That’s such a useful publication: a well-researched guide to open-air swimming pools in the UK and Channel Islands. It contains a long list of lidos with some practical information about them, like addresses, website, contact details, short description of the pool and a couple of photos. In the introduction, we read that the majority of the open-air pools are community run by groups of volunteers who have often saved the pools from closure. We’re encouraged to visit the lidos on rainy and windy days, too (sounds adventurous!). There is even a short extract on the pronunciation of the word ‘lido’ (is it lee-doh or ly-doh?), as well as a mention of the historic pools of Britain. What personally surprised me was that Wales only has one open-air pool?!
As a swimming enthusiast myself, I also want to include here a short list of the lidos I have visited:
Bristol Lido
Clevedon Marine Lake
Portishead Open Air Pool
Weston Marine Lake (visited in August 2022)
The Rock Pool, Westward Ho!
Chagford Swimming Pool
Shoalstone Seawater Pool, Brixham (visited in June 2023)
Bude Sea Pool
Jubilee Pool, Penzance
But, with this lovely catalogue of different lidos, I feel well-equipped to explore more open waters.
Lastly, I want to mention that the marine lake in Weston-super-Mare is being currently refurbished (June 2021), so I am hoping to go there for a splash in summer 2022 (yes, it was re-opened in 2022)!
Do you have any favourite lido(s)? Please let me know in the comments below.
