Swimming pools - are there any more lost oases in SE1?

At our social gathering on the 20th, several of us were chatting about what will happen now that Shell have their planning permission to demolish their basement pool in the shell centre.

I mentioned that I was sure that there was a pool near Tower Bridge Road with minimal public access. I've now confirmed that it belongs to the Downside Fisher youth club and is used by Tower Dive School most weekends.

Q Are there other pools (or disused pools) out there - in gyms, clubs, office basements?

Q Any views on whether Doon Street in the Coin Street development is the best location for a community swimming pool?


Here's my earlier post
(stranded on the Retail around London Bridge - the future thread!)
Author: Lang Rabbie
Date: 15 Mar 04 18:40

Coin Street Community Builders are supposedly planning a 25m pool as part of their Doon Street sports centre project, although it all seems to have gone very quiet on this project.

If the Shell Centre retail development ever gets a go-ahead, it is possible that this could contribute c£1m planning gain towards the costs of the new pool - as Shell's plans involve demolishing the little known 8 lane pool in the basement of the Shell Centre (the only people I know who have used it were members of the Metropolitan Police Sports Club. There was reputedly also a rifle range, theatre and cinema - not sure if all still in use!).

Many people question whether this will genuinely benefit the population of SE1 as a whole or just the employees of the South Banks Employers Group who dominate the regeneration agenda.

London Nautical School also supposedly had plans for a swimming pool as part of their redevelopment.

Meanwhile, Southwark's plans for a replacement for the former Elephant and Castle leisure centre remain unclear. They are currently proposing a new secondary school on the current leisure centre site as part of the wider E+C masterplan, but there is no confirmed leisure centre location. Are they planning to do things on the cheap by contributing to the Doon Street project, or do they hope to get a leisure centre combined with the school's sports facilities?

It's not a good location to get to for most people living east of Borough High St/Newington Causeway.

Guy's & St Thomas' Hospitals have a pool - on the Guy's site (I think) - this is from an advert which will appear in the May issue of our in SE1 publication:

Quote:

The Thomas Guy Club is the sports and social club based at Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospitals.
Facilities include: 2 Fitness Centres and a 25 metre Pool.

Individual associate and Corporate membership is available and the Swimming Pool can be hired out.

For further details please contact Patrick Hourihan: E-mail: patrick.hourihan@gstt.sthames.nhs.uk - Telephone: 020 7188 6641

Edited 2 times. Last edit at 17 August 2004 5.04pm by James Hatts.

I used to use the Guys pool some time ago, and it is huge and nice, with a sauna too. Would be a great addition to local amenities. I got in by being a guest of someone who was pretending to be an ex-employee of Guys(!) until the staff got familiar with me and let me in anyway.

Something I heard from a reputable source some time ago, but would like confirmed, if anybody reading this can delve in the right places, is:

When Guys were given planning permission some decades ago for their complex of buildings including the pool, there were conditions, one of which was that the pool should be available for use by local residents. Guys seem to have complied with this by creating a category of membership and prices for local residents, but making this rather expensive and not advertising it.

I think the lesson here, if the above is true (or even if it isnt) is that any future similar deals with planning should be tightly worded to ensure the pool, or whatever facility is provided, is genuinely available for plenty of hours in the week and be affordable, with no membership fee.

Well they seem to be advertising the pool now via our publication.

Any idea how much membership of the Guy's fitness centre is?

I know it's not SE1 but what about the Lido in Southwark Park? What's happening/happened to that?

http://www.artistsineastlondon.org/03_dilston/05text.htm

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/oliver.merrington/lidos/lidos1closed.htm#southwark

http://www.artistsineastlondon.org/image_bank/03_dilston/24.jpg

Not a lot about it on the net, by the looks of things.And the newxt link is getting pretty tenuous

http://www.london-footprints.co.uk/wkrotherhitheroute.htm

MickyBoy - sorry, no idea about prices for Guys, but why dont you email or ring the contact given above by James Hatts - then post the answer for the rest of us? I remember finding it totally unaffordable but it may just be typical health club prices.

Drat

It is only as the demolition of Southwark Towers reaches the basement that I get confirmation that there was a swimmming pool down there.

AFAIK there is no replacement in The Shard.

blake wrote:

I know it's not SE1 but what about the Lido in Southwark Park? What's happening/happened to that?

Part of it is now the childrens play area and the rest is an art gallery

there used to be a lido for under 11's in bedlam park or Mary Geraldine Harmsworth to give it the correct title but that is long gone as well

Darwin court in Darwin street has a pool and local schools use it