Sandford Parks Lido
By Deborah, People’s Pool Founder
Where: Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
The pool: 50m, heated, seasonal
The first time I visited Sandford Parks Lido was on a chilly, grey, June day and it was the last stop of a two-day, five-lido research trip. My head was stuffed with new lido knowledge, and my body was stiff from driving. But as I pulled into the car park, the sun broke through the clouds, and as I walked through the 1930s iron turnstiles, I actually gasped.
Sandford Parks is a breathtakingly beautiful lido, set in elegantly landscaped and lovingly maintained grounds. At the head of the magnificent 50m pool is a classic fountain, and the café and covered terraces curve around its far end. There are flower borders, lawns for sunbathing, and a populr children’s play pool sits off to one side, separated from the main pool by well-manicured hedges. The fact that the pool, buildings and gardens were all designed as a unified whole gives it a harmonious quality that’s both soothing and uplifting.
As a spa town, Cheltenham has a long tradition of bathing, so it’s no surprise that it should have one of our loveliest lidos, but its creation was a controversial decision in the depths of the Depression in 1927.
The Council’s decision was swung by a Mr Waite, who argued, “if, as I hope, the members of this council will keep uppermost in their minds the needs of our people from a health point of view, the urgent necessity of greater provision being granted to the rising generation for the exercise of swimming, and the increasing vogue for the joyous freedom of open air bathing, which we all now realise is no ‘flash in the pan’, then I feel sure that there can be no two opinions on the wisdom of this scheme. This town should make its proper contribution to an urgent national need which is to raise the standard of health and physique of its people.”
The Lido was designed by the Borough Engineer, Gould Marsland, and had its grand opening on 25th May, 1935. Special trains and buses brought people from all over the country, and as the Mayor of Cheltenham declared the pool open, the Mayoress pressed a button which activated the fountain and gave the cue for displays of swimming, diving and water polo and a swimwear fashion show. Remarkably, the pool was heated from the beginning: a very unusual feature for lidos of the time.
In a familiar tale, the local community has had to fight for the Lido’s survival over the years. In the 1980s and 1990s it was very much at risk, but a tide of local support, a Save Our Lido campaign, and the birth of a new charitable trust made sure it never closed. The Lido had a major refurbishment in 2006/7 and the Trust continues to invest in maintaining and upgrading the pool and surrounds.
I’ve visited three times now – to clear my head after an intensive study trip, to cool off with colleagues after a day in a sweltering room for the National Lido Conference, and to break up a punishing drive from Cornwall to Liverpool - and each time found it wonderfully refreshing and recharging.
