Things Men Do With Ladders no. 20

LETS DO THIS

Yes, that is what it says on the plastic bucket. 'Lets do this' is unsound advice, in my opinion. While the construction may appear well balanced, it's based on a building material not renowned for its strength under pressure. Collapse would seem to be a distinct possibility.

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.         

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

Pier of the Year

Hastings re-vamped pier has won a prestigious award, Pier of the Year :-

In the competition judged by the National Piers Society, Hastings have beaten off beat off Worthing pier which came second for the third year running.  Llandudno pier tookthird place.

Hastings 145-year-old structure was hit by a devastating fire in 2010 but it reopened last year following a £14.2m restoration project.

Gavin Henderson, National Piers Society president, called the pier "a phoenix" and Maria Ludkin, the chair of Hastings Pier Trustees, said: "We are absolutely delighted that our wonderful community-owned pier has won this prestigious award."

http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/hastings-scoops-pier-of-the-year-accolade-1-7897013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-39455620

The Things Men Do with Ladders; Number 17

If the example of this genre that I posted on 11 January is impressive and quite ingenious, this one is quite mad. Ok, it seems to be working, except that he's almost standing on tiptoe because he's still not high enough up to reach whatever the hell it is that he's trying to do. And what happened the minute after the photographer left?

The Things Men do With Ladders number 16

This impressive example of the genre was sent to me by my friend Corky in California, though the man on the ladder is painting the church clock in Mussina, South Africa.  I hope he completed the job... 

You might just think that this is simply a man on a long ladder doing a job that requires two hands?

 

Further down, he and his ladder are balanced on a cantilever arm created out of planks of wood with a human counterweight sitting on them, while holding the ladder with a rope....

There's more...

Quite an impressively ingenious contraption these two have devised. This is clever enough to warrant the label 'construction.'

 Of course the chances of this going wrong are as high as painting the clock face. And how did he actually get up there.  

However he got up there, you could call this a Stairway to Heaven ...

Zaha Hadid, Architect and Dame, dies in Miami.

Zaha Hadid is one of far too few women who have managed to rise to the very peak of the profession. Her creativity has been a sock in the eye for the conventional and the staid. She was only 65 and will be greatly missed. 

Angela Brady, a former president of RIBA, described Zaha Hadid as “one of our greatest architects of our time”.

She added: “She was a tough architect, which is needed as a woman at the top of her profession and at the height of her career. She will be sadly missed as an iconic leader in architecture and as a role model for women in architecture.”

Evelyn Grace Academy, Brixton, London.     Photograph: Luke Hayes

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/mar/31/star-architect-zaha-hadid-dies-aged-65

Picture of the Week; Leeds first Gasometer

While researching for an extended article on gasometers for publication in QS Eye magazine, I came across this very early photo of an even earlier gasometer.

This stood beside the gasworks at Bean Ings Mills in Leeds and was probably built before 1800. Do you know of an earlier gasometer anywhere?

Bean Ings wool mill, owned by Benjamin Gott was one of the town’s biggest employers from 1790, with over 2000 workers. Gott engaged steam engineers Boulton and Watt to provide a steam engine for this woolen mill when earlier, water-powered mechanisms, which relied on water from the nearby canal, proved unreliable. Bean Ings Mill also acquired its own gasworks (one of the first ever built), complete with a rigid gasometer, so that Gott’s weavers could work by gaslight late into the night.

The exact date of this gasometer’s installation at Gott’s mill is unclear, but some years later, in 1800, much of the mill burnt down and Gott moved the enterprise to Armley. The gasometer must have lasted longer than that, for the photograph to have been taken as photography wasn't around at the time.

Today the site of the mill is home to the Yorkshire Post building at the end of Wellington Street.

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Photo found at :- http://www.leodis.net/discovery/discovery.asp?page=2003219_348858059&topic=200335_73055447&subsection=2003724_663265408&subsubsection=2003911_593959988

Aden, Peaceful Again? Pictures of the Week 23 July 2015

After months of terrible fighting, in which the people of Aden have suffered from gunfire, bombing, starvation, thirst and disease, the battle seems to be over. Supplies are arriving by sea and air. To celebrate, here are a few postcard photos of Aden at peace, in around 1959. Most are by photographer Dick Ketchian.


The handsome Idrus Mosque. I hope it has survived.

Water cart in Crater

Waterfront buildings

The famous Tawila Tanks,
dating back to the 7th century

Crater town which has apparently
been badly damaged in recent fighting.





Historic Colt House, Bosham; Picture of the Week 23 May 2014

Going through old family photos I came across this one of my grandparents house in Bosham, Sussex, under construction. I've blogged about their house before, but at the time had few photos of it. This was a Colt house, partly pre-fabricated and constructed almost entirely of timber, apart from foundations and chimneys. These houses became very popular in the 1930's. Further research will, I hope, tell me exactly when this one was built, I've always assumed it was before WWII.

I spent large parts of my childhood in this timber framed and clad house. It had three reception rooms, four bedrooms, a lovely bathroom with separate toilet, a kitchen with a large, solid fuel Aga, a scullery and a front door which was at the back of the house - a gravel drive swept right around the side of house to this front door which in my lifetime the door wasn't used - the entrance lobby was used for storage! The photograph below shows the completed building in the 1950's. The French doors from the sitting room are open onto the brick patio, the windows to the right are in the dining room. The small porch to the right contained the main entrance and connected by a brick corridor to the coal bunkers and the large garage.

These and other photographs show a solid, unpretentious building with traditional tile hanging to the first floor and a clap-board clad ground floor, both imitate the local vernacular. The windows are metal framed, probably Crittal, the hanging tiles are actually cedar shingles, which over time mellowed to a soft grey and never needed painting, the clapboard was a creamy white.

Inside there was no plaster. Apart from dado height panelling on the stairs the interior had soft, fibreboard walls, wallpapered downstairs but not up. In a wind the house would creak and pop, but flexibility is no bad thing.

The Things Men do with Ladders no. 13; Picture of the Week 18 May 2014

This is the thirteenth of these which I've borrowed from elsewhere. Thirteen, unlucky for some, probably this bloke as his ladder appears to be tied to the top of his flimsy garden gate with - no not rope -  just a bit of old rag.

The Things Men do with Ladders - picture of the week 13 Jan 2014

I haven't published any of these for a while, so here's one that made me laugh.

Whoever thought this was a good idea
has much more faith in masking tape than I do!

The Far Cuillins - Picture of the Week, 7 September 2013



The dramatic Black Cuillins, a volcanic range on the Isle of Skye, seen across a meadow of buttercups.
Photo John S Gilbert C1980
 

Oh, the far Cuillins are pullin' me awa', As take I wi' my cromack tae the road. The far Cuillins are puttin' love on me As step I wi' the sunlight for my load. Sure by Tummel and Loch Rannoch And Lochaber I will go, By heather paths wi' heaven in their wiles. And if it's thinkin' in your inner heart The braggart's in my step, You've never smelled the tangle o' the Isles. Oh the far Cuillins are puttin' love on me As step I wi' my cromack to the Isles.

It's the blue islands are pullin' me awa', Their laughter puts the leap upon the lame. The blue islands from the Skerries to Lewis Wi' the heather honey taste upon their name. [This traditional folk song was given the title "The Road to the Isles" during WWI]

Lalique Galleries, London 1930's; Picture of the Week 16 August 2013




Photo by Bill Houghton-Evans C late 1930's

This and one or two other photographs of modernist buildings, taken by Bill Houghton-Evans in the 1930's, mark the beginnings of a young man's interest in architecture, before WWII. 

Breves' new Lalique Galleries opened in the Autumn of 1934 at 2, Basil Street (at the Knightsbridge end of Sloane Street), London, S.W.3. The Times wrote a useful description:-

"The ornamental glass associated with M Rene Lalique deserves recognition as the first attempt in Europe to express the full possibilities of glass as a plastic medium, and Messrs Breves, its agents in London, are to be congratulated on the general effect of their new galleries. A plain shop front faced with travertine, with the names in white metal above, opens to a deeply recessed window which allows a clear view of the whole interior. As far as possible all the working features such as doors, and the decorations of the new galleries are constructed of Lalique glass, in association with stainless steel."

René Jules Lalique (1860 - 1945) was a French designer best known for his creations of glass art and wares including figures and busts for expensive cars, perfume bottles, vases, chandeliers, jewellery and chandeliers. He also made more modest pieces including small ornaments and ashtrays. Lalique's glassware firm remains successful today.

Bill Evans was in the army until 1945, serving in North Africa and Italy, then he attended Nottingham College of Art where he studied Architecture. He practiced as an architect for many years and was also a much respected author, lecturer, town planner and teacher at the University of Leeds.

Breves Galleries in Basil Street no longer exist, but have been briefly immortalised in Michael Holroyd's book Basil Street Blues.

Cuthbert Brodrick, Architect of the Month for July 2013

Architect of the Month - Cuthbert Brodrick 1821- 1905

Interior of Leeds Corn Exchange, built in 1860
(photograph c1980)

Cuthbert Brodrick was born in the East Riding of Yorkshire, in the coastal town of Kingston-upon-Hull on 1 December 1821. He was one of ten children, the sixth son of John and Hannah Brodrick. His father was a wealthy merchant and ship owner, and the family lived at 39, George Street, in the best residential area of Hull.

Brodrick attended Kingston College, he left school at fifteen to become a pupil in the offices of Architect Henry Francis Lockwood at Dock Street in Hull, where he stayed for 8 years learning the profession. In May 1844 he set off on the Grand Tour of Europe, travelling through France and Italy to  Rome, no doubt hoping to expand his architectural studies and expertise.

This must have worked, on his return to Hull in in 1846, Brodrick was offered a partnership in Lockwood’s practice. He turned this offer down to set up on his own, at Savile Street in Hull.

In 1852, when he was 31, Brodrick entered a national competition for the design of a new town hall for the burgeoning town of Leeds. It is said that Brodrick's mother Hannah tried to dissuade him, thinking he had no chance of winning. The competition was judged by Charles Barry, known for his work on the Palace of Westminster and Brodrick's design won. Leeds Town Hall was opened by Queen Victoria in September 1858.

At the time, Leeds was in competition with Manchester for the title of cloth-manufacturing capital of Great Britain. Manchester had just achieved official status as a City and Leeds was determined not to be outdone, however their application to become a city was turned down and Leeds had to wait until 1893 for city status. In the mean time it acquired a magnificent Town Hall. The building and Cuthbert Brodrick became famous, and he moved to Leeds, to set up his practice there, at 30 Park Row. 

Brodrick's next competition win was a design for a new Corn Exchange for Leeds. The old one was only 35 years old, but already inadequate in scale for the growing needs of the corn factors (traders). The first stone was laid on 7th May 1861 on the site near the Kirkgate Market, which had opened there in 1857 following a move from Briggate, though the famous market hall, home of the original Marks and Spencer, would not appear until 1904 .

Corn Exchange interior in around 1915

The builder chosen for the Corn Exchange was Samuel Addy, stonemason, who had been responsible for the Town Hall's clock tower. The Corn Exchange's domed roof structure, in wrought iron, was made at Kirkstall Forge, which is said to be the oldest iron and steel works in Britain, by Butler & Co. The Clerk of Works was apparently a Mr Cairns. The building project was delayed by the discovery of previously dug pits on the site as a result of earlier digging for iron ore, possibly to feed Kirkstall Forge. This discovery no doubt gave Brodrick and Mr Cairns a few sleepless nights but, despite hold-ups, Leeds Corn Exchange opened for business on 28 July 1863.

In 1870 Brodrick moved to France and bought a house at St. Germain, near Paris. After he retired he spent his time painting, exhibiting his work and indulging his love of gardening. In 1898 he went to live near his niece in Jersey, where he rented a house at Gorey on the west coast of the island. He designed and planted a garden there, perhaps his last design task. He died on 2 March 1905, and is buried in St. Martin's Churchyard, Gorey.
  
Other buildings designed by Cuthbert Brodrick include:-

The Leeds Mechanics Institute 1860, which became the Civic Theatre in 1949 and in 2008 the Leeds City Museum;

The Oriental Baths in Cookridge Street, Leeds 1866 - demolished in 1965 - site now occupied by an unattractive Weatherspoon's pub named 'the Cuthbert Brodrick,' though obviously not designed by him;

The Scarborough Grand Hotel;

Headingley Hill Congregational church 1864 - now known as the Ashwood Centre and used by City Church, Leeds.
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Acknowledgements and for further information and photographs of Victorian Leeds, see http://www.leodis.net/discovery/default.asp

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This is the first of what will, I hope, become a regular feature on the architects who have designed some of the iconic, and maybe not so iconic, buildings around Britain.  Buildings which we usually take for granted, but have histories of their own.

Picture of the Week for 25 July 2013: Thatched Cottage at South Mundham, Sussex, C1956

We lived in this beautiful cottage for several months when I was six or seven . We also lived in a bungalow near Aldershot, a large detatched house beside a railway line near Gatwick, a suburban semi in Chichester, a railway carriage on the beach at West Wittering and my grandparents' Colt house at Bosham - all before I was eight.

As my father was in the army, settling anywhere permanently was not on the cards.

This is another of his photos.

Mystery Stone Building - Pictures of the week for 14 June 2013

I have come across these old prints of a stone building and know nothing apart from that it might be  somewhere in Scotland. Can anybody enlighten me? My ignorance isn't due a flaw in my memory, I freely acknowledge that they are not my photographs. I just want to know something about this fascinating structure.

Aden; Fishermen and liner; Picture of the week for 17 May 2013

Photograph taken by my father, John S. Gilbert, probably in 1962, the print has deteriorated with age.

I have been told the ship looks like the Oronsay, which visited Aden in that year.

The fishermen appear to be mending their nets on the shore.

The Things Men do with Ladders, number 11

Not my photo but I have seen things almost as stupid as this in real life...



 

Crater Pass Bridge, Aden, Update and Picture of the Week for 26 February 2013

Political unrest which began last week in Aden means the builders of Aden have to postpone their efforts to reconstruct the old bridge. However their survey work was completed and they just need the situation to become calm again so they can continue their efforts to finish this great project.

These two photographs show the rocks below the old bridge and the view up the mountain from the top of the bridge. They were taken by my father, John Gilbert, in about 1960, unfortunately when he had a brief craze for a Polaroid camera, so the image quality is inferior to the previous picture of the bridge, posted before.  The rocks are rugged and volcanic. The caves visible in the left hand photo were probably enlarged to use for military purposes, the mountainside has a number of fortificaions built at different times. There are around 103 steps up to the fortification below the caves.

Crater Pass Bridge, Aden; Picture of the Week 22 Feb 2013

Posting yet another of my father's photographs as my Picture of the Week, but there is a valid contemporary reason for this. The bridge shown was demolished almost fifty years ago, in 1964 and is being re-built right now by an enthusiastic group of Adeni engineers and builders.

Crater pass is in Aden, Yemen. Aden was formerly a British protectorate, the occupying forces only left in the late 1960's. However the bridge in the photograph was probably built by earlier Turkish occupiers, as it is linked to a Turkish fort higher up the mountain.



Crater Pass bridge C1960, photo by Maj. John S Gilbert RAMC

The Aden peninsula juts out into the Arabian Sea on the southernmost edge of Yemen. The peninsula is largely an extinct volcano, the tallest peak on this volcanic outcrop is Jabal Shamsan at 553 metres. There is a major natural harbour between its north edge and the mainland and towns serving the port, oil refinery and fishing industry are situated around the perimeter of this harbour. The pass links the town inside the volcanic crater on the east of the peninsula with those on the north and west. The south of the peninsula is very rocky and uninhabitable.

 

The demolition of the historic Crater Pass bridge was the result of a misguided urge by British occupying forces to widen the road. As ever, traffic engineers have a lot to answer for, though at that time there were undoubtedly military reasons too. Historic buildings, like civilians, always suffer undeservedly in times of war. By the end of 1967 the British forces had left Aden, never to return.