Gosport’s chilly outdoor swimming pool really made a splash – Nostalgia

My photograph of Gosport swimming pool garnered many responses. Thank you all.
My photograph from last Monday brought in many replies to tell me Gosport Swimming Pool is now a car park.My photograph from last Monday brought in many replies to tell me Gosport Swimming Pool is now a car park.
My photograph from last Monday brought in many replies to tell me Gosport Swimming Pool is now a car park.

Richard Hulse sent me another photograph of the pool, above. 

He told me: ‘The baths were opened in 1924 and and took the same path of the old rampart moat.

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‘Previously the area was called the Wides and they used to play water polo there. The water was chlorinated salt water with a waterfall.

The former swimming pool can be seen left of centre. Picture: Pat BeeversThe former swimming pool can be seen left of centre. Picture: Pat Beevers
The former swimming pool can be seen left of centre. Picture: Pat Beevers

‘Many people used the pool, including me. Sadly it was closed in the early 1980s. 

‘l believe it was in an unrepairable state and Holbrook indoor pool was about to open.’

Pat Beevers sent in the aerial image, below. It shows where the pool once was and, as can be seen, is now a car park, just left of the moat. 

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Christine Haye learned to swim there while at Brockhurst Junior School. ‘It was freezing as there was no heating in those days’, she said. 

Looking south along Commercial Road, Portsmouth, with Arundel Street coming in from the left.  Photograph: Tony Triggs collection.Looking south along Commercial Road, Portsmouth, with Arundel Street coming in from the left.  Photograph: Tony Triggs collection.
Looking south along Commercial Road, Portsmouth, with Arundel Street coming in from the left. Photograph: Tony Triggs collection.

Looking under the railway bridge at Emsworth with the station buildings on the left, the picture, below, is in North Street with Horndean Road beginning where the people can be seen in the road. To the right of those people was once Northlands Maternity Hospital where most of the babies in Emsworth and the local district were born and looked after.

Sadly, this marvellous hospital was torn down in the path of progress when the new A27 motorway from Warblington to Chichester was constructed.

The information and picture are from Wheels, Sails and Steam in Victorian Emsworth by Margaret Rogers. Copies are priced at £6. To order call (023) 9248 4024.

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It never ceases to amaze me how, during the blitz on the city, especially on the night of January 10/11, 1941, some buildings were decimated while others nearby were left untouched.

On North Street, looking towards Horndean Road under the railway bridge, Emsworth Station is on the left.On North Street, looking towards Horndean Road under the railway bridge, Emsworth Station is on the left.
On North Street, looking towards Horndean Road under the railway bridge, Emsworth Station is on the left.

In the picture below, we are looking south along Commercial Road with Arundel Street coming in from the left.

On the far corner of Arundel Street would have been the Landport Drapery Bazaar store. Look closely to see a massive hole where the cellar and store room once were. In the distance is the burnt out remains of the Central Hotel on the corner of Edinburgh Road. 

The building to the left was untouched and later became the Halifax Building Society. Lloyds Bank, opposite, was untouched and remains there to this day.

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Just past Lloyds is a wooden fence protecting the public from falling into the bomb hole the other side of it. At the junctions, two police officers are on point duty, one in a white coat and one in blue uniform. This is now the precinct.

The photograph comes from Anthony Triggs’ book Portsmouth – A Shattered City.