Brief history
The Lido was originally built in the 1930s and the building features an art-deco style interior. The pool itself was filled with diluted brine, pumped from brine streams beneath the town. The salt in the water was strong enough to keep the water in the pool aseptic, without the need for additional chemicals such as chlorine.
Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt in water. In different contexts, brine may refer to salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% up to about 26%. Lower levels of concentration are called by different names: fresh water, brackish water, and saline water.
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in its natural form as a crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantities in seawater, where it is the main mineral constituent. The open ocean has about 35 grams (1.2 oz) of solids per liter of sea water, a salinity of 3.5%.
Asepsis is the state of being free from disease-causing micro-organisms. The term often refers to those practices used to promote or induce asepsis in an operative field of surgery or medicine to prevent infection.
When the lido opened, it was marketed as the 'seaside come to Droitwich Spa', and the pool was heated to exactly the same temperature as the Mediterranean Sea.
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is the area where land meets the sea or ocean, or a line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the coastline paradox.
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa and on the east by the Levant. Although the sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is usually referred to as a separate body of water. Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago.
During the Second World War, the lido was closed, and its offices used by the military.
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 70 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.
Resurrection
The lido continued to be a popular tourist attraction. Even after its closure at the end of the 1990s, people still travelled for miles just to see the once-popular pool.
In late 2004, Wychavon District Council voted against the re-opening of the lido, which sparked a local campaign group to form, with the sole aim of seeing the lido restored. Called "Save a Lido Today" (SALT), the group put pressure on the various councils and even went so far as to provide a business plan.
Wychavon is a local government district in Worcestershire, England. Its council is based in the town of Pershore, and the other towns in the district are Droitwich Spa and Evesham. The district extends from the south-east corner of Worcestershire north and west. It borders all the other districts of Worcestershire, as well as the counties of Gloucestershire and Warwickshire.
In April 2005, the people of Droitwich Spa held a parish poll in which 98% of the people who voted were in favour of restoring the Lido. Following this, SALT continued to work with the District and Town councils to restore the Lido to a working condition.
An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a poll or a survey, is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals.
In the summer of 2007, the Lido reopened. One of the schools in Droitwich, Westacre Middle School, was the first to be able to go into the pool. Although the diving area has been filled-in to lower the water heating costs, the original 1930s fascia was left intact and the water still uses the salt that is the reason for the existence of Droitwich Spa itself.
Brockwell Lido is a large lido in Brockwell Park, Herne Hill, London. It opened in July 1937, closed in 1990 and after a local campaign was re-opened in 1994. Two ex council employees Paddy and Casey took on the running of the Lido for the community. Lambeth council gave Paddy & Casey a peppercorn lease rate from 1994–2001. Lambeth gave them a one-year extension in 2002 whilst a public consultation was held to decide on the longer term sustainable future of the Lido.
Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish located on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England. Travelling by road, Grange Over Sands is 13.1 miles (21.1 km) to the south of Kendal, 14.9 miles (24.0 km) to the east of Ulverston, 25 miles (40 km) to the east of Barrow-in-Furness and 28.1 miles (45.2 km) to the west of Lancaster. Historically part of Lancashire, the town was created as an urban district in 1894. Since 1974, following local government re-organisation, the town has been administered as part of the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, though it remains part of the Duchy of Lancaster. It had a population of 4,114 at the 2011 Census.
The Droitwich Canal is a synthesis of two canals in Worcestershire, England; the Droitwich Barge Canal and the Droitwich Junction Canal. The Barge Canal is a broad canal which opened in 1771 linking Droitwich Spa to the River Severn at Hawford Mill, Claines. The Droitwich Junction Canal is a narrow canal, opened in 1854, which linked Droitwich to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. Both were built to carry salt, and were abandoned in 1939. They have been the subject of a restoration plan since 1973, and the Barge Canal was officially reopened in 2010, while the Junction Canal reopened in July 2011. Following the opening of the canal, ownership transferred to the newly created Canal and River Trust
Salt, also referred to as table salt or by its chemical formula NaCl, is an ionic compound made of sodium and chloride ions. All life has evolved to depend on its chemical properties to survive. It has been used by humans for thousands of years, from food preservation to seasoning. Salt's ability to preserve food was a founding contributor to the development of civilization. It helped to eliminate dependence on seasonal availability of food, and made it possible to transport food over large distances. However, salt was often difficult to obtain, so it was a highly valued trade item, and was considered a form of currency by certain peoples. Many salt roads, such as the via Salaria in Italy, had been established by the Bronze age.
Zigong, formed by the merger of the two former towns of Ziliujing (Tzuliuching) and Gongjing (Kungching), is a prefecture-level city and the third largest city in Sichuan, China.
Lister Park is a picturesque public park in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, between Manningham, Heaton and Frizinghall. It has won various national awards.
Bad Sooden-Allendorf is a town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in Hesse, Germany.
Open-pan salt making is a method of salt production wherein salt is extracted from brine using vacuum pans. The brine is heated in a partial vacuum to lower the boiling point. In the past salt has been extracted by heating the brine in pans operating at normal atmospheric pressure, known as open pans.
King's Meadow swimming pool or Thames Lido is an open-air swimming pool or lido located in King's Meadow in Reading, Berkshire. It was first opened to the public in 1903 as the Ladies Swimming Bath and is believed to be the oldest surviving outdoor municipal pool of a similar early Edwardian era. In August 2004, as a result of a campaign, the building was awarded Grade II listed building status. It re-opened in 2017 after three years of restoration.
Teignmouth Lido is an open-air heated public lido at Eastcliff Walk, Teignmouth, Devon, England.
The Banbury Lido or Woodgreen Lido at Woodgreen Leisure Centre, Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX16 0AT, is an open air lido.
Hilsea Lido is a fresh water lido at Hilsea, Portsmouth, England. The lido was for a number of years closed but reopened undergoing refurbishment under the control of Hilsea Lido Pool for the People.
Pells Pool is a public outdoor swimming baths or lido in Lewes, East Sussex, England. The original structure was built in 1860 making it the oldest freshwater outdoor public swimming baths in the United Kingdom that is still operating.
Stonehaven Open Air Swimming Pool, Queen Elizabeth Park, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, is an Olympic sized heated open air public pool opened in 1934. It is the northernmost lido in the UK.
The golden age of lidos in the United Kingdom was in the 1930s, when outdoor swimming became popular, and 169 were built across the UK as recreational facilities by local councils. Many lidos closed when foreign holidays became less expensive, but those that remain have a dedicated following.
Highfields Park is Grade II listed park providing 121 acres (49 ha) of public space, in the west of Nottingham, England. It is owned and maintained by Nottingham City Council. It located alongside University Boulevard, adjoining the University of Nottingham's University Park campus. Due to its proximity to the university campus to the north, Highfields Park appears to be a part of the campus itself and therefore many refer to the whole area as University Park. There are historical ties between the park and the campus. The park contains a boating lake, complete with boats to hire throughout the summer months. The cascade and the stepping stones at the western end are Grade II listed. To the south of the lake the Tottle Brook, a tributary of the River Trent, flows on the surface, this brook is culverted for much of its length. At the eastern end there are children's play facilities and a pavilion with a cafe.
Bad Salzelmen has been a district of Schönebeck (Elbe) since 1932 and is a state-approved spa in the Salzlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was founded in 1894 when the towns of Groß Salze and Elmen merged to form the town of Groß Salze. The town of Groß Salze was renamed Bad Salzelmen in 1926.
Grange Lido is an open-air 50 m sea-water swimming pool, or lido, in Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, England. It opened in 1932 and closed in 1993, but campaigners are working to see it re-opened as a swimming pool. The lido is in Art Deco style, and is grade II listed.
