lint Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 i had to jump of the top one for my life saving,in clothes then tread water and make a float out of my clothes,i was petrified Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peakma Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 I really enjoyed reading this thread .I just had a lovely trip down memory lane. All the funny little things mentioned e.g clothes basket,wrist bands and lights ,monster munch after. I can picture myself there so clearly (only after reading this ,I'd never of thought to recall it myself).I remember the picture, but never new it was by Rolf Harris.I loved the diving boards, theres no way I'd dare now.I had no fear then!And the lovely warmth of the baby pool after. I've been meaning to take my kids swimming for ages .I finnaly got around to taking my son to Pondsforge a couple of weeks ago.(it was half term so I was expecting it to be busy). There are hardly any family cubicles 3/4? there are 2 doors on them so 1 of them is often locked even when it's vacant, then the other door is tricky to get to (around/ through other cubicles).The nappy bin stank. You can see through the door seals.We left the cubicle the floor stank of wee, I wasn't imagining this as I over heard another couple commenting on it, struggled all our stuff (quite a bit as we'd been in town earlier) from the cubicle to find a vacant locker (also tricky) found one loaded it up , put the money in , and it doesn't work ,try another! The force of the river ride, on entry I find a little worrying, if a small child escaped the grasp of a parent.... We had some good quality time together, but it was freezing, and near impossible to get a ring.Then at 5.55 they announced it would be closing in 5 minutes which surprised me, we'd not been their long I pressumed it would shut at about 10.00 on a saturday.So everyone got out at the same time , about 30+ people queueing for a shower before us, and we weren't aloud to use the ones for the other pool, so we had to skip that.Obviosly the family rooms were all taken so I found My son a cubicle and told him to wait while I got our stuff,(I was uncomfortable about leaving him alone, got back to him with all our stuff , and he couldn't open the doors, whilst trying to hold on to everything I was telling him to push the lever on the bench which releases the lock , the place was so noisy he could hardly hear me, and he couldn't do it , by this time he was really cold and in tears.A teenage girl offered to climb over , she released the lock mannualy as it was faulty. The whole experience was a nightmare, totaly un-relaxing. O.K moan over! And my childhood memories of sheaf valley are lovely , so thanks to the OP for reminding me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ousetunes Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 peakma - your post seems to be a sad portrayal of 'today', how we seem to accept things that we simply shouldn't. I haven't been to Ponds Forge and probably never will, but if I want to swim today I go to Heeley Swimming Baths which is a good, straight-forward swimming baths with decent sized changing cubicles, is rarely too busy and is easy to get to and park. In other words, you could say 'it's a bit seventies'! Going to Sheaf Valley was always an exciting time for me - it was an occasion - and I too fondly remember the place (as you'll have seen in my earlier post). We knock down things that were great, had nothing wrong with them and replace them with poorer quality buildings, run in a shabby way, and probably pay through the nose to use the facilities (which, through our council tax we'll be paying for till Kingdom Come). Maybe because the 1970's were so long ago, we tend to reflect on the good things and forget the bad; but I'm still pretty sure it was better than what we put up with nowadays! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dishwasher Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 Ousetunes, Regarding Heeley baths, when you say 'it's a bit seventies' do you mean 1870s? Only joking! I know what you mean. Wasn't it built around 1904 or something? Heeley pool is a charming place, with changing cubicles along the sides. There's also seating pace above, presumably built for when competitions are being held. I think Heeley is a 25-yard pool. There were rumours a couple of years ago that it was in danger of shutting down. That was before the Virgin gym was built. It the future of Heeley pool safe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ousetunes Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 Dishwasher - I don't see why Virgin megaletsgethealthybutitllcostyouafortune should be a threat to dear old Heeley baths! You don't have to be a member or pay a subscription at Heeley. It's pay-on-the-door (or failing that, put the money in an envelope and post it through the letter box). I think both can survive. I've been a member in a couple of gyms before - the once superb YMCA and The Fitness Club in town, but my membership never stretched beyond a couple of years. The YM closed and parking at The Fitness Club, on Surrey Street rendered it a no-no. So, if you want a swim and nothing more, Heeley baths is the ticket. If anything, such a place should benefit from the likes of Virgin, Greens et al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dishwasher Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 Ousetunes, Apologies for not making my previous posting clear. The talk and chatter of Heeley closing was way, way before the Virgin gym was built. Before it was even known that there was going to be a state-of-the-art in that location. Talk of its closure (which came from staff working at the baths at the time) had somthing to do with a company independent of the council taking over the running of the place. I used to be a regular at Heeley and always enjoyed swimming there and the banter with the staff and the other regulars. The only problem was that the times available were fairly restrictive, from what I can remember. You couldn't just turn up anytime and plough a few lengths. Whatever, swimming is fantastic excercise, I'm sure you'll agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ousetunes Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 dishwasher - comments taken onboard! I used to go to Heeley every Sunday morning between 1978-1980 with my (late) father and some friends of the family. Y'know, those trips have become one of the Golden Memories of childhood? Just a regular, innocent trip to the swimming baths has become lodged in my memory. Maybe it's just a mood I'm in (reflective) - I'm listening to songs from April 1976 on Radio York (via the web) and all the memories of being a 6 year old etc are at the forefront of my mind. Around the same time I used to pop down sheaf Valley with my father. Warm memories indeed...., Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro1 Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 With the deep end in the middle and the diving pool. As kids we all used to go on friday night. I once tried to "dive" off the top board and almost broke my back in the proccess. Afterwards we all used to have a hot chocolate and a packet of mini chedders as a treat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scout Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 Sometimes used to go on Sunday mornings but I hated the place. You could never have a proper swim, folks swimming in all directions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro1 Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 I wonder what happened to that big painting rolf harris did? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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