Fernhill Lido opened on a hot July afternoon in 1937 and closed on a grey one in 2009. In between, three generations learned to swim here. This is the story of how its neighbours got the water back.
A pool with a long memory.
Overgrown
By 2015 the shallow end had its own trees.
Drained
The tank, cleared of sixteen years of leaves.
Repainted
Every hut and wall, one weekend at a time.
Retiled
New tiles, many of them sponsored by swimmers.
Read the timelineA fictional history, told the way a real lido trust might tell its own.
Eighty-nine summers and one long winter.
OUR STORY
A fictional history, told the way a real lido trust might tell its own.
1937
A council-built open-air pool, fifty metres long, with a café, a fountain and a sign that said everyone welcome.
The gates open
1958
Generations of teenagers learn the difference between a dive and a belly flop.
The diving board arrives
1986
The busiest season on record. The queue reaches the end of the road on August bank holiday.
A warm summer
2009
Rising costs and a failing boiler. The pool is drained and padlocked.
The gates close
2019
A public meeting fills the church hall. The campaign to reopen begins.
Friends of Fernhill
2024
Neighbours buy the lido together, with grants for the heavy lifting.
A community share offer
2026
The water comes back, and so does the queue.
Everyone in
What it took to fill the pool.
THE RESTORATION
Restoring a listed 1930s lido is slow, careful work. These figures are illustrative, showing how a real trust might summarise its project for members, funders and curious neighbours.
Pool
50 metres, six lanes, 2 metres at the deep end
Built
1937, in the art deco style of its day
Closed
2009 to 2025
Restoration
£4.2 million, illustrative
Raised by
1,800 member-owners, grants and a lot of cake sales
Heating
Solar panels on the huts and an air-source heat pump
Reopened
May 2026
WHAT WE FIXED
Every tile has a story.
Sixteen years of leaves out, every crack filled and the whole pool relined, keeping the original depth markings.
The tank
A new filtration plant, hidden in the old boiler house, so the water stays clear on the busiest days.
The water
Solar panels on the hut roofs and a heat pump bring summer water to between 22 and 26 degrees.
The heat
Forty changing huts repaired and repainted by volunteers, one weekend at a time.
The huts
Wider steps, handrails and a pool hoist, so the lido really does welcome everyone in.
The steps
I learned to swim here in 1961. Last summer my granddaughter learned in the very same deep end. Some things are worth getting back.
Pat, 72 · Member-owner no. 0001 (a fictional swimmer)
Before the water came back
A few pictures from the long restoration: the overgrown tank, the paint, the tiles and the volunteers. Photographs are illustrative stock images.
