Guildford’s very own Lido is set in approximately four acres of beautifully landscaped gardens and is a great place to have a picnic, meet friends, chill out and of course engage in some serious swimming. The Olympic sized pool is open during the summer season from May to September and heated to 24 degrees centigrade depending on the weather. Located next to Guildford College (about a minute from the A3), the Lido is one of Guildford’s biggest attractions, bringing in over 60,000 people every season. It remains one of the country’s few remaining original 1930s pools and is home to numerous activities within the community such as galas, clubs, societies and competitions.
The Lido was opened on 21 June 1933 by the then Mayor of Guildford at the time, Councillor. William Harvey meaning that this season the Guildford Lido has been celebrating as its 80th anniversary as being part of Guildford’s main summertime attractions.
November 1932 saw Mayor Harvey initiate a scheme to raise money and create jobs for the unemployed people in Guildford and this is recognised as one of the very first official schemes of the sort in the UK. The scheme was known as the ‘Work Fund’ and it was a brilliantly simple plan, using unemployed residents to build the pool and the funding being raised locally rather than from central government. Guildfordians who were working and earning a set wage were asked to contribute to this ‘pool’ fund, as were those individuals who were known to be well off.
By estimating the total number of unemployed people in the borough of Guildford (about 650 out of a population of 40,000), it was calculated that each man given employment through the ‘Work Fund’ would receive a minimum 35 shillings (£1.52) a week for 35 hours work. One of the first schemes was to provide work for 40 men pulling up weeds in the sports ground in Woodbridge Road, Guildford.
A collection box was held at the Guildhall where people donated money and messages, for instance, one note wrapped around three pennies was a piece of paper that read, ‘A working man’s daily bus fare’. The scheme also asked for old gold which could be sold to benefit the fund. Local firms, the churches, the Rotary Club and the local branch of the Royal British Legion all helped with donations.
The men who benefited from the scheme carried out a number of different jobs around the borough, but the most fundamental was the building of Guildford Lido. Talks of building the Lido began in 1930, however members of the St John’s Church on Stoke Road strongly opposed the development and voiced concerns that the sight of people bathing at an outdoor pool would upset the worshippers within the church.
However, the plans were passed and by the end of 1932 employee’s of the ‘Work Fund’ joined forces with contractors and tradesmen to begin the building work. The Lido cost £13,700 to build in the end and was officially opened on the by the Mayor himself on 21 June when 8,000 people packed in. He was also recorded as being the first person to dive in and take a lap.
Entry charges were 6d per person (two and a half pence), with the exception of Tuesdays and Saturday mornings when it was one shilling (five pence) and bank holidays where the entry fees rose to 9d per person (four and a half pence). It cost children 4d (two pence) and a monthly season ticket would set you back 7 shillings and 6d (38 pence).
The ‘Work Fund’ came to an end in 1933, but £10,000 had been raised and more than 150,000 hours of work had been provided. Due to this success William Harvey was appointed OBE in the 1934 New Year’s Honours List and was also given the freedom of the borough of Guildford. Also, his successful ladies fashion shop in Guildford was originally based in the Playhouse Arcade (which is now Tunsgate Square) and later moved to the High Street where ‘Harvey’s of Guildford’ later became an Army & Navy branch and is today a House of Fraser store.
Today, Guildford Lido is home to the The Workshop Gym, a very popular bodybuilding and sports gym which caters for fitness fanatics and the regular competitive sports person. And during the summer months, the Lido is available for private hire/functions, often hosting a variety of outdoor concerts, informal parties and BBQs.
Ade Lawal
Image sourced from: http://tinyurl.com/pzpfam5