine. Christ, it was cold. Old brick changing rooms and outside pool. Nearly put me off swimming for life. Not sure if they're still there. The outside pool at the leisure centre used to be the old Churchills one.
Penarth baths - small pool was 10 meters with a sea horse mosaic in the bottom - it had the changing cubicle things all around the edge. The 25 meter pool was this foreign land when you were 9. We used to ride our bikes over, balls about in the pool then get chips from the pier. They converted the big pool to a pub - dunno if it still is - the small pool is a million pound apartment - it remains a beautiful Victorian building. Back then we had Cogan pool, Penarth Baths, Bryn y Don, Barry Leisure Centre, The Knap pool, Empire pool. We now only have two of those, though the Empire pool was replaced by a new national pool.
I was born in 73. We were too poor to spend money on leisure centres so I was just pushed in the river
I wasn’t that lucky, until I was 9. Used to dream of getting pushed into the river. Then I got pushed off the hut, next to the weir by the quarry, down Vallis. Glad I was shorter!
