The 1930s were the golden age of the British lido. A time when outdoor swimming soared in popularity and offered families a blissful escape from a decade defined by the Great Depression.
Adorned with Art Deco pavilions, water fountains and diving boards, more than 160 lidos popped up around the country amid a desire for ‘continental glamour’ and a cultural shift towards improving public health.
But the speed in which they declined was staggering. A combination of local council funding cuts and the rise in budget foreign holidays soon left the humble British lido fighting for survival.
Without sufficient funding from the Government, many fell into decline and – to this day – remain stuck in time.
But in what has been dubbed the ‘lido renaissance’, communities across the UK have been rallying to revive these abandoned pools in recent years.
Outdoor swimming in Britain is well and truly back – with Londoners especially now crammed into lidos such as London Fields, Tooting and Brockwell, during the summer. Booking a slot in advance has become a lido bloodbath, while bumping into fellow swimmers in crammed lanes is not uncommon.
Local councils, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), grants and community fundraising, are investing millions into restoring abandoned lidos back to their former glory.
Some have proved to be a great success, while others have been delayed, overbudget or even abandoned just weeks after reopening to the public.
Margate Lido in Kent, pictured in 2004 after it had been filled in with sand following its closure about two decades before. It was one of many lidos which fell into decline after spending cuts
In what has been dubbed the ‘lido renaissance’, communities across the UK have been fighting to revive these abandoned pools in recent years. Pictured: Jubilee Pool, in Penzance, Cornwall, is one of the most famous lidos in the UK
Broomhill Pool – Suffolk
Campaigners have been battling to reopen the old Broomhill Pool in Ipswich, Suffolk, ever since it was closed down 23 years ago and left to slowly crumble away.
The open air Art Deco style lido which opened in 1938 boasted a competition pool, measuring 55 yards by 20 yards with a Wicksteed diving stage featuring five boards up to 5m high, a children’s pool, sun terraces and a grandstand for 700 people.
It was the joint deepest public outdoor pool in the UK with a depth of 15ft and was originally heated, but its boilers were stripped out to provide scrap metal for weapons in World War Two, and they were never replaced.
Despite the chilly water temperatures, it remained a popular facility for decades, attracting 2,000 swimmers a day in the 70s and 80s, before numbers declined after Ipswich Borough Council opened its indoor Crown Pools leisure centre in the town centre in 1984.
The council finally closed Grade Two listed Broomhill Pool in 2002, rather than spend millions on its upkeep.
It has been left to rot ever since behind 8ft high security fencing, with trees and vegetation now growing through areas which once echoed to the sounds of children yelling and swimmers splashing around.
The Broomhill Pool Trust was set up in 2003 to fight for the lido to be re-opened, and finally secured a promise of a grant of £3.8m from the National Heritage Lottery Fund (NHLF) in 2018 to help achieve the goal.
Campaigners have been battling to reopen the old Broomhill Pool (pictured) in Ipswich, Suffolk, ever since it was closed down 23 years ago and left to slowly crumble away
The open air Art Deco style lido which opened in 1938 boasted a competition pool and was very popular
Plans to bring the pool back to life became far advanced, but were temporarily scuppered by the Covid pandemic in 2020.
Potential costs of re-development escalated, leading to the NHLF promising a further £3m in 2023, and Ipswich Borough Council pledging £3.3m to restore the pool, and create other leisure facilities at the site including a gym.
Money was also due to be pumped in by Fusion Lifestyle, a not-for-profit charity which runs sport, leisure and fitness facilities across the UK.
But plans hit the buffers after the NHLF said it wanted to perform financial due diligence on the project and decided in July this year that Fusion Lifestyle had been ‘unable to provide assurances about their financial position’.
Lottery bosses said it raised ‘into question their ability to deliver the project’ and withdrew their cash offer, plunging the redevelopment plans into jeopardy.
Mark Ling, 56, the chairman of the Broomhill Pool Trust remains hopeful that new funding can be found to persuade the NHLF to restore its grant offer so that the re-development plans can go ahead.
He insisted that the project was ready to go with feasibility studies having been concluded, building plans drawn up, and planning consent for a revamp of the pool already granted.
Mark who swam in the pool as a boy growing up in his family home opposite it, said: ‘The pool was state of the art when it opened in the 1930s and it used to be incredibly popular. Things changed by the end of the last century when people were looking for things like leisure pools with wave machines
‘But now outdoor swimming is back in vogue again, and I am sure the pool will be well used if it reopens. A restored pool would be heated and operate year round with a gym, fitness suite and a café.
‘There is a huge amount of support in the town for it to reopen. It is definitely needed. Around a quarter of the children in Year Six in Ipswich are obese, and they need to get more active. There are 40,000 people living within a 15 or 20 minute walk of the pool.’
Plans to bring the pool back to life became far advanced, but were temporarily scuppered by the Covid pandemic in 2020
The lido has fallen into a state of disrepair, with the entrance now boarded up and looking a shadow of its former self
A swimmer jumps of the diving board at Broomhill Pool before it closed down in 2002
Residents had fond memories of the lido but there was a mixed feeling about it reopening
The Daily Mail found that local residents have mixed feeling about it reopening with some supporting it, but others fearing that it would cause a traffic nightmare due to insufficient parking available in the area.
The Broomhill Pool was on the north west outskirts of Ipswich when it was built at a cost of £17,000 in an area surrounded by open space next to Broomhill Park, but since then houses have sprung up around it.
Retired electrical engineer Les Mason, 88, who lives opposite the pool in Sherrington Road, said: ‘We frankly don’t want it to reopen. Parking is such a problem around here. The pool has a small car park, but under the plans to re-open it, that will only be for blue badge holders and delivery vehicles.
‘I have lived here 50 years, and I used the pool when it was open. But the place has turned into a bit of a wreck, and it has been attacked by vandals for years. The area at the back of the pool is also a haven for druggies.
‘If it re-opens, we are going to have noise until late at night as it will be staying open late. It was bad enough when it was open, and we had people climbing over the fence at 2am to go swimming, and making a hell of a racket.
‘There is also the question of money. It is going to cost millions to do it up. The council is going to have to stump up a lot of it, and I can’t see that they can afford it.’
Mr Mason’s wife Rosemary, 86, said: ‘If they sort out the parking, it might be a good idea, but I don’t know how they are going to do that. You are not going to get many people walking up here in this day and age. They are going to want to drive.’
The couple’s neighbour A.J. Holden, 84, said: ‘The pool ought to stay closed in my view. The best thing would be to flatten it and put up a couple of tennis courts or a grass area. The problem is that it is now in a residential area. Those who support it don’t have it outside their front door.
College lecturer Sian Horn, 64, backed plans for it to be renovated and said it had become an ‘eyesore’ since closing
‘I’ve lived here since 1977, but I float like a brick and I can’t swim. The main problem when it was open was all the crowds and the noise. People would queue down the road to get in. The pool is basically in the wrong place now, because the area has grown around it.’
A father-of-two who lives down the road said: ‘I love the idea of the lido reopening. I think it would be great if it had been operating when my kids were growing up.
‘But looking at it from the wider view, you have to admit that the pool is not in an ideal place any more. It would have been on the outskirts of town when it opened, but now Ipswich has grown all around it.
‘You have to ask whether the infrastructure fits with having a lido in that location. Gone are the days when people used to use their feet to get to places, and there is nowhere for people to park.’
College lecturer Sian Horn, 64, who lives in Broomhill Road at the back of the pool, said: ‘It was open for a couple months after I moved in. It’s lovely to think that a facility like this could be on our doorstep if it reopens.
‘There is talk that it could be used for diving and kayaking lessons at times when swimmers are not there. But they would have to think about the car parking which is already bad enough. It is a shame that it has become such an eyesore in the years since it closed.’
Tynemouth Lido – North Tyneside
Stephen Hull loved Tynemouth Lido so much he once skipped work on a sunny day to spend time there, but was terrified his boss would find out when he turned up to find a camera crew filming.
That was in the 60s, when the outdoor swimming pool in North Tyneside was a thriving hub of activity, with youngsters queuing up before it opened at 10am to make sure they got a spot to sit.
Now, whenever the 76-year-old walks past, he shakes his head sadly at the extent to which the lido has been allowed to rot.
The once elegant art deco swimming pool, built in the 1920s, is a shell of its former self – a hulk of wind battered stone and metal, crumbling into the North Sea, on the edge of Longsands Beach.
It closed down in the 90s, when the council spent £200K demolishing its buildings, which included changing rooms, and bulldozed the rubble into the pool.
Since then, the lido has been used as a shortcut from the promenade to the beach, but more recently it has been completely fenced off.
In August 2012, the Friends of Tynemouth Outdoor Pool was formed after a bid by North Tyneside Council to concrete over the site.
The group submitted ambitious plans to restore the lido to its former glory, and their website states they were invited to work with the council on the project, which granted them planning permission in 2023.
Tynemouth Lido (pictured in 1966) closed down in the 90s, when the council spent £200K demolishing its buildings, which included changing rooms, and bulldozed the rubble into the pool
The once elegant art deco swimming pool, built in the 1920s, is a shell of its former self – a hulk of wind battered stone and metal, crumbling into the North Sea, on the edge of Longsands Beach
Stephen Hull (pictured) used to love going to Tynemouth Lido as a child but described it as a ‘state’ now
However, since then, very little appears to have happened, and the pool remains a derelict ‘eyesore’. It is estimated the scheme to restore the lido will cost around £10million.
Stephen, a retired sewing machine worker, said: ‘I used to absolutely love coming here as a kid. I’ve always said, if I win the lottery, I will invest it in the lido.
‘It was always absolutely packed. You used to have to get here really early to get a seat. This was in the 50s and 60s, when it would open at 10am, but when the package holidays came in, it died a death.
‘You just have to look back at the old pictures to see how fantastic it was. It was so popular you couldn’t get a space. You couldn’t even get a bus or train down, they were too busy, you’d have to walk.
‘The answer is money, and someone who wants to do it. Everyone has got their own opinion.
‘They should either spend the money on the lido, or pull it down, and get rid of it. It’s in such a state, I think it will need to be pulled down anyway. I don’t know if an investment would see a return or not.’
He added: ‘It’s just an absolute mess at the moment. It would take someone local like Sting, and social media to raise that kind of money. He could play an outdoor gig there. That might raise some funds.’
In August 2012, the Friends of Tynemouth Outdoor Pool was formed after a bid by North Tyneside Council to concrete over the site. A concept image of what it could look like if restored
Patricia Davidson (with husband Neil), 69, was among those who had fond memories of the lido
It is estimated the scheme to restore the lido will cost around £10million
Patricia Davidson, 69, a retired company secretary, also has fond memories of the lido.
She said: ‘There has been quite a lot of fundraising done, and a lot of people have got behind it, and now it seems to be stalemate. It could be fantastic. But it’s such a lot of money, it’s perhaps too much money.
‘It used to fabulous. It just looks a complete mess now. They need to clear it completely or do something with it.
‘It’s been an eyesore for an awfully long time now. I think the plans for it are perhaps a bit too ambitious, especially with the economy the way it is.
Retired logistics worker Paul Sanderson, 64, added: ‘They need to do something with the lido, tidy it up at least, and make it safe.
‘Spending £10million on it seems a bit indulgent, and it really depends on whether or not there is a business case for it.’
Alan Jones, 72, a retired social worker, said: ‘It’s in a terrible state now, and it has been for as long as I can remember, but you can imagine what it must have been like when Whitley Bay was a major holiday destination, particularly for the Scots.
‘That lido that will have been very lively and great for the tourists in those days, but it has been idle for a very long time now.
‘It would be tremendous if the £10million was there to return it to its former glory because in relatively recent years there has been tasteful development around here. You have two restaurants and cafe bars and the surfing school.
‘You can’t help but think if the funding was acquired from whatever source it would be very popular.
North Tyneside Council granted Friends of Tynemouth Pool Group conditional planning permission in June 2023 and is now reviewing further submissions.
Cleveland Pools – Bath
The Daily Mail revealed this week how after 20 years of campaigning and £9.3million of funding, Britain’s oldest lido may never open again.
Bath’s Cleveland Pools Trust (CPT) spent two decades fighting to restore the 200-year-old Georgian lido and after several setbacks and millions of pounds of public money, there was genuine excitement when it finally reopened in September 2023.
But in a major blunder, the site was forced to shut within just four months after the ‘waterproof’ and ‘floodproof’ plant room – which houses the machinery – flooded in a storm and the pool suffered structural damage.
Almost two years on, the lido – shaped like Bath’s Royal Crescent – has fallen into a filthy state of disrepair, filled with stagnant water and leaves.
Furious residents have described the project as a ‘scandalous waste of money’, with one declaring: ‘How can you possibly build a swimming pool that fails when it fills with water? That defies belief.’
Locals have now been left in limbo – with the Trust warning it might not ever open again if they can’t secure the funding to repair the damage.
Cleveland Pools first opened as a river-fed pool in 1815 and was used by the public for more than 160 years before closing in 1984. It was also for a short time used as a trout farm but in 2003, the council put it up for sale and it was added to the English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register.
In a bid to rescue the pools from ruin, the CPT was formed by locals Ann Dunlop, Janice Dreisbach and Roger Houghton in 2004. But more than 20 years on, they are back at square one.
Pictured is Cleveland Pools, Bath, on September 10 2023 – the first day it reopened to the public
But the historic pools were forced shut – and may never reopen again – after the site flooded (pictured). Residents say they warned the project ringleaders that this would happen but they were ‘fobbed off’
Cleveland Pools is pictured in 1910. The lido closed in 1984 and reopened in September 2023 – for just four months before the ‘floodproof’ plant room flooded
Grange-over-Sands – Cumbria
One of only four remaining listed coastal lidos in England, the Grange Lido was built in 1932 and remained open for 61 years.
During the 1950s, galas were held while there was a café and sunbathing terrace for families and friends to meet.
Old newspaper clippings describe it as having ‘crystal clear filtered water’, proving a ‘swimmer’s paradise’.
The lido was attracting more than 47,000 bathers per year even in 1968. But in 1993, a report concluded that the cost of maintaining the pool was unfeasible and Grange-over-Sands lost one of its gems.
But after more than three decades of closure, the open air 50-metre lido could reopen next year.
The Save Grange Lido action group have been leading the charge to restore the once bustling lido and make it a tourism destination for the town.
One of only four remaining listed coastal lidos in England, the Grange Lido (pictured) was built in 1932 and remained open for 61 years
Work on the £6.8million project began in April 2023, with money invested into installing a new drainage system as well as sea wall repairs.
In May, Westmorland and Furness Council said most of the work had been completed and it looked ‘fantastic’ but confirmed it was not ready for the 2025 summer.
Council leader Jonathan Brook said further assessment of the repairs were required, adding: ‘It is important that we get this right, understanding that the lido project seeks to restore this important structure after more than 30 years of closure and several previous attempts to bring it back to life.’
Margate Lido – Kent
In its heyday, Margate lido one of the town’s most popular tourist attractions and it is where local artist Tracey Emin apparently learnt to swim.
The site was originally built as the Clifton Baths in 1824 before it was transformed into a lido in 1926, which included a new outdoor open swimming pool.
The transformed lido was built by John Henry Iles, the creator of Margate’s celebrated Dreamland pleasure park, in the 1920s – when the town was a haven for Britons who went on seaside holidays in their droves.
It was a vibrant part of the town right up until the 1970s, when it was last used as a disco.
The swimming pool was finally shut in the 1980s due to a combination of storm damage and changing tourism habits.
For decades, Margate had been one of the most deprived parts of the country, thanks in part to the decline of the traditional seaside holiday.
However, a recent revival has seen the town become a hub for trendy cafés, antique shops, art galleries and bistros, following an onslaught of young Londoners keen to escape sky-high mortgage rates in the capital.
Unlike the restoration of lidos around the country, it appears the Margate lido will remain etched in history.
In July, the historical seafront complex – which includes the Grade II listed Clifton Baths – was put up for sale.
In 2018, Lee Evans Architecture proposed the lido could be redeveloped into something like a 100-bed boutique spa hotel and 90 apartments built into the cliffside.
Cliftonville Bathing Pool (Margate Lido), Kent, 1954. Margate’s seafront Lido was built in 1926 by John Henry Iles
Scores of people are seen sitting in stands at The Lido in Margate as others take a dip in the pool. The image was taken in 1950
The Lido’s abandoned site has a long history stretching back 200 years. Initially the site was home to the Clifton Baths, built in 1824
The Lido (pictured in 1936) was built by John Henry Iles, the creator of Margate’s celebrated Dreamland pleasure park, in the 1920s – when the town was a haven for Britons who went on seaside holidays in their droves
Larkswood Lido – London
Once described as ‘one of the finest lidos in the country’, Larkswood evokes an overwhelming sense of nostalgia for those who had the opportunity to swim there.
Costing the public £31,000, the lido opened in Chingford, east London, on July 28 1936 – during an era when open air pools were appearing everywhere.
It featured a unique crucifix shape and included a competitive swimming pool, water chutes, a diving pool and a splash pool and footbath area.
As well as hosting several bathing beauty competitions, it also featured in TV show It’s a Knockout and Colgate’s 1960s ‘Ring of Confidence’ toothpaste ad.
It is thought to still hold the record for the best-ever attendance record at a lido, with more than 290,400 visitors in summer 1959.
Once described as ‘one of the finest lidos in the country’, Larkswood evokes an overwhelming sense of nostalgia for those who had the opportunity to swim there
The popular pool would tragically fall into decline and close in September 1987
However, the popular pool would tragically fall into decline and close in September 1987.
Controversially, it was replaced in August 1990 by a ‘tacky’ and futuristic waterpark called FantaSeas.
But after a series of accidents, it closed in January 1992, mired in £6million of debt.
It briefly made a comeback as The Hydropark before laying derelict until it was turned into the Chingford Leisure Centre in 2002.
