The History of Sheffield Swimming Pools - Major help needed!

[nosy nellie 10]

I leant to swim at Hillsborough Baths in the fifties infact is was a second home for me and my brothers,because we only lived across the road.

Having not got a bathroom in our houses at that time we had to go to the slipper baths.

The attendant filled the bath for you with a special key from outside the small bathrooms I think there were eight on the womens side and eight on the mens side.

You were only allowed a certain amount of water,and if it was too hot when you got in you had to ring a bell and shout to the attendant what you wanted more hot or more cold.You had to take your own soap and towels or you could pay extra for hire of a towel

And you only had so many minutes.My grandchildren cannot believe we shared a bathroom with everyone in the district.

 

The Swimming Baths.

Small cubicles with a duck board and and only a curtain to protect your modesty.

men on one side and women on the other.

The back entrance on Walkley Lane had a communal changing room used mainly by schools.

The baths were lovely and clean and lots of district galas were held there.

I think it was 6 old pennies a session,but we used to go Saturday mornings around 7 a.m. and if lucky could stay in until 11.a.m.when it got busy.

Our school used to give card with small perforated tickets and you could tear of one of these ticket and get into the baths for 2 old pence.

[Shakespeare 10]

I am researching the swimming pools in sheffield from 1879 to the present day for part of a project going towards my A-Level in Geography. I have been down to the local studies libary and got quite a bit of info from there but now i'm stuck and pleading for help!

 

Woodthorpe: 1938 - present

 

Thanks,

 

-Paul-

 

Do you know that there was an open air swimming pool at Bowden Woods, it was uncovered when the built the Mosborough Parkway.

Also try Sheffield Growth of a City by H Keeble Hawson Try 'Manor and Woodthorpe Review' it might have something on the baths at Woodthorpe. All in LS.

[Tartempion 10]

I think it might be a bit late to help Paul now since he was doing his A level in 2004!

 

This is a very interesting thread though. I love the spa which replaced the old Turkish baths and I'm a regular user of Stocksbridge swimming pool too. So does anyone know when the Stocksbridge pool was built?

[thecliffe 10]

Don't know exactly what you are lookinf for:

Corporation street pool was at the bottom of Corp: Street on the left coming from west bar, it is next to the river Don.

 

Attercliffe baths was facing the top of Newhall Road.

[soft ayperth 11]

In the 50s/60s, High Storrs Grammar School (Boys) didn't have a swimming pool of its own but used the one at King Ted's. It was an extracurricular activity though.

 

There used to be an open air heated pool at Hathersage. Don't know whether it's still there though.

 

I guess they were called "baths" as opposed to "pools" because people used to wash themselves in the small shallow pools that invariably were alongside the swimming pool. I remember sitting in those pools as a kid while people scrubbed themselves down with bars of soap. Communal hygiene.

[OwlsChick 10]

I believe there was a open air swimming pool at handworth that was used by the miners at handsworth pitt,it was roughly where the rouderbout is now at the end of mosborough parkway where you go left onto parkway or right towards asda at handsworth..

[aikeith 10]

heeley baths is still open.in the 50'sand60's i grew up not far from there and went as often as we could afford there was also a "slipper" baths where you could go if you didn't have abathroom at home and there were showers incorporated in them,also they had a sauna where you could have a massage.next door was a wash house which was popular with the families from the back to back hses cause they had very little room in the hses. in millhouses park thers used to be a lido swimming area which was very popular but someone in their wisdom decided to close it down for "safety" reasons.very sad.

[alevans 10]

As I remember it the pool at Glossop Road had two pools, the 'ordinary pool' and the first class baths which was more expensive, we never went in there so I don't know what was first class about it?

I was a Carbrook School and in the infants we were taken one day a week for showers at the Attercliffe Washouse, in Junior School we went instead to Attercliffe Baths, and we used to be given tickets so we could go free in our own time.

I learnt to swim at Sutherland Road baths because that was where my swimming teacher worked from.

[alevans 10]

Forgot to say, when I went the City Grammar School our weekly baths trip was to King Edwards Baths, but can't remember what happened when it moved to Stradbroke.