Peterborough Lido

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Peterborough Lido
The Lido, Peterborough - geograph.org.uk - 384926.jpg
Peterborough Lido
General information
Type Open air swimming pool
Architectural style Art Deco
AddressBishops Road, TL1 9NE
Town or city Peterborough
Country England
Coordinates 52°34′12″N0°14′19″W / 52.5700°N 0.2387°W / 52.5700; -0.2387
Opened25 May 1936 [1]
Website
Official website
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameThe Lido
Designated27 July 1992
Reference no.1126896

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 (1 hectare), lying adjacent to the embankment of the River Nene, south of the city centre. [2] Designed in the "hacienda style", it is considered one of the finest surviving examples in England.

Contents

Facilities

The land on which the swimming pool is situated was purchased by the corporation from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1927.

The main pool is 8 feet 10 inches (2.69 m) deep at the deep end sloping to 2 feet 11 inches (0.89 m) at the shallow end and holds 500,000 gallons (2,273 m³) of water. The site, which also includes two other heated outdoor pools (learner and paddling), a large sunbathing lawn, balcony and refreshment area was designated a Grade II listed building in 1992. It is open to the public from late May to early September, closing during periods of inclement weather. [3]

Peterborough Sub-Aqua Club are official tenants of the Lido, renting some of the rooms beneath the clock tower.

In 2016, the Lido erected a silhouette of Walter Cornelius as a weathercock on the swimming pool's weather vane. [4]

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Walter Cornelius was a Latvian strongman, stuntman and philanthropist who escaped the Iron Curtain and settled in Peterborough, England, where he gained notoriety by taking part in a range of bizarre stunts.

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References

Footnotes

  1. Historic England. "The Lido (1126896)". National Heritage List for England .
  2. Brandon, David and Knight, John Peterborough Past: The City and The Soke (pp.111-112) Phillimore & Co., Chichester, 2001
  3. The Lido: outdoor swimming pool Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 12 May 2009
  4. "Walter Cornelius: Life of daredevil 'birdman' remembered". BBC News . 11 October 2018.

Bibliography