Swimming pools & swimmers

Midland Red, Believe it's just been bought, have to wait and see. I use Newhaven Pool. They have made a great job of refurbishing Seaford Library.

Not to mention the Blue Ringed Octopus

No Kaga, unless someone has come up with a fountain of youth. I would be splashing in there with or without a bikini top.

Beautiful but deadly, they must be all female Dutchman. Seriously though, I have never seen one only in our local Marine park. Found to be in the Indian and Pacific oceans. They have 'stingers' up in far north Queensland - where my son lives and that's the only reason that prevents him from going in the sea at that particuar season.

My mother's parents (family name of Hutchinson) moved to Coventry in the mid 1920's. Originally they came from the Aston area of Birmingham. I think they may have moved to Coventry because of Mom's aunt Fanny Horseman (nee Carter, later Fulljames). They established a grocery business in Walsgrave Rd (corner of Marlborough Rd). They eventually sold up in about 1960 and retired to Kings Lynn. Mom lived there until she married in 1942. Mom became a very keen swimmer and diver during the 1930's. The attached photos I think would have been taken at the Gosford public baths just down the road from home?

Demolition of Foleshill Leisure Centre could leave taxpayers £360k out of pocket

1950 so where did you all go?

I think Kaga, clicking page one of this very topic will answer that question for you

TonyS. Yeh Yeh, heard it all before, I learnt to swim in the canal among the dead dogs etc so swimming pools became a luxury, as I posted before my first trunks were knitted, so I had that embarrassment as well, never gained any certificate of any kind, I did do five lengths just after that photo was taken, by the late fifties there were a group of us had competitions on swimming two lengths or more of the Gosford under water, all true all fact, all part of a mad crowd. Putting that aside, of course it was cold for kids to learn to swim, there was no heating system, but hey you wouldn't have so many memories of those days if it had been a sauna. 'I can hear what you say' Regards Kaga.

Over eight years I spent a lot of time at the Gosford, I must have seen hundreds of people turn up for a swim and found it too cold, but it had another side, many people found it a quiet haven in the city, just to sit and read in the sunshine, a number of young people brought books and did their homework in the quiet of the poolside, one guy in particular was Alf Tye (Cov Waterpolo captain) who one summer spent a huge amount of time at the pool, 'swatting' for his finals, before joining the Aussie Air Force. I too spent a lot of time at study (gambling). The diving boards were fixed on scaffold poles, many of us used them for 'chinning' doing planches etc. that helped our fitness, as well as for diving, and of course it was a good place for 'dating'. One time three guys swam from the middle of the pool to the shallow end, placed hands on the side of the pool, and gently lifted themselves out of the water into handstands, took their left hand away, stretched it sideways, all in perfect rhythm and balance replaced the left hand, and returned upright. They were a strongman balancing act and was appearing at the Hippodrome. Believe 'Trois de milles' or some such name.

As a young child I was often taken to Gosford pool, where I learnt to swim. I never ventured into the deep end but was told it was 20' deep by the diving board, was this correct. Also did water run down the slide? Your lovely black and white photograph brought back these memories and questions.

Coventry49, I have no idea what the official depth was, but I doubt it as the highest board was only 3m, I touched the bottom a couple times, but felt I was in danger of bursting my eardrums, as I once did at the 'Livi'. I am sure I could not dive that deep. I understood it to be 10'.

Kaga, you burst your eardrums at Livi? The main pool was only six feet deep. I didn't realise that sort of damage could be done in such shallow water.