Were the "newer" baths the ones at Western Esplanade - were they Southampton Central baths? I can remember driving past them when we went shopping in Southampton, and you could look into them as they had a glass 'wall' so you could see the diving boards? I can remember them from the mid-60s (?) through to the 70s or 80s (?). I presume they were demolished when the West Quay development was built? Karen 2009/12/22 Chris <chris@masquerade.demon.co.uk> > > All I need now is information about the newer pool. I'll see if the > on-line > paper archives have anything. > > Thank you again > > Chris >

Karen - yes - they were the ones. As you entered the building, ahead of you was a window that allowed you to see the bottom of the diving area of the pool and, in the distance - the floor of the pool ramping up towards the main swimming area. People would often swim down to the window to wave at the people coming in. There was talk of a crack appearing in the window which needed the pool to be closed for repairs - but I don't know how true this was. There were one or two accidents with people hitting one of the lower diving boards on the way down from the high ones - the resulting redish tinge to the water was an interesting distraction. I don't know of any fatalities but I expect today's "health & Safety" brigade would have stopped the use of the higher boards. I was certainly not brave enough to go to the top - let alone jump/dive off. By the shallow end there was another, much smaller, pool - for beginners. A gymnasium was part of the building because, when I was a member of the Southampton City Swimming Club (along with David Haller et al) we used it for circuit training before using the pool. I'd like to know the year these pools were open and who opened them - I think it was Brian Phelps. Chris -----Original Message----- From: hampshire-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:hampshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Karen Lynn Sent: 22 December 2009 11:02 To: hampshire@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [HAM] FW: Request for info about Southampton Swimming Pools Were the "newer" baths the ones at Western Esplanade - were they Southampton Central baths? I can remember driving past them when we went shopping in Southampton, and you could look into them as they had a glass 'wall' so you could see the diving boards? I can remember them from the mid-60s (?) through to the 70s or 80s (?). I presume they were demolished when the West Quay development was built? Karen