The Guardian has published a headline feature exploring how events organised as part of a funding drive for Manchester’s Victoria Baths, which sold out quicker than Glastonbury, is the latest in a long line of projects to restore historic swimming pools.
The Guardian writes:
Within 20 minutes of opening all sessions at Victoria Baths in Manchester had been snapped up by eager swimmers desperate to bob about in one of Britain’s most beautiful pools for the first time in 24 years. When it opened in 1906, Victoria Baths was described as ‘the most splendid municipal bathing institution in the country’ and ‘a water palace of which every citizen of Manchester can be proud’…
In Newcastle upon Tyne, Grade II-listed Turkish baths – closed by the council in 2013 – will reopen next year after the council granted planning permission for a £5m redevelopment….
In nearby Tynemouth, a planning application has been submitted to restore the lido at the end of Longsands beach to its former glory….
Bramley Baths in Leeds reopened as a social enterprise in 2013…
In London, the £25m restoration of Kentish Town’s Victorian baths proved an instant hit when it reopened six years ago and is now run successfully by the social enterprise GLL….
In Birmingham, another Edwardian swimming pool looks likely to be saved from closure after campaigners secured grant funding. The city council-owned Moseley Road Baths, in Balsall Heath, was built in 1907…
