Restoring Pride and Boosting Public Health: A Project Worth Doing
By Luan Hanratty — 14th Oct 2024
I sat down in the tea room of the Grand Hotel, overlooking the Longsands and the long-derelict Tynemouth Outdoor Swimming Pool, to talk to Michael Wood, who is part of the team campaigning to renovate this once iconic piece of local leisure infrastructure.
One year ago the group were granted ‘Minded to Approve’ status from the Council on the renovation of the pool. They fell short of full approval owing to the need for further environmental surveys including a bird survey that had expired. Nonetheless, as enthusiastic as ever, the next steps in the programme for the Friends of Tynemouth Outdoor Pool are to keep the conversation going and keep the research moving forward for further clarity on questions of sustainability, costs and the scheme of work required.
Social Impact
Michael explained that the group have found certainty regarding the project by the fact there are a number of operators willing and eager to take it on. At the same time, the group have remained in continual discussions with Sport England, Heritage Lottery and other funders, with a view to forming an equitable deal down the line.
One key piece of research which may, however, be missing from their overall assessment is about the impact and benefit the pool would have on the region, both socially and economically. Michael made it clear to me that there is an immense amount of value to be generated from a site that has at present no economic use. As he put it:
What does it mean if everybody passes that in the daw and says, “Oh, I wish they would restore that.” whereas if everyone passes and goes, “Wow, they’ve done an amazing job, in restoring that!”
How does that make people feel about where they are? How many new teams do you get set up in there? How many clubs get set up in there? How many different sorts of community groups and classes do you get set up in there? What sort of events do we have that become distinctive to that site every year, that become iconic? How many schools and other community groups do you invite down?
We are a coastal borough. How many people’s swimming ability do you improve in that period of time? What’s the benefit on tourism, as me and you and 50,000 other people share pictures of the site on Instagram and on social media. What does that suddenly mean?
At the minute our iconic shots of leisure are probably St James’s Park and then the Great North Run. And this really adds to that mix of, “I have swam here, have you swam there?” It gets on people’s bucket lists, it gets into Trip Advisor’s ‘50 Places to Go’ each year. How do you put a value on all of that?
An important issue we discussed was the fact that the sport of swimming is the opposite of a niche or elite sport. Instead, it’s part of a lifestyle and it’s super inclusive, requiring practically no money to participate, while being one of the most beneficial activities for cardio and muscle health. As well as this, swimming is unusual in not being a male-dominated sport, being more popular among women. There’s a great equality about swimming and this makes it something which the Council really should get on board with.
Outdoor pools from Scotland to Cornwall are seeing large numbers coming through the gates and have started to host large summer pool parties that are accessible to all. But the fact that NE30 is considered a well-off postcode with a more elderly population, may have actually hindered the proposed funding of the pool in the past. Michael considered that if the site was situated on the other side of the Pier, up river and in the shadow of Knotts Flats, the project would probably have been funded years ago. With this in mind, it’s essential that a prospective operator finds ways to be as inclusive as they can and bring in people from all over the borough to enjoy the facility.
Rolling with the times
The concept of the lido was imported from Italy in the late 19th century in order to protect swimmers from the dangers of open sea swimming. As we are again seeing an increase in cold water swimming, I suggested that a renovated pool might would ultimately prevent casualties from happening. Great confidence and ability is needed to swim in lakes, rivers and the sea, and these environments remain often inaccessible places. Yet one trend that the Future Lidos group have observed is an increase in extreme environment swims and as such, a renovated lido in Tynemouth may see a need for hot tubs, saunas and steam rooms to allow people to warm up after a swim. Alongside these provisions would be a requirement for a cafe and bar, creating a social hub as well as a pool.
Public health is the central issue in all of this. We are becoming increasingly unhealthy as a population and while the shiny new cycle lane is a great development in the right direction, Michael stressed the need to connect the dots with an overarching government strategy that builds a culture of public health and great swimmers locally. There’s an opportunity to create a truly outstanding piece of leisure infrastructure in this prime spot, and the blueprint is already in place.
The Tynemouth Outdoor Pool was built in 1925 when there was a drive for civic projects to rebuild the country in the years following the First World War. This saw Blackpool and Scarborough become models for British outdoor pools, following which, the North East of course required its own. Sadly, the Scarborough Lido was bulldozed in 2010 and this too would have been the fate of ours if its granite blocks weren’t so hard to shift… Today these solid stones remain in situ, as does the concrete base of the structure, while the tiles that line the tank, being capped in by sand and boulders for the last 30 years, are still as they were. With the pool’s centenary coming next year, it’s amazing to think that this structure is all there and perfectly protected.
Decline and Disuse
I asked Michael why the pool became so neglected in th late 80s and 90s?
It all goes down to policy and funding. So, if you look at The Wolfenden Report on Sport in the 1960s, which was an appraisal of public health and leisure, and mandated that moving forward, pools should be built indoors. That slowly became embedded into policy, whereby indoor pools were funded and outdoor pools weren’t. And there then was no model if you had an outdoor pool, as to how you should update it and go through that facility modernisation.
So there was no talk of: “So that pool was built in the 1920s, to bring it up to 1980s or 1990s standards, this is what needs to happen there.” It was just a simple black and white decision: just close it and build an indoor pool. So Tynemouth Indoor Pool was built in 1970. Obviously a significant amount of money was spent on that, but at no point was any money spent on that site there, to look at: “Does it need tiling? Does the concrete need improving? Should we renovate the clubhouse and put a cafe in here? Or generate secondary spend?”
Heating?
Yeah, there would have been a heating discussion, potentially putting it in there. If there’d been a process of: “Well, we’re going to scan the culture. It’s a cold pool, but it might be that it just needs two hot tubs there.” Not necessarily ones that bubble in the jacuzzi, but you just go and soak in afterwards and warm up. Or it could have had a sauna built into it, and that would have sustained it… And that model was never there.
The problem is that once a narrative starts to form around something being a relic from a bygone era, it can be very hard to change the general acceptance of that idea and the groupthink it creates and thus it became very hard to save the place once that belief had set in. The public lost interest in the place but only because it had decayed. The pool was set on a path of managed decline and therefore couldn’t attract investment. Then finally in 1995 the Council took the decision that: because no one uses it, we’ll close it. Whereas if the pool had had rolling renovations over the 80s and 90s, it would have maintained its level of users and it would have been saved. And because it would have been saved, new developments like a new clubhouse and deck space would have, with time, been added to it and a community would have emerged.
Research and Data
One idea that’s becoming popular is to use the heat generated by computer data centres to warm swimming pools. Perhaps Tynemouth could have a similar sustainable tech-based arrangement. Several years ago a geothermal borehole was proposed for the site by scientists from Durham University. This is not a sci-fi as it sounds but actually feasible with the help of a green energy grant to tap the heat from a short depth below ground. As interesting as these proposals are, however, the priority has to be to get a working pool up and running first. Once established, discussions can then begin on finding sustainable energy for the site.
As part of the Future Lidos group, Michael spent the summer visiting successful pools around the country including Tinside in Devon, Jubilee in Penzance, Portishead in Bristol, Hathersage in Derbyshire and Gourock in Inverclyde. From this research they have gathered data on how many swims they get, what prices they charge, what services they offer and what kind of events they run.
With this data they are now able to build a reasonable forecast model for Tynemouth that gives them a sense of where swims and visits would come from. Based on this, it’s a reasonable estimate that the pool would receive 50,000 swims per year, with one swim being anything from a dip to someone doing dozens of lengths.
The data that we’ve seen from Sea Lanes in Brighton, which opened this year, shows significant footfall above what they’ve forecast, so we know that if you get the proposition right and you get the customer experience right, that it becomes somewhere that people want to go to once, twice, three times or to become members.
Support Network
Future Lidos are a team of individuals dedicated to transforming outdoor pool facilities on a national level. Michael emphasised that like many in sport, they are passionate, driven and purposeful people who care about inspiring young people and care about health and well-being.
Taking his cue for other sports leaders in the region, Michael spoke about what kind of legacy could be created at Tynemouth Outdoor Pool. In ten years, if it gets built, there’ll be new active groups formed and potentially a vibrant and successful swimming culture with a healthy community that has grown from it.
The dismal alternative is that the pool doesn’t get built and nothing materialises…
The Council hearing last year generated widespread public support with comments totalling 85,000 words submitted on the planning portal. Meanwhile key players such as Alan Campbell., Kim McGuinness and Norma Redfern have all expressed support for the project and with this support it should become easier to access key funds and unlock investment.
What needs to happen next?
The Friends Group are now seeking a planning decision and following that, the next step is to enter into discussions with the Council around inviting an operator to run the project.
So now is the time to get the ball rolling, build more public support, start to source the right funding and get the pool back to something we can all be proud of, while improiving the health of residents throughout the borough and the region.
Michael Wood is part of the Friends of Tynemouth Outdoor Pool community group and a member of the Future Lidos UK-wide campaign. Although never setting out to be an expert on lidos, he grew up in Cullercoats with a love of the beach, the pool and sea swimming. He has become an expert in regional sport and sports infrastructure and is currently in the final stages of his PhD on the subject. Since returing to Tyneside after spending the 2000s working in marketing in London, Michael has worked as an assistant professor in sports marketing at Northumbria University. It was while living in London that he witnessed the growth and investment that took place before the 2012 Olympics and he has taken this as a source of inspiration to become the driving force behind the regeneration of a special and highly visible pool on our iconic beach.
2025 will see the pool mark its centenary year, for which the Friends of Tynemouth Outdoor Pool will be organising a festival. Stay tuned for more details on Penbal.uk
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