Does anyone remember Sheaf Valley swimming baths?
There were three pools and the main one was always freezing cold!!
DID YOU DARE JUMP FROM THE TOP DIVING BOARD AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!:gag: :gag: :confused:

Yeah i remember the days of sheaf valley baths. Used to go there quiet abit, altho i never dared jump from the top diving board. Too high for my liking.
They knocked it down ages ago to make way for ponds forge baths.

thats the only time tha wood ave a bath kezzzer, scruffy little urchin. :thumbsup:

Tha cheeky so and so!

How did you guess??

Does anyone remember Sheaf Valley swimming baths?
There were three pools and the main one was always freezing cold!!
DID YOU DARE JUMP FROM THE TOP DIVING BOARD AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!:gag: :gag: :confused:


Yes, my lads loved it.Seemed really modern then.They were always very good swimmers and divers and used to dive from the top diving board when they were quite young. Didnt Rolf Harris paint on one of the walls.Sure I can remember a toddlers pool as well.

Yes, my lads loved it.Seemed really modern then.They were always very good swimmers and divers and used to dive from the top diving board when they were quite young. Didnt Rolf Harris paint on one of the walls.Sure I can remember a toddlers pool as well.
Yeah, there was three pools, a toddlers one, the main one(where the deep end was in the middle), and the diving pool.
I do recall a painting on the wall by Rolf Harris.

Yeah, there was three pools, a toddlers one, the main one(where the deep end was in the middle), and the diving pool.
I do recall a painting on the wall by Rolf Harris.


I suppose the painting would be quite valuable now.Wonder if they managed to save it, or was it painted straight onto the bricks ? Yes, I can remember the deep end being in the middle, thats quite unusual isnt it.?

I thought the Rolf Harris thing was a pattern made out of different coloured blue tiles. Can't quite remember now. It was next to the diving pool though.

I thought the Rolf Harris thing was a pattern made out of different coloured blue tiles. Can't quite remember now. It was next to the diving pool though.


Yes, I think you may be right,Hecate. I can also slightly remember different coloured blue tiles,just as you describe.

no it wasn't. it was on the wall right in the far corner, near the big window, that overlooked the train station, and it was huge. it was on its own frame, and not tiles.

Unfortunately I have no idea what happened to the pic.... wasn't there a thread elsewhere on here about it?

I used to go there every week and spend ages leaping off the high concrete platform.
I had mates who climbed up and were too scared to jump yet darent climb back down in case everybody laughed at them.
God how i loved pushing the buggers off.

no it wasn't. it was on the wall right in the far corner, near the big window, that overlooked the train station, and it was huge. it was on its own frame, and not tiles.

Unfortunately I have no idea what happened to the pic.... wasn't there a thread elsewhere on here about it?


Bet someones saved it then.Sheffield City Council may still have it.Or they may have given it to the Childrens Hospital. :huh:

Does anyone remember Sheaf Valley swimming baths?
There were three pools and the main one was always freezing cold!!
DID YOU DARE JUMP FROM THE TOP DIVING BOARD AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!:gag: :gag: :confused:

i used to go from about the age of 14 loved diving off the top board especially doing the 'bullet' (diving off then puting your hands by your sides)
i wonder where the big picture painted by rolf harris went it hung on the wall near the windows of the cafe

by the age of 17 i was going 6 times a week

a sad day when they knocked it down you cant even use the diving boards in ponds forge unless you join the diving club i wanted to try the 10m board :rant:

i used to go from about the age of 14 loved diving off the top board especially doing the 'bullet' (diving off then puting your hands by your sides)
i wonder where the big picture painted by rolf harris went it hung on the wall near the windows of the cafe

by the age of 17 i was going 6 times a week

a sad day when they knocked it down you cant even use the diving boards in ponds forge unless you join the diving club i wanted to try the 10m board :rant:

I dont think theres even a diving board in The Hillsborough Leisure Centre Baths.

there isnt, nearest place for a dive is barnsley i dont go swimming now it take too long to dry my hair :hihi:

I remember it well! I jumped off the top board only once! AAAARRRRGGGHH, never again!

I vaguely remember there was a sauna as well????

I remember it well! I jumped off the top board only once! AAAARRRRGGGHH, never again!

I vaguely remember there was a sauna as well????

there was two saunas a male and a female one ponds forge only has one and men are only allowed to use it one about 2 mornings a week pity i used to go in to the sauna in sheaf valley not had a sauna in ages i dont wanna go to a 'sauna house' because lets face it they are just brothels

there was two saunas a male and a female one ponds forge only has one and men are only allowed to use it one about 2 mornings a week pity i used to go in to the sauna in sheaf valley not had a sauna in ages i dont wanna go to a 'sauna house' because lets face it they are just brothels

Yeah, the Saunas were great. If I recall correctly there was a 90 degree one and a hotter one. My favourite trick was ladling 3 scoops of water onto the heat bucket and then counting down until the ''top shelf boys'' legged it.

I loved going, and yes i did jump!very frightening, also I hated the sirens when you had to get out, it was awful.
I can taste the frazzles (crisps) now that I used to get from the vending machine after....ah those were the days , carefree .............
Can remember the Rolf painting, but strange how I can not remember what it was.

Oh yeah I remember going to Sheaf Valley.. Me and my friend used to go and use our passport to leisure thingys to get in a bit cheaper..:)

I did once jump off the second board and I thought I was never going to get to the surface again... Scared me to death..lol.. I never did get my courage back to be able to jump off the top board before it closed.. I wish I had..:(

I loved going, and yes i did jump!very frightening, also I hated the sirens when you had to get out, it was awful.
I can taste the frazzles (crisps) now that I used to get from the vending machine after....ah those were the days , carefree .............
Can remember the Rolf painting, but strange how I can not remember what it was.

it was a landscape scene with trees and an old wooden fence that drifted off into the distance it looked like the austrailian outback with lots of orange and yellow

why was it always freezing cold in the main pool.
that was just cruel werent it?

why was it always freezing cold in the main pool.
that was just cruel werent it?

The main pool was nothing like as cold as the diving pool. That WAS damn freezing!
the babies' pool was the warmest!

...the babies' pool was the warmest!
That would be due to all the wee in it :gag: :hihi: .

That would be due to all the wee in it :gag: :hihi: .
I always wondered why it woz YELLOW:gag:

Hecate, i have just sent u a pm

My friend and I used to go regularly on Friday after school. I remember jumping of the middle board and thinking I was drowning. A few times I climbed to the top splash and peered over the edge:o No way was I jumping off there! I used to love the chips from the cafe and the fizzy vimto from the machine. Wasn't the sarsparella drink vile though :gag:

I remember the Rolf Harris picture. I know it was near the big window but can't remember which side it was on. Didn't it have trees on it? and didn't Radio Hallam have live coverage when the baths were opened?

We used to get into the baby pool when we had been in the main pool for a while - to warm up.

When Sheaf Valley opened there was some kind of promotion in the Star called somthing like 'swimming with Rolf' where you could write in and apply for a free swimming course. Does anyone remember this ???

PS. Rolf didn't swim or teach the class !!

I remember there was a tv prog with rolf teaching kids to swim.

I was never brave or daft enough to go off the top splash. I'd go up as far as the second then when the handrail ran out I'd wonder what the hell I was doing lol

I don't rmemeber the main pool being that cold, just that the diving pool was cold so you'd haul ass and get out of it quickly.

I know this is an old thread, but hey Im new!

I learnt to swim ay SVB. Had lessons on a saturday morning. When I first graduated to the big pool I was too short to reach the bottom in the shallow end lol

I have my bronze, silver and gold badges somewhere

I used to take my daughter there from the age of about 5 until she was 9 and then it was demolished. I loved the warm children's pool and had plenty of fun plaing with her there. Yes, the other pool was freezing and I couldn't take it for long, I have no insulating fat on me, being a scrawny kind of fellow, and I never dived. Of course I remember the painting by Rolf--I think it was better than that splodge he did for the Queen!