Hilsea Lido | |
---|---|
50°50′11″N1°04′31″W / 50.836269°N 1.075255°W | |
Location | Hilsea Lido, London Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO2 9RP |
Opened | 1935 |
Closed | 2008-2014, 2024-25 |
Operated by | To be confirmed |
Owned by | Portsmouth City Council |
Type | open-air, freshwater |
Length | 67 metres (220 ft) |
Width | 18 metres (59 ft) |
Depth | 4.6 metres (15 ft) |
Website | Official website |
Hilsea Lido is a freshwater lido at Hilsea, Portsmouth, England, which opened in 1935. Portsmouth City Council is currently renovating Hilsea Lido [1] as part of the Hilsea Lines project in the north of the city.
The aim of this project is to improve the area and encourage residents and visitors to use it. The project has been enabled by funding from the UK government [2] .
The Hilsea Lido is a leisure facility featuring the Main Pool (measuring 67m x 18m – 4.6m deep). At 4.6 metres (15 feet) deep, the lido has the distinction of being the deepest outdoor pool in the UK apart from Broomhill Pool which is the same depth.
A large Splash Pool (45m x 18m x 6ins deep) designed for younger swimmers used to be adjacent to the Main Pool. This has now been replaced by the Hilsea Jubilee Splash Pool.
The site of the lido is connected to Alexandra Park via the Stamshaw Esplanade. [3]
Plans for development of the lido were agreed in 1932 [4] and the lido opened on 24 July 1935. [5] The architect for the lido was Joseph Parkin. [6] The pool originally used seawater, converting later to freshwater, and the lido design included two large fountains which have been retained but are no longer used. [7] [8] The Main Pool and changing facilities were designed for the use of 768 adults and 180 children with accommodation for around 1000 spectators. In 1936 the Lido was visited by the British diving team from 1936 Summer Olympics who gave a demonstration on 31 August [9] During World War 2 the main pool was closed to the general public and was given over to the use of the various military units in the area. [10] Between 1946 and 1951 a miniature railway ran along the lido site. [11] In 1974 the Lido was used as a set for the Bernie's Holiday Camp scene in the film Tommy. [12] Later in the 70s the lido's diving platforms were removed. [13] In 1995 the Lido lent its name to the Vulcan Software management simulation game Hillsea Lido. [14]
In 2006 plans for refurbishing the lido were abandoned by the council, [15] however extended campaigning by residents continued [16] and in 2009 a management trust had been established, now a registered charity. In 2010 Hilsea Lido Pool for the People acquired the lido and adjoining Blue Lagoon building on a 99-year lease Portsmouth City Council. [17] The lido was open for viewing on 19 September 2009 for the Heritage Open Days. [18] [19]
In June 2012 Sport England gave Hilsea lido Pool for the people a £50,000 grant towards the cost of restoring the pool. [20] The money was used to refurbish the pool's pumps and fit new lockers and showers. [6]
In the winter of 2010/11 the splash pool was damaged by freezing conditions. [21] In April 2011 Portsmouth City Council decided to replace the pool with a new design featuring two pools. [21] The new design was named the Hilsea Jubilee Splash Pool and was completed in 2012 at a cost of £332,000. [6]
The lido reopened in July 2014. [22] In 2015 a new 2 metre diving platform was added to the lido. [13]
Historic England issued a Certificate of Immunity from Listing in May 2024, guaranteeing that the building would not be statutorily listed within the next five years. [23]
The Hilsea Lines are a line of 18th- and 19th-century fortifications built at Hilsea to protect the northern approach to Portsea Island, an island off the southern coast of England which forms the majority of the city of Portsmouth and its key naval base. They are now used as a greenspace and leisure area, also known locally as Foxes Forest.
Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District National Park. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 4,114, increasing at the 2021 census to 4,279. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the town became administered as an urban district in 1894. Though the town remains part of the Duchy of Lancaster, since 2023 it has been administered as part of the Westmorland and Furness Council area.
North End is a district in the city of Portsmouth, located on Portsea Island in Hampshire. The area developed rapidly as a part of the city after a horse-drawn tram route was opened between Portsmouth and Cosham. The area is mainly residential, being composed of mainly late Victorian to early 20th-century buildings.
Jesus Green Swimming Pool is a lido situated on Jesus Green in Cambridge, England. Opened in 1923, it is one of the few remaining examples of the lidos built across the country in the 1920s — open air pools with space for activities other than swimming. Unusually, the pool is significantly longer than it is wide — this was a design idea to mimic swimming in the nearby river. It opens for public bathing every day from May to September each year, and remains open but operates reduced hours over the winter period.
Hilsea is a district of the city of Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire. Hilsea is home to one of Portsmouth's main sports and leisure facilities – the Mountbatten centre. Trafalgar School is also in Hilsea. It is also the home of Portsmouth rugby football club
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.
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.
Tinside Lido is a 1935 Art Deco lido in the city of Plymouth in south-west England. It is sited beside Plymouth Sound and is overlooked by Plymouth Hoe and Smeaton's Tower. The lido is open in the summer months between May and September.
The Nelson Monument, 120 feet (37 m) tall on a granite base, stands on Portsdown Hill about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Portsmouth Harbour on the south coast of England. It was the eventual outcome of a movement started during Horatio Nelson's lifetime to "perpetuate the glorious victories of the British Navy". By 1799 Nelson's prize agent Alexander Davison was able to use the Nelson name to spearhead a campaign to honour "Britain's naval glory and pre-eminence". It was, however, Nelson's death at Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, that galvanized the campaign.
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.
The Lido in the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire was first opened as the Corporation Swimming Pool in 1936 by the Mayor of Peterborough Arthur Mellows, and is one of the few survivors of its type still in use in the United Kingdom. A striking building with elements of art deco design, the Lido and surrounding gardens cover an area of roughly two and a half acres, lying adjacent to the embankment of the River Nene, south of the city centre. Designed in the "hacienda style", it is considered one of the finest surviving examples in England.
Broomhill Pool is a Grade II listed lido on Sherrington Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, England.
Saltdean Lido at Saltdean Park Road, Saltdean, in the city of Brighton and Hove, in the ceremonial county of East Sussex, England, is an Art Deco lido designed by architect R.W.H. Jones. Originally listed at Grade II by English Heritage for its architectural and historical importance, its status was upgraded further to "Grade II*" on 18 March 2011.
Parliament Hill Lido, located in Hampstead Heath, north London, is next to Gospel Oak railway station. The lido, also known as Hampstead Heath Lido, is a public unheated open air swimming pool, open for 12 months a year. It first opened in 1938.
Alexandra Park, Portsmouth, was opened in 1907 and was a place of recreation for the people of Portsea Island. It provided lawns, flowers beds, paths and seats; it was an area to escape the toils of inner city life in the early twentieth century. The park was named after Queen Alexandra. At the time of the parks opening the site was already home to a bicycle track.
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.
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.
Elizabeth Joyce Slade was a British diver. She competed in the women's 3 metre springboard event at the 1936 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal in the 3m women's springboard event at the 1938 European Aquatics Championships.
Donna Jones is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner since 2021.
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(help)CAMPAIGNERS have been told to give up hope in their battle to save the Hilsea Lido and accept that the once-popular outdoor pool will have to close. The message came from city councillors as the future of the 71-year-old lido was debated again at a meeting... Former Labour leader Cllr Leo Madden said: 'We have got to admit that it is dead. We need to be honest with the public and not pretend that somebody is going to walk in and save it.'