With summer in full swing, now is the perfect time for outdoor bathing, and we’re looking back on local lidos.
The term refers to a public outdoor swimming pool and surrounding facilities, or part of a beach where people can swim, lie in the sun, or participate in water sports.
On a cruise ship or ocean liner, the lido deck features outdoor pools and related facilities.
Work is currently under way to restore Grange Lido, one of Cumbria’s best known, with the facility due to reopen imminently - though at the moment, not including the pool.
One of only four remaining listed coastal lidos in England, it was constructed in 1932 and remained open for 61 years until its closure in 1993 due to a combination of low usage and increasing operational and repair costs.
It is the earliest and most complete example of a 20th century listed seawater lido in England.
In 2011, the Save Grange Lido campaign was established, aiming to “transform it into a vibrant community owned leisure facility with a restored 50m pool at its heart”.
The group, a community benefit society, produced a detailed business plan setting out how it believed this could be achieved.
In 2015 South Lakeland District Council began to consider future uses for the site which would not include a swimming facility, designating the pool area a “landscaped open space”.
In 2019 the council allocated £2million for “light touch refurbishment” of the lido, to include making it structurally sound, bringing it back into public use, and providing refurbished units for community groups or entrepreneurs.
Fast forward to April 2023, and the more ambitious £6.8million lido and prom restoration project began.
The lido site will reopen with a temporary infill to the pool to create a new multi-use public space.
The project aims to protect the once derelict Grade II-listed site’s immense social and cultural heritage in a way which doesn’t preclude the option of bringing the pool back into use sometime in the future by temporarily infilling it with material which is removable and suitable for future recycling.
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