CARLISLE'S historic bathhouse marked their 113th birthday this week. 

Despite the Turkish Baths marking a historical date, campaigners have put the celebrations on hold pending a decision from Carlisle City Council on whether the Grade II listed baths are to be mothballed when swimming pools open at The Sands Centre next month. 

The Turkish Health Suite on James Street, Carlisle, opened on September 20 in 1909. 

Julie Minns, chair of the Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths, said: "People have been the beating heart of the Baths for 113 years. That is why we are marking this birthday with a photo collage of the people who use and love the Baths. We have people who have only just found out about them, others who have rediscovered them, and one who has been coming for fifty years!"

The UK’s first Turkish Baths opened in 1852 in County Cork, and over the course of the next century around 700 were built the length and breadth of the British Isles. Today only twelve remain in operation, and Carlisle’s are the last in the northwest.

READ MORE: Our readers discussed the need for clarity over closure of Carlisle's Victorian & Turkish Baths

"It is astonishing to think that these Baths have witnessed two world wars, seven British Monarchs and twenty-two Prime Ministers. They have even seen Carlisle United top of the Football league! Carlisle is incredibly fortunate to have kept such a rare and unique piece of its living heritage for so long. I visited Manchester Victoria Baths recently and the restoration of their Turkish Baths suite is stunning, but their Friends Group said they would give anything to have a fully operational Turkish Baths like we still have," she said. 

The Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths have been campaigning to keep the Turkish Baths open for eighteen months and during that time, usage has more than doubled and the group have secured funding for the first stage of a viability study that they believe could pave the way to putting the bathhouse on a long-term sustainable footing.

"We are 100% committed to completing this project. All we ask is for the Council to keep the Turkish Baths open while we do. The only birthday present we want, is for the Council Executive to guarantee that the Baths will stay open until the new Cumberland Council takes over the Baths next April. That would make an old Baths very, very happy," she said. 

READ MORE: Friends of Carlisle's Victorian & Turkish Baths call for clarity on closure