As pools slowly re-open it seems a poignant time for reflecting on the history of Brockwell Lido and the future of swimming pools in general. Recent research from Swim England has shown almost a quarter of public pools across the country still remain shut, nearly a month after they were given the green light to reopen.

New insight from the recognised national governing body reveals that while 767 of the 1,002 public accessible pools have reopened in some form, or have published an imminent reopening date, 223 remain indefinitely closed. The majority (193) still have no confirmed date for when they will open again, 25 are shut for maintenance work, while 15 have been mothballed or confirmed as permanently closed. It has led to Swim England chief executive Jane Nickerson to reiterate her plea to the Government for more financial support to help struggling facilities reopen doors as part of the #SaveLeisure campaign.

It is ironic that it was because of health concerns that many public pools were built, and it is now health concerns that threaten their future. Brockwell Lido was built because of the filthy water conditions of the park’s pond that was being over-used by an ever increasing local population wanting to bathe.

Brockwell Lido was then opened in 1937 and has been serving the local community ever since with only two periods of closure 1990 to 1994, and 2001 to 2007. The complex was built by the London County Council’s Parks Department (later the GLC and now the GLA) and designed in the ‘Moderne’ style, almost identical to the Victoria Park Lido in Hackney which was demolished in 1990 to make way for a car park, the same fate Brockwell Lido narrowly avoided.

These were part of a programme to build over 20 open air pools around London in the 1930s to improve the health of the capital. Sadly building stopped at the outbreak of war when money was needed elsewhere.

Another similar example to Brockwell is Parliament Hill Lido opened in 1932, which is still thankfully open today. For many years both pools were used alternately for the annual South and North London swimming club tournaments, this was when both pools were much deeper and included diving boards. These tournaments eventually moved to the indoor pool at Crystal Palace

Recently the country had seen a renaissance in our love of Lidos with many plans for renovation, such as the Grange over Sands Lido in Cumbria. Let’s hope this current health crisis does not reverse this trend.