South Shore Open Air
Swimming Pool at Blackpool, Lancashire, was the setting in the early 1930's for my mother Kathleen Danson, her younger sister Peggy and her great friend, (who I knew as Auntie Phyllis), to enjoy themselves.
Two decades later in the 1950's, I remember Mum taking my brother and I there for a swim - unfortunately there is no photographs of the day. As it involved a bus and a tram journey to get there, I can't ever remember going again.
Blackpool Tower from the North Pier
Peggy and Kathleen Danson
Two decades later in the 1950's, I remember Mum taking my brother and I there for a swim - unfortunately there is no photographs of the day. As it involved a bus and a tram journey to get there, I can't ever remember going again.
Swimming took off as a popular leisure activity in the 1920's as part of the interest in improving health and fitness. The seaside resort of Blackpool, like with so many initiatives, was one of the first to jump on this bandwagon for building lidos, with the Open Air Baths at South Shore opening to visitors in 1923.
At the time, it was the largest in the world. and its statistics are staggering. It cost £75,000 - equivalent to £2,248,000 in today's money. Built in a the classical style with pillars and colonnades, (you can just make these out in the photograph below), it could accommodate 8000 spectators/sunbathers, and 1500 swimmers. The dimensions met Olympic standards for competitions with a 100-metre length down one side of the pool, and a 16 feet diving pit with boards graded to 10 metres (from where you could see the mountains and hills of the Lake District). There were areas for little ones, fountains and slides, bars and cafes - so something for everyone.
In that 1950's and 60's, it became a popular venue for international and national beauty
contests and the location for celebrity photographs.
Aunt Phyliss - Look at those shoes - still in fashion!
But, you needed to be hardy in all but the best of weather, as the water was notoriously cold. From the 1950's holidaymakers were heading abroad and becoming used to
the waters of warmer climes. Use dropped and the Baths became a big white elephant. They were demolished in 1983 to make way for the Sandcastle indoor water complex.
But for fifty years they remained an iconic image of its era.
Sources:
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Little granddaughter enjoying learning to swim, c.2012
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Adapted from a post first published in 2012
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Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity to share
their family history and memories through photographs
their family history and memories through photographs
Neat pix of your mom and aunts in poses by the pool. And of course granddaughter is adorable. Those foam noodles are great - not only for kids, but for adults too when we just want to laze around in the water instead of swimming.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your comment. Ideally I would have liked a good photo of the pool, but could not find a copyright free one, and am still waiting on a reply for permission to use one image. A pity!
ReplyDelete8000!?!? I can't even imagine that many people together in one place. It must have been a beautiful facility though.
ReplyDeleteThe size of that pool is amazing. Too bad the water was so cold.
ReplyDeleteLovely photographs of your mother, aunt and 'Aunty' Phyliss. Is that your mother in the second photograph too?
ReplyDeleteYes, Jo - that was my mother in the first two photos at the pool.
DeleteI'm shaking my head over the shoe thing...bathing suits and shoes? Doesn't make any sense, unless it's part of that "beauty" business...great photos. Lido is a new word for me...
ReplyDeleteI wondered if Auntie Phyliss was there to sunbathe, rather than swim - hence the shoes.
DeleteKathleen was a beauty in her own right.
ReplyDeleteWas it chlorinated or salt water, being by the ocean...?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos (and subjects)
ReplyDeleteLove the shoes with the suits; especially the ones worn by Aunt Phyllis!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pics and beautiful girls
ReplyDelete