Windows with Character

 

Window set into the corner of a modernist building on Exhibition Road in London. 

Where Have all the Lidos Gone?

Bathing Pool Poster

First of all, what is a lido? Is it anything more than a swimming pool? Strictly speaking, a lido can be defined as any open-air swimming pool or bathing beach. The word means beach or seashore, in seventeenth century Italian, from the Latin litus for shore. The Lido’s use as a word for a bathing place originates with Lido di Malamocco, the town on a long, narrow reef just to the south of Venice, where the sheltered, sandy beach was, and remains a popular resort for the wealthy and fashionable.

The 1930’s saw a wave of enthusiasm for lidos throughout the UK, both on the seashore and inland. Bathing and swimming were increasingly popular, seen as healthy activities for all the family; by the end of the decade there were around 170 throughout Britain. This was a whole movement and it was radically new. 

Bognor with bathing machines, from a nineteenth century postcard

During the previous 200 years, swimming had been regarded as an exclusively masculine activity. Women of the lower classes could frolic in the water, fully dressed, on female only stretches of beach, but nobody thought they could or should actually swim. Meanwhile wealthier ladies could immerse themselves by stepping from a bathing machine into slightly deeper water, whilst dressed in voluminous and impossibly impractical bathing costumes. They couldn’t swim either.

The decline of Victorian prudishness had an enormous effect, by 1901 mixed bathing was no longer actually forbidden in the by-laws of seaside resorts and so lidos could begin to evolve in the UK. For bathing enthusiasts a lido had to include additional facilities, especially an area for sunbathing which was increasingly seen as an additionally healthy activity. Most would also have somewhere to buy refreshments, at the least a tuck shop, while the most exclusive venues could have a high-class restaurant.  

Strand Pool, Gillingham, from a postcard

One of the earliest lidos was the Strand Pool at Gillingham in Kent. A local entrepreneur, Thomas Cuckow, realised an opportunity to creating a seawater bathing pool in the mud flats on the tidal shore of the River Medway. The pool used disused railway sleepers for shoring up and carriages as changing rooms. The incoming tide, filtered through sand beds, would fill the pool and it was emptied via a sluice gate. The pool opened in June 1896 with a special sports gala. The programme included underwater swimming, water polo matches and a greasy pole competition.

The Strand Pool prospered, once taken over by the town council in the 1920’s its facilities were increased to include a paddling pool, boating lake and park. Water filtration was improved and in 1935 concrete pools replaced the original muddy, tide-dependant pool. Strand Pool has always been locally popular and today, operated by Medway Council who have updated the facilities yet again, it continues to thrive.

​ But many more lidos have not survived. Even in the 1960’s almost every town had a pool of some description, but no longer. One, the huge bathing pool at St Leonards-on-Sea in Sussex, was an ambitious design, on a grand scale by Hastings town engineer Sidney Little, with the Olympics in mind.

St Leonards Bathing Pool, postcard. It was never a financial success. 

By the 1950's it had become the main feature in a holiday camp.

The 1933 St Leonards’ pool was twice the size of the more stylish and upmarket Art Deco pool at Saltdean near Brighton, which was built in the same period. Both struggled financially. While the St Leonards pool only made a profit in its first year of operation and was finally demolished in the 1980’s, Saltdean has gained Grade II* listing and survived, by the skin of its teeth and through the vigorous activities of local enthusiasts.

At the opposite end of the scale, many mining villages in Wales acquired their own outdoor pools, when the local miners took time on their days off, during strikes and the redundancies of the depression to dig a pool for their own communities. All of these have been lost. The only historic pool of any note in Wales today is the Grade II listed Lido Ponty, in Pontypridd, which dates from 1927. Its Art Deco buildings and terraces were added in the early thirties.

Lido Ponty fell into disrepair during the 1980’s and was closed down in 1991. Its restoration, completed in 2015, was thanks to an EU-funded regeneration project. The restoration aimed to balance the conservation of the existing historic lido with the addition of a modern café, poolside terrace, visitor centre, multipurpose venue and dry play area.

So how many Lidos have been lost in the UK? Anne Green Jessel, a former competitive diver and international coach has a better answer than anybody. She has compiled an extensive, though not exclusive list on her fascinating website, https://www.lostlidos.co.uk, which lists 85 and counting, though she has counted them as a swimmer, not actually as lidos with extra facilities and her list includes some indoor pools.

Although too many open-air pools have been lost up and down the country, others do flourish and in a surprising variety of places. Greater London has eight lidos open to the public, including natural bathing in the Serpentine river in Kensington Gardens and the more structured, ever popular Tooting Bec lido which dates back to 1906. The newest pool in London was the Kings Cross bathing pond, opened in 2015 behind the station, however this was intended as a temporary installation and has now closed.

Hathersage Pool, Derbyshire was opened in 1936

There are also popular pools even in small villages, such as the beautiful lido in the village of Hathersage in Derbyshire. Hathersage has a population of only 2,000 but its proximity to the city of  Sheffield brings it plenty of custom. Being close to the county boundary, Hathersage pool has funding from both Derbyshire Dales District Council and the neighbouring High Peak Borough Council. 

Seaside towns in the British Isles may have larger populations than Hathersage, but many have fewer advantages to help financially. Some seaside pools, such as the spectacular Tarlair pool near Banff, which today is unfunded and fading into history. Tarlair is the UK’s most northerly lido, but has sadly become just a Grade A listed, art-deco ruin.

Other pool sites have been altered to accommodate year-round, indoor bathing. For example, in Rhyl the original open-air pool became the indoor Sun Centre, with slides and waves. After a second metamorphosis Sun Centre is now the SC2, which has re-introduced a limited amount of outdoor bathing alongside an indoor fun pool.

Tarlair Swimming Pool, 1930's postcard

Today the Northernmost properly funded lido in the UK is the Stonehaven Lido in Aberdeenshire, which has a fifty-metre pool with sun terraces and heated seawater. It’s run by Aberdeenshire Council in conjunction with the Friends of Stonehaven Open Air Swimming Pool. The Friends have become a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO). A number of other pools also stay functional due to the considerable efforts of the voluntary sector.

Scarborough in Yorkshire has adopted a different approach. The brand new Alpamare Water Park, near the site of the former North Bay pool is a pricey, privately run and inelegant replacement for two beautiful seawater lidos. However if its heated fresh water, exciting water features, year-round operation and newly opened wellness spa gains more footfall and provides more employment than the old, cold lidos, it may benefit the town. 

Porthtowan Rockpool, Cornwall. Not really a lido, but wonderful!

The Westernmost lido is in County Down in Northern Ireland. The Tropicana consists of two shallow, seawater pools with slides, opened in the 1980’s and aimed at children. Further down the coast is the much deeper and rather Spartan, although locally popular Rock Pool which was built in 1933. Both are run by Down Council.

In England there are at least 15 successful open-air pools remaining beside the sea, and many more inland. These range from brand-spanking-new water parks to art deco masterpieces, more mundane bathing pools, paddling pools and tidal rock pools. A number of these pools stay operational with the enthusiastic efforts of the voluntary sector.

Imagination and innovation are needed to keep many going. For example in Cornwall is the spectacular art-deco triangle of Penzance Lido jutting out into St Michael’s Bay, Cornwall. It was opened in 1935 and named with great celebration for King George V's silver jubilee. Formerly run by the town council and now by Jubilee Pool Penzance Ltd, a Community Benefit Society. Jubilee Pool is currently breaking new ground with a bore hole being drilled to provide geothermal heating for the pool.

In Wales, no original seaside pools have survived but some have evolved into good sized paddling pools. One of the best is Blackpill Lido, run by Swansea Council. This is free and has a large splash pool, a baby pool and fountains, in a lawned area with play equipment, cafe and the start of the land train which runs along the front.  

Blackpill Lido, Swansea

 

Children gravitate towards waves, fountains, even puddles and as we have entered a more health-conscious era, similar to the 1930’s, the popularity of swimming pools and water-play areas is bound to increase, particularly at the seaside. Open-air pools encourage healthy exercise, saltwater ones may have additional health benefits over highly chlorinated ones and if sustainably heated, their seasons can be extended. 

The days of creating huge lidos with Olympic standard swimming pools are probably gone, but there should be opportunities to contribute to public health and amenity, attract holidaymakers and enhance the environment with new and exciting pools.         

                                                            *

Article and research by Susan Gilbert, Director of ArchiFACT Limited.                

Marine Art Deco Ashore - Picture of the Week 30 March 2016

Marine Court. 

This Art Deco style apartment block in St Leonard's-on-Sea - was deliberately designed to somewhat resemble an ocean liner, the RMS Queen Mary. To describe Marine Court takes a combination of architectural and nautical terms. At the eastern end, the curved lower floors protrude like a ship’s bow and the floors above recede like the stacked decks of a liner. At the west end the balconies end in a graceful curl, leaving a gap at the stern. The architects, Kenneth Dalgleish and Roger K Pullen, stopped short of adding portholes, but every seaward facing flat has a balcony. On a sunny day, residents may imagine they are enjoying a luxury cruise from the comfort of their own flat.

RMS Queen Mary sailed the North Atlantic Ocean between 1936 -1967 for Cunard White Star Line. She was built by John Brown & Co on Clydebank, Scotland and sailed on her maiden voyage on 27 May 1936. With the outbreak of the war she was converted to ferry soldiers for the duration of the war. After the war, the Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service and began the transatlantic passenger service for which she and her sister ship the RMS Queen Elizabeth were designed. They dominated the transatlantic passenger service until the jet age in the late 1950s. After several years of decreased profits for Cunard Line, Queen Mary was officially retired from service in 1967. She left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, United States, where she remains permanently moored. Much of the machinery, including one of the two engine rooms, three of the four propellers, and all of the boilers, were removed. Today the ship serves as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum and a hotel. 

When is Art Deco not Art Deco?

The Modernist Brotherton Wing of Leeds
Infirmary. The curved balcony was
 functional, to allow patients to take in
sun and air

Some claim Art Deco originates in the 1925 French art expo at Le Musee des Arts Decoratifs. The exposition was intended as a display of new design from around the world, although the Americans didn’t participate. However Art Deco style works can be seen in Europe 10 and even 15 years prior to the expo.

The answer to the title question is probably when it’s Modernism, which is quite often. According to the V & A (who should know) the actual term ‘Art Deco’ wasn’t invented until the 1960’s, so to describe buildings from 50 years earlier as Art Deco does seems curious, but that's what art historians do. 

Perhaps the clue to identifying Art Deco lies in the word Deco. It implies decoration rather than function, which was the guiding thought in Modernism. From restrained lines to sunbursts and elaborate Egyptian styling, Deco is frequently applied to the surface of a building rather than incorporated into the basic structure.

The De La Waar Pavilion, Bexhill is not an Art-Deco Masterpiece; Picture of the Week 26 September 2015

The De La Waar Pavilion was built in the 1930's as an arts centre to lure the cognoscenti to the delights of Bexhill-on-Sea, a previously quiet seaside resort of no great fame.  The pavilion has often been described as an Art-Deco masterpiece.  I disagree, it was designed as a Modernist masterpiece. 

The only possibly Art-Deco element in this design might be that curvaceous semi-circular stairwell, though the lines are pure and very plain. There's none of the extraneous decoration which seems to be compulsory in supposedly Art-Deco designs. In fact the term 'Art-Deco' is a post WWII invention. 

'Art-Deco' was unheard when the De la Waar was built.  http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/art-deco/ 

“A modernist building of world renown that will become a crucible for creating a new model of cultural provision in an English seaside town which is going to lead to the growth, prosperity and the greater culture of our town.”  Thus said the 9th Earl De La Warr in May 1935, as he laid the plaque which forms part of the floor of the De La Warr Pavilion's foyer.


The Pavilion opened to the public for the first time on the 12th December 1935, to critical and popular acclaim and controversy. Some Conservative critics were horrified by the plain lines and lack of ornamentation, but the public flocked to the concerts and the seafront restaurant.

The interior of the elegant stairwell is beautifully functional, following the tenets of Modernism as practiced by its major practitioners Le Corbusier and Mies van de Rohe. The design for a Modernist building should abide by the principle of form following function, without the necessity for extraneous detail or ornamentation. The De la Waar building has no Art-Deco flourishes, no sunbursts, no Egyptian motifs. It relies on simple lines and generous spaces to provide a graceful, practical place for its designated functions.  

Today the De la Waar Pavilion is a Grade I Listed building : http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-292006-the-de-la-warr-pavilion-east-sussex/photos/?connected_with=facebook#.Vgcc0vnBzGc

A Titanic Work of Art-Deco - Picture of the Week 12 April 2012

With the centenary of the Titanic tragedy and the stranding of the Costa Concordia, ocean liners are in the headlines more than they have been for many years.

Sunset, 9 February 2012

This photograph shows not a massive liner waiting to strike anchor and sail off into the sunset, but Marine Court, a huge Art Deco apartment block which dominates the seafront at St. Leonards-on-Sea. The building opened in 1937 and was in its time the tallest block of flats in Britain. Less famous than the Art Deco De la Waar Pavillion at next door Bexhill, Marine Court is none the less an iconic structure typical of the nautical arm of the Art-Deco design movement.  

Marine Court was modelled on the Queen Mary, Cunard's famous liner which first sailed in 1934. To describe it takes a mixture of architectural and nautical terms. At the eastern end, the curved lower floors protrude like a ship’s bow and the floors above recede like the stacked decks of a liner. At the west end the balconies end in a graceful curl, leaving a gap at the stern. The architects, Kenneth Dalgleish and Roger K Pullen, stopped short of adding portholes but it’s a simple but effective set of visual clues. On a sunny day, residents could feel like they were enjoying a luxury cruise from the comfort of their own flat.

However, not everyone could see the bright side. A competition to name the building had suggestions like ‘Monstrosity Mansions’ and ‘Have No Care House’. When it opened it contained 153 flats and 3 restaurants. In the 1960s it was home to The Cobweb, also known as the Witch Doctor - a nightclub that saw Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and other luminaries play. Today, it's much quieter and the "comfort superstore" that occupies the ground floor is more suited to its current, mostly elderly inhabitants.

Although in full daylight today Marine Court can be see to have grown rather shabby, it still retains some original features internally and was Grade II listed in 1999. Despite its listing much of the Art Deco detailing has been compromised by double glazing and rogue DIY. But it could have been a lot worse. Marine Court is still standing and being lived in. It looks like it has a few stories to tell.

Details: Anne Ward
http://www.nothingtoseehere.net/2009/05/marine_court_stleonardsonsea.html