Broomhill Swimming Pool (Ipswich Lido)

[Abo]

Broomhill Swimming Pool - 27th January 2007

Broomhill Swimming Pool (Ipswich Lido) opened in April 1938, at a cost of £17,000. The pool is 165 feet long, 8 lanes wide, and at it’s deep end, is 5 metres deep. It has 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 metre diving boards, a grandstand for 700 spectators, underwater flood lighting and changing facilities for 70 ladies and 108 men. In it’s hayday, during the 70’s and 80’s’ up to 60,000 swimmers used the pool each season but a lack of investment led the pool closing for the last time at the end of the 2002 season. A feasibility study was carried out in 2006, the result of which was that the pool needs £3.9 million to get it open again. Ipswich Council have promised £1 million of this, and the Broomhill Pool Trust are applying for various grants for the rest. There is a lot of debris in the pools, and the whole place looks to me as though it is way beyond repair.

 

[King Al]

More great stuff, the mural is nice it makes the place look sader though I hope it does get re-opened. I see the old blue for boys and pink for girls has escapted form the asylums for this one.

 

[Foxylady]

Gorgeous photos, Abo. That water looks really inviting.
It annoys the hell out of me that places like this have been left to rot, especially when kids are left with nothing to do but hang around the streets. :icon_evil Makes great explores, though.

 

[Abo]

That water looks really inviting.

Trust me, you would not want to swim in there!

 

[Foxylady]

Trust me, you would not want to swim in there!

Yeah, I guessed as much. Amazing how looks can be deceiving, eh!

 

[King Al]

Trust me, you would not want to swim in there!

So whats in there then i love things like that, every thing has a story like "how did that shoping trolley get in there", "or is that foot"

 

[Abo]

So whats in there then

Nothing in particular, it's just filthy!

 

[King Al]

How un-interesting... not even a jonny

 

[Foxylady]

every thing has a story like "how did that shoping trolley get in there", "or is that foot"

Where did you get a foot from?

 

[King Al]

long story short- old shoe packed rotten leaves and gue in poor light...

 

[Foxylady]

long story short- old shoe packed rotten leaves and gue in poor light...

Ah, got ya. Chicken feet can have quite an unnerving effect at first sight too! 'Aargh, it's a bony hand!!!'

 

[mr_bones]

Really nice looking place and some atmospheric photos. A shame it hasn't been kept open as it looks like a great place. Could it be because the british summer has 0.3 sunny days?

 

[sal]

This weekend 8th/9th September 2007 includes the Heritage Open Days and the site of Broomhill Pool is open to the public 11am - 5pm both days;

There is a website www.savebroomhillpool.org and a film called The Pool by James Sharpe available on You Tube and also on the London Pools Campaign website www.londonpoolscampaign.com

I've spent the last five years campaigning to try and get Broomhill Pool re-opened again and set up a Yahoo Group called Pooling Resources
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/poolingresources

There is also Oliver Merrington's Yahoo Lidos Group if you're interested in lidos generally. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lidos

There is no need for Broomhill really to remain derelict: it requires an estimated £3.9million to be re-opened as a heated outdoor 50metre pool; Ipswich Borough Council promised £1 million IF the organisation known as the Broomhill Pool Trust could raise the rest. (Heritage Lottery Fund etc)
This is not such a huge sum when you consider that something like £800 million investment is flowing through the Waterfront area of Ipswich.

 

[Foxylady]

Loads of interesting info there sal.
Cheers for that

 

[sheep2405]

Good stuff, real shame about the place.

S

 

[Abo]

This weekend 8th/9th September 2007 includes the Heritage Open Days and the site of Broomhill Pool is open to the public 11am - 5pm both days;

There is a website www.savebroomhillpool.org and a film called The Pool by James Sharpe available on You Tube and also on the London Pools Campaign website www.londonpoolscampaign.com

I've spent the last five years campaigning to try and get Broomhill Pool re-opened again and set up a Yahoo Group called Pooling Resources
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/poolingresources

There is also Oliver Merrington's Yahoo Lidos Group if you're interested in lidos generally. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lidos

There is no need for Broomhill really to remain derelict: it requires an estimated £3.9million to be re-opened as a heated outdoor 50metre pool; Ipswich Borough Council promised £1 million IF the organisation known as the Broomhill Pool Trust could raise the rest. (Heritage Lottery Fund etc)
This is not such a huge sum when you consider that something like £800 million investment is flowing through the Waterfront area of Ipswich.

I understand what you are saying, but personally I think it would be a waste of money, as the reason it closed was because of lack of use! Surely it's time to let it go?

 

[sal]

It would seem that the Council wanted to close the pool and therefore instituted measures that would lead to less usage: making the lido more expensive than Crown Pools, not allowing a season ticket, closing the pool earlier and earlier; failing to promote or advertise the pool much etc

Speedy demolition of the pool was prevented by the Twentieth Century Society who were successful in getting the lido "spot-listed" as a Grade II listed building in 2001. Despite this Ipswich Borough Council informed the Dept of Culture, Media and Sport that the pool was closed: Broomhill Pool appears on a list of closed listed swimming pools dated 15th January 2002.

But, people were still swimming there during the summer of 2002 unaware that this statement had been made: the first public announcement in the press was not until Feb 2003 when Paul Geater made headline news with his "Broomhill is Doomhill" article.

 

[King Al]

It would seem that the Council wanted to close the pool and therefore instituted measures that would lead to less usage: making the lido more expensive than Crown Pools, not allowing a season ticket, closing the pool earlier and earlier; failing to promote or advertise the pool much etc

Nasty tactics there, its all about penny pinching with councils

 

[Goldie87]

Interesting place and nice pics. Think all the lido's near me have had housing built on them long ago

 

[Richard Davies]

A few years ago when visiting my great aunt & uncle, I passed by a lido near Merthyr Tydfil, which only had a concrete pavilion in a very sorry state.

My Dad reckoned that it looked almost as bad 30 years before.