Finchley Lido is a leisure complex at grid reference TQ266911 , just east of the suburb of North Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet.
Currently there is a swimming pool and leisure centre, cinema, several food restaurants, bowling facilities and large number of car parking spaces. Finchley Lido is extremely popular with the local population of Finchley at weekends, as it is one of the only cinema complexes in this area of North London.
The Finchley Open Air Pool was designed by P T Harrison, from Finchley Borough Council. The main heated pool opened on 17 September 1931 and stayed open until 11 November. The following year it was officially opened on 26 March, and on 22 April 1932 the Duke of York (to become King George VI) unveiled a ceremonial wall tablet made of Staffordshire marble, which can be seen to this date. This tablet can now be seen on display behind the counter of Nando's restaurant, which was built around the original site.
The main heated pool measured 165 ft (50 m) × 80 ft, depth ft 3 ins to 10 ft (3.0 m), with two fountains. This pool contained at most 456,250 gallons (1,727,094 litres) and had a diving stage of a similar design to Barking Lido, containing a two-stage platform. Finchley Lido was the first swimming pool to introduce gay nudist days and events; this was a pilot scheme which later introduced trials in Manchester [1] and other boroughs in London.
The whole site occupied 7 acres (28,000 m2), and there was a car park, with its own uniformed attendant (paid the equivalent of £3 per week in 1932). The main building also possessed a burglar alarm from 1932. [2] The car park was enlarged in 2004 when the original cinema on the north side of the site was demolished following large-scale flooding.
On 11 July 1971, the Lido had 11,962 visitors, which remains the record highest attendance in one day for a UK lido. [3]
The original 1930s outdoor pool, which no longer exists, was enclosed by an elegant colonnade of Roman Doric columns, with fountains to either side and was used to host the men's preliminaries to the water polo competition for the 1948 Summer Olympics. [4]
The original site with its main pool and children's pool was closed in 1992.
North Finchley is a suburb of London in the London Borough of Barnet, situated 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Charing Cross.
Tooting Bec Lido is an open-air fresh water swimming pool in South London. It is the largest fresh water swimming pool by surface area in the United Kingdom, being 100 yd (91.4 m) long and 33 yd (30.2 m) wide.
The O2 Centre is an indoor shopping and entertainment centre that is open for around 18 hours per day located on Finchley Road in North West London, near Hampstead, England.
Whipps Cross is an area of the districts of Leytonstone and Walthamstow in the London Borough of Waltham Forest in London, England. It is most famous for Whipps Cross University Hospital.
Ruislip Lido is a reservoir and artificial beach in Ruislip, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, situated between Ruislip Common, Ruislip Woods, and Poor's Field.
Sandford Parks Lido is a Grade II Listed heated outdoor swimming pool in Cheltenham, England. The lido consists of a 50-metre main pool, a children's pool, and paddling pool. The main pool is heated to 24-26 °C and children's pool to 30 °C. The lido is open from March until October each year for the summer season (heated) and has been open from early November until early February over the winter for cold water swimming since 2021.
Hampton Pool is a heated open air pool or lido in Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is unusual for being open 365 days of the year. It is currently managed by YMCA St Paul’s Group.
The Colonnades Leisure Park or Croydon Colonnades is an out-of-town leisure park located in the Purley Way retail and industrial district of the London Borough of Croydon, South London. It opened in the late 1990s on the former site of the Croydon Water Palace, an indoor water park complex that operated from 1990 to 1996. It lies alongside the Purley Way Playing Fields, and opposite the former Croydon Airport site.
Valley Retail and Leisure Park is a retail park in the Purley Way retail and industrial area in Croydon, England. It is located near the Broad Green and Waddon areas of the London Borough of Croydon. Valley Park was opened in 1992 on the site of the former Croydon power stations, the first of which was built in the late nineteenth century. Croydon B power station was closed in 1984 and the majority of the site cleared in 1991. However the local council ordered the station's landmark chimneys be retained, which almost put IKEA off the site, but a compromise was made that IKEA could paint the top skirt of the tower in their colours.
The Thames Lido, formerly known as the King's Meadow swimming pool, 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.
Guildford Lido is a public, open-air swimming pool in Guildford, Surrey, England. In Stoke Park, to the north of the town centre, it is surrounded by 1.8 ha of landscaped grounds. The lido attracts around 90,000 visits each year. It is owned by Guildford Borough Council and has been run by Freedom Leisure since 2011.
Tonbridge Swimming Pool is a swimming pool in Tonbridge, Kent. It has an indoor teaching and toddler pool, plus a fitness pool joined to a heated outdoor pool or lido linked by a swim-through channel.
Oasis Sports Centre is a leisure centre in Holborn, London, operated by Greenwich Leisure Limited on behalf of the London Borough of Camden.
The Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex is a leisure centre in Uxbridge, operated by Fusion Lifestyle on behalf of the London Borough of Hillingdon. The complex is centred on the Grade II listed outdoor swimming pool, known as Uxbridge Lido until 2010, when the newly built centre and refurbished pool were opened. A new indoor pool was built beside the lido as part of the redevelopment works, opening in February 2010, followed a day later by the outdoor pool.
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. The name Lido originated from the Lido di Venezia.
Pools on the Park is a Grade II listed swimming pool and leisure facility in Old Deer Park in Richmond, London. Construction on the 6.5-acre (2.6 ha) site started in 1964 and was completed in 1966; the architect was Leslie Gooday. The pool replaced the previous Richmond baths nearby which had been built in Parkshot in 1882.
Teddington Pools and Fitness Centre is a public swimming pool and fitness centre owned and operated by the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames located in Vicarage Road, off the A313, in Teddington.
Charlton Lido is a swimming pool and leisure centre in Hornfair Park, Charlton, southeast London.
Ilkley Lido is an open-air swimming pool in the West Yorkshire, England, spa town of Ilkley, part of a complex that also includes an indoor heated swimming pool, tennis courts and cafe. It was designed by Archibald (Archie) Skinner and opened in May 1935 as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations for King George V. It is open from May to September and during the summer can attract up to 4,000 visitors a day. Ilkley Lido is designated Grade II listed status.
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