BECCLES OPEN AIR SWIMMING POOL

Friends of Beccles Open Air Swimming Pool

Chairman:

Vice-chairman:

Secretary:

Treasurer:

Publicity:

 Maureen Saunders

 Penny Brooke

 Eric Wareham

 James Gibbons

 Sally Greenhill

 Shaun Crowley

 Suzanne Gibbons

 Douglas Johnstone

 Wynne Baldry

chairman@becclesopenairpool.org.uk

secretary@becclesopenairpool.org.uk

treasurer@becclesopenairpool.org.uk

publicity@becclesopenairpool.org.uk

or download the Membership Form HERE

Membership forms are also available at the Gazette Bookshop, 6a The Walk, Beccles (01502) 712 688.

A unique facility for all to enjoy... fun, healthy and social. 

The aim is to keep this facility open to the benefit of 

the community and our visitors ..... Father Antony Sutch

Beccles outdoor pool was built in 1959 and in spite of harbingers of gloom saying it is “on its last legs” etc. it has been going strong every year since. It measures 33m x 16m x 4m deep.  It is open from late May till early September and costs on average about £30,000 (up or down depending on weather and consequent gate receipts) to run.  It is administered by Waveney District Council, who make no secret of the fact that they intend to close it when their plans for a new indoor pool come to fruition.  The reason being they say it is costly to run and structurally unsound.  Last summer we got a structural engineer to look at the pool and he wrote us a report saying that the pool had been 'lifting' over a number of years and to stabilize it wd. need 'piling' (a sort of underpinning). This would cost approximately £40,000 to do properly and would ensure its long-term future. In March of last year we formed a group called “'Friends of Beccles Open-air Pool” with the aim of preserving, improving and promoting the pool.  I ran a petition to the council, which got 680 signatures saying that we were opposed to the pool being closed, and we had a big inaugural meeting attended by about 50 letting people know what we are trying to do. We had a meeting with Waveney District Council when they agreed to allow us to go in and tidy up the pool and surroundings before it reopens, and also to replace the awful building site style fencing round the edge of the pool with something more  'user-friendly'. We will start once we get the OK from the dreaded Health and Safety department!

Open-air pools (or Lidos as they are sometimes called) are now coming back into favour as people realise the health benefits of outdoor swimming, and there is a groundswell of support across the country to prevent further closures. In the fifties there were 300 and now there are less than 100.  The Guardian and Sunday Times for instance have done several articles on this.

Douglas Johnstone

Friends of Beccles Open Air Pool