Rhyl - Open Air Baths - a photo on Flickriver

            The Postcard

A postally unused postcard that was published by the Photochrom Co. Ltd. of London and Tunbridge Wells. The card, which has a divided back, was printed in Great Britain.

The Rhyl Open Air Baths

Complementing the already existing Sussex Street indoor bathhouse, the Outdoor Baths were opened on the 5th. June 1930 as vast crowds gathered for a dip in the summer sunshine.

Around 100 metres long and 27 metres wide, the East Parade pool was by modern standards unique in being filled with pure sea water, containing 770,000 gallons when full.

There was also a diving platform, and the pool played host to a number of events, such as the water spectacle Prince’s Water Phantasy, which invited stars from some of Europe’s premier water shows.

A hugely popular hub of activity, in just its first season 223,000 people passed through the turnstiles.

Families and friends all enjoyed the Outdoor Baths, which was enhanced by the stalls, kiosks and other shops along the Parade before shutting in winter.

One Rhyl resident recalls the following about the pool:

"You entered the baths by the side of a building 
with a sloping roof. Only once in, and having paid 
was the board giving the water temperature displayed. 
If it was touching 70F then it was comfortable. Below 
that it was decidedly chill, and a north wind blowing 
completed the freezing misery.
I remember the changing rooms which, in their 
cold dampness, mould and heady mixture of 
urine and chlorine were as welcome as a goblin’s 
grotto.
All primary school children in Rhyl were invited to 
learn to swim at the baths for free. We would all make 
our way up through the town in a crocodile and enter 
past the turnstile to be greeted with the horror of the 
April temperature – I think the coldest I was ever made 
to swim in was 47F! 
We would be lined up and pushed in the water if we 
were reluctant, by well wrapped up[ teachers who told 
us to stop complaining as we’d warm up when we had 
been in for a while! 
We were meant to be doing our 25 yard swimming 
badge. I cheated and put one foot down so as to get 
across the pool as quickly as possible and back into the 
changing rooms.
There was tarmac around the poolside and unfortunately 
this had broken up with constant use so that it was agony 
making your way to the far end where most of the locals 
congregated.
The baths closed in the mid seventies when the pier 
and the Pavilion Theatre were also demolished. It can
 be difficult today to remember where exactly the baths 
were sited, but if you stand outside the Pier Hotel and 
look across at the Events Arena, the metal tower at the 
highest point of the arena represents the position of the 
diving boards in the baths.
The coldness of the water in the baths served as ample 
warning never to venture too far out, or to be too 
adventurous in the sea. As my cousin Gerald, who 
served on the Rhyl Lifeboat and could not swim, 
reminded me, where the sea is concerned, it does not 
matter how good a swimmer you are, you are never 
stronger than the sea!"

   

Taken on: October 21, 2023

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Sets appears in: • Public Swimming Pools and Lidos • UK

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