Jimmy Burns - Editor Mike Bates - Production - Battersea Park

The Battersea Society’s chairman
Tony Tuck revives memories
of the Lido project that slipped
away during the Second World
War…
THE Second World War changed many
things, nowhere more so than in Battersea
Park and its surroundings.The Geman
bombing campaign not only cleared
urban sites for redevelopment, but sadly
thwarted the aspiration of more local
planners.
One ‘nearly’ project was the Battersea
Park Lido. Planned for in 1937, deferred
in 1939, replaced in 1940 with anti-aircraft
gun emplacements and allotments
as part of the “Dig for Britain Campaign”
, only to be quietly forgotten in
1945 and abandoned without a single
sod being turned.
My appetite has been whetted to track
down the lost Lido of Battersea by a
most delightful and remarkable book
published in 2005 and recently re-printed
by a local author, Janet Smith called
“Liquid Assets – the lidos and open air
swimming pools of Britain”.The book
is the third in a series by English Heritage
called “Played in Britain” which
will focus on the architectural heritage
of British sport – on the pavilions and
clubhouses, the grandstands and swimming
pools that form an integral part of
the British landscape. More titles are in
the pipeline (see www.playedinbritain.
co.uk)
This enchanting book charts the history
of the lido from its earliest origins
in the Peerless Pool in Old Street, Fins-
MEMORY LANE
Tony Tuck
bury developed by a jeweller,
William Kemp, in 1743. This
was the first formalised public
outdoor swimming pool
built in Britain since the Romans
left in the fifth century.
Thereafter there is charted a
survey of British lidos, including
a planned floating
lido designed by Alex Lifschutz
in 1998,which was to
be moored off the South Bank
Though this never left the
drawing board, the French do
have one moored in the river
Seine opposite the Bibliotetheque
Nationale, complete
with a retractable roof.
But the ‘nearly’ Battersea Lido had
its origins in a more prosaic set of circumstances.
The former London County
Council (LCC) made its first foray into
a purpose built outdoor swimming pool
in 1906 when Wandsworth Council persuaded
the LCC to release land in Tooting
for an outdoor pool – and to get the
LCC to pay £200 a year towards running
costs. The pool was then built as part of
a scheme to provide work for local unemployed
men.
After the First World War a scatter of
outdoor pools were constructed around
London, sometimes built by unemployed
men and funded by the then
Ministry of Labour, but more often by
local agreements, where the LCC shared
running costs, but the local authority
paid for construction. At a time when
many homes lacked bathrooms and few
workers had ‘leisure time and proper
paid holidays, these open air pools were
hugely popular.
By 1931 the LCC had embarked on a
new major programme of architect designed
pools. Two LCC architects, Harry
Arnold Rowbotham and T L Smithson,
designed a series of ‘designer pools’ in
fully enclosed brick compounds with
purpose built changing rooms, first aid
facilities and integrated water filtration
systems. The style of the buildings was
very distinctive. Janet Smith describes
16
it as being “…hard to place stylistically
– being only faintly Art
Deco, yet patently Modernist in
character – and certainly never
copied anywhere outside London.”
But in July 1937 a major change in
LCC policies took place. Rather than try
to negotiate with often reluctant local
authorities to co-finance and build new
pools (some things remain constant!)
the LCC took over the entire process of
design, construction and management itself.
Not only that, but the then Leader
of the LCC, Herbert Morrison, pledged
that in future no Londoner would have
to walk further that a mile and a half
to their nearest Lido. London, he said,
would become a “City of Lidos”.
The Plan in 1937 was to build five Lidos
at Parliament Hill, Charlton, Ladywell,
Clissold Park and Battersea Park. Only
the first two were ever built. The other
three, including Battersea Park, never
left the drawing board – though the estimated
capital cost for Battersea Park
Lido had jumped from £15,000 in 1935
to £40,000 by 1937.
After the war the immediate priority for
scarce building material was for homes,
hospitals, and reconstruction. By 1951
the Festival of Britain had taken over
much of Battersea Park and the ‘nearly
Lido’ slipped from view.
Janet Smith whose book charts the fortunes
of all the real Lido’s has expressed
an interest in joining with me in seeing
if the LCC archives contain any residual
hints of what might have been in Battersea
Park. We shall see….. – hopefully, to
be continued.
All the material in this piece was drawn
from “Liquid Assets – The lidos and
open air swimming pools of Britain” by
Janet Smith and published by English
Heritage 2007
The Friends are always interested to
hear from past Park users; if you have
old photographs, post cards, or just good
memories of times in the Park please do
contact us.
The Editor,
Friends Review
51 Brynmaer Road,
London, SW11 4EN
or email review@batterseapark.org