Abandoned Harpurhey Swimming Baths Manchester

I recently visited the Abandoned Harpurhey Swimming Baths in Manchester and found it to be a real gem to photograph. Jon Doe recently posted some excellent pics (as usual) of the place so i'll add just a few of my own and try keep them a little different

Behind the impressive front facade hides not one, but two large pools.



Some of the ornate tiles in the entrance hall

The crazy corridor! Heavily condensated creating some great light reflections.

WOW.. thats all we could say when we got into the baths!

Personally i've nothing against petting and smoking in the pool, It's the peeing and farting not illustrated i find objectionable.

The smaller and less ornate pool no 2. I think this would have been the male only bathing section in years gone by.



Don't leve the seat up. You know the girls always moan!

I think they could do with some of those blue smelly soap blocks in here





When it got dark we lit the cubicles up with tea light candles.

For a moment in time the streets of Manchester were paved with gold.
Technically a poor photograph in terms of building detail, but i love the wacky effect the passing bus had on a long exposure shot.

I've a load more pics with the history and when and why the baths closed here

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=265602590&blogID=342381032

Nice pics! Its a fantastic looking building

Brave of you to wander around Harpurhey with camera gear after dark

I really loved exploring here, I stumbled upon it whilst doing drain recces in the area, kinda saved my day actually as the drains all turned out to be a bit lame.

Nice pic, the pay booth on is cool!!! Did you venture anywhere near what I guess was the old boiler house? The chimney is still there isn't it? While I was there there was work going on at the college next door, with folks a bit too close to that area to be blatantly poking around.

JD

Jondoe_264 said:

Brave of you to wander around Harpurhey with camera gear after dark

I really loved exploring here, I stumbled upon it whilst doing drain recces in the area, kinda saved my day actually as the drains all turned out to be a bit lame.

Nice pic, the pay booth on is cool!!! Did you venture anywhere near what I guess was the old boiler house? The chimney is still there isn't it? While I was there there was work going on at the college next door, with folks a bit too close to that area to be blatantly poking around.

JD

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Hi Jon. Well i read previously before going the area was slightly dubious at any time of day, but it seemed ok and very quiet to me. Anyway i felt safe with the guy i was with. He has a habit of looking like an S.A.S trooper who'd slit your throat quicker than a feret would get down a rat hole.
Yes the chimney is still there but to be honest we were so busy capturing all the stuff inside we forgot to venture outside again.. As you say it's a bit open so we didn't hang about for Stealth reasons

B.T.W it was good to see the place is in pretty good nick considering. Not much chav activity at all....

Great pics. The "tealight" pic is stunning (must have taken a while to set that one up eh?!!)

Lb

Lightbuoy said:

Great pics. The "tealight" pic is stunning (must have taken a while to set that one up eh?!!)

Lb

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Nice one
No the tea lights are my 6'5 S.A.S companions photo fetish thing. he uses them all over the place. They work really well sometimes.
No mortuary or railway tunnel is sacred to him

phill.d said:

Nice one
No the tea lights are my 6'5 S.A.S companions photo fetish thing. he uses them all over the place. They work rwally well sometimes

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Of course -thought the light emissions from those tealights looked like SAS standard issue stuff!!

Despite his tea light fetish you can see why he's a usefull companion to take on explores were the local scally's might be a bit tasty. Behind the fearsome Grim Reaper appearence i'm sure lurks a big softie really. :icon_evil

phill.d said:

Despite his tea light fetish you can see why he's a usefull companion to take on explores were the local scally's might be a bit tasty. Behind the fearsome Grim Reaper appearence i'm sure lurks a big softie really. :icon_evil

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I'm sure that you're right. Guess he come in handy for clearing the undergrowth -no path through -no problem!!
(I'm sure that Foxylady would find him handy when fighting against the killer brambles too!)

Happy new year to ya Phil.

Lb

P.s. -great shots from High Royds

Cheers mate.. Happy new year to you too. And a great safe explore for everyone else in 2008

Phil great work mate, I like your artistic side to your work aswell.

Simon-g

Don't know how I managed to miss this report earlier!
Love that second pic of the twiddly-bit ornamentation. Nice one! And the tea-lights are brill!
As LB mentioned, I've been attacked by brambles on many an occassion, so your mate certainly looks as if he'd be useful with that scythe!
Excellent pics and report Phill...happy new year, have a great new explorey one!

Love the black and white tiles in the front entrance and corridor, and the stairs , and love that pay desk. The tea lights in all the changing rooms are great, the effect is brilliant. The toilets could definitely do with a good bit of elbow grease hehe.

We'll definitely have to bring your friend along with the scythe, he will be very useful if he's coming to the meet to cut away the undergrowth

Cheers,

Sal

There was a similar pool on Stockport's St Peter's Gate until the mid 1990s.

It was pulled down not long after it closed, along with a cinema (which was long abandoned & a friend of mine once explored) & some water board offices.

The Whole area was turned into some parkland, but is now redeveloped, I walked past last week to see it I could spot any outlines of pools or fragments of tiles, but couldn't.

I have a mate who lives in Harpurhey, will have to have a look around next time I'm in the area.