Woodgreen Lido, Banbury
By Deborah, People’s Pool Founder
Where: Banbury, Oxfordshire
The pool: 50m, heated, seasonal
This is where it all began for me. I did my swimming badges here aged 7 or 8, in unheated water, in a group taught by a terrifying little Scotswoman, Mrs Harris, who I remember always being very well wrapped up in slacks, jumper and anorak.
Banbury Outdoor, as we knew it then, was our hangout of choice as kids and as teenagers. As well handstand competitions, flirting, bombing and other things patrons should kindly refrain from, I remember red liquorice laces, packets of Discos, and being bitten by ants.
The pool originally opened on 23rd May, 1939, and it had record attendances on its 60th birthday weekend in 1999. But with maintenance problems mounting, it closed in 2002.
In 2005, thanks to a vigorous local campaign including a 10,000-signature petition and a 300-strong demo outside the pool, the Council were persuaded to reconsider, and in 2009 it reopened with a Leisure Centre alongside.
Banbury’s a big, 50m pool. It’s heated now, which makes for an altogether more relaxed experience than in the Mrs Harris days. It’s got a big flume, and although there seems to be less in the way of sweets and crisps than I remember, the café does chip butties. I come each summer, whenever I visit family - the summer it reopened, my sister and I came late on a grey afternoon and got the whole pool to ourselves.
Summer 2020 was different, of course. Desperate for my first lido swim of the year, I sped down from Liverpool, changed into my cozzie in the loos at Warwick services, and felt my spirits soar at the first sight of the pool. As I slid into the water, there was a clap of thunder, the blow of a lifeguard’s whistle, and a cry of ‘everyone out of the water, please!’. Didn’t even get my hair wet. Mercifully I managed to book an evening slot the next day, and had a wonderful, floodlit, sunset swim.
