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Competitive Training and Galas Adult Fitness, Leisure & Teaching ASA
Teaching & Pool Lifeguard Courses Maintenance
& Chester City Support |
City
President:
Chairman
Vice-President The Duke of In 1975 the Chester City Council
announced the closure of the old City Baths, scheduled to coincide with the
opening of the Northgate Arena Leisure Pool, which was then under construction. The local swimming clubs realised that the new Arena Pool
would be unsuitable for competitive swimming and water polo, which meant that the old baths had to be kept
open to ensure the future of the sport in the City. With this objective in mind an
action committee, consisting of four members each from the Cheshire Dolphins
and Chester Amateur Swimming Clubs, was set up. The original members of the
action committee being: P. Dawson, M. Bowler, P. Measures, A. Howie, T. Neve, K. Rowlands, P. Fisher and F. Morris. After a
number of meetings and much discussion the Local Authority were adamant that
they could not afford to operate both the new and old pools, but accepted a proposition from the action
committee to allow them to manage the old baths independently for a trial period. The action committee convened a General Meeting at
which the Chester Swimming Association was formed. A constitution was drawn
up and charitable status applied for. A lease was subsequently agreed to and
signed by both parties which resulted in the Association taking over the
management of the Baths on the 14th April 1977. Due to much hard work by the
volunteer labour force,
the first few years were so successful that the City Council had no
hesitation in extending the lease. A situation which has continued to the
present day and hopefully will continue in the future. Since 1977,
the Association has implemented numerous improvements to the building,
which include the installation of gas fired heating, the building of a
licensed Social Club, the provision of a cafeteria and kitchen, the building
of a gymnasium, the installation of a new water filtration system and the
strengthening and refurbishment of the pool halls and structure. The Association hires out the available water time
to clubs, schools and various other organisations, which generates sufficient
revenue to operate the Baths in a sound and viable manner. The main
beneficiary of the Association's success has been the City of
The Duke of By
Bernard Wall [A former In 1883
a strange object was put on The Dee at the start of the What I
am referring to is the bathing premises made to float on the river. It had
changing rooms and an awning on top
and was known as The Floating Bath. It had a deep end and a shallow end and river water was
let in - and also mud or silt, so much
so that after five years wider
holes were made to speed the flow of
river water. At this time there was a growing interest in swimming, more people reaching the seaside by train and more people at home seeking swimming baths in towns.
Eleven years after its launch, that is in 1894. Chester Amateur Swimming Club was formed, based on The Floating
Bath, which was open in the summer only. At their first AGM, the members invited Mr R. A. Yerburgh MP for The bath
was open In January 1899, a very strong tide caused the bath to break loose from its moorings.
There is a photo of it caught on the
top of the weir. Considerably damaged, it was nearly scrapped, but they
repaired it instead. I However, it was
sold as scrap shortly after the opening of indoor baths on Meanwhile, in 1896, as membership of the club increased, another annual race was set up in the river from by
the Suspension bridge to the baths.
In 1897 they got leave to have a football to being playing water polo in the
baths. By,1898, The Corporation
was making place with John Douglas the architect and his partners for the indoor baths, which we still
have in use. This was a novel project for this versatile architect and he probably conferred with
others building municipal baths in other boroughs just then. He is known to
have asked for extra money to ensure his baths did not leak! He was used to
designing comfortable farmhouses and
plain cowsheds, so now he designed a typical smart Douglas Frontage, upper
half black-and-white and utilitarian pool halls behind. One swimming bath 25 yards
long and safe for diving is named "Atlantic" cost 2d per session then The second pool
"Pacific" was 20 yards long and slightly superior costing 6d to go in. The There were also "slipper baths" in which
individuals would wash themselves clean.
Useful! then when many homes had no bathroom Some people
think of swimming as good exercise for young or old or as fun of a sociable
kind, while others think of it as a competitive sport like athletics or football.
Yet others learn to swim partly to be able to save oneself if pitched into
water, accidentally. Chester Public Baths in In 1902 the Chester Swimming Club, which began in
1894 at the Floating Bath described last week, transferred to the indoor
baths and soon developed their activities. In this they were helped from 1904
by Albert Moody, who was appointed manager by the council. Unlike other folk,
he believed all children should be taught to swim. He started his own; his
daughter The club held competitions among themselves and
joined associations who held inter-club matches. Among many outstanding
members in 1908 was Wilf Edwards, champion at 100
yards in trudgen stroke, selected for Olympic
Games. In 1920 the club ended the year with a spectacular
gala typical of the time, complete with bands playing and a polo match. There were
swimming, diving and plunging contests and exhibitions. In this period, J. E.
Thomason won the mile 13 years in succession and Ada
Moody 100 yards for 10 years. In 1935 she married polo star Vic Beaman at a popular wedding. Back in the 1920's the ladies did not appear
usually with the men. Apart from championships they had their times for
swimming and their own ladies' club until 1928, when a joint club was set up.
The ladies dressed in regulation one-piece costumes. By 1930 men were wearing
briefs. The Second World War upset things of course but
afterwards they revived. However water-polo, avidly watched earlier, ceased to
attract as young people developed other exercises and TV coming in drew folk
away from former entertainments. At this stage about 1960, my personal contact with
the baths began. When our family came to live in I joined-them at The 1970's was a critical
time because the council determined to close Union Street Baths when they
opened the Northgate Arena, with its odd-shaped leisure pool and training
bath apparently a better option. But keen swimmers and trainers wanted The Association has improved the filtration process,
added a gym and a cafe and replaced the slipper baths with a clubroom and bar
adorned with historic photos and trophies. The use of the baths is shared by
various clubs for old and young, school parties, training courses for
beginners and more advanced. The premises are open daily from 6am to 10.30pm
and pay their way. The main club still holds competitive events, but
major events have to be held in some pool 25 metres long - 25 yards not
enough now! Everton has the required length and so does
Ellesmere Port Epic Centre. Anyone wishing to swim in |
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