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| Ancestor Gateway Forum - STAMFORD MEMORIES GATEWAY (Lincolnshire England) used as PRIDE and PREJUDICE FILM SET | New Topic | Search |
| elaine |
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When I was a school girl I spent loads of my leisure time at Stamford outdoor swimming pool near the meadows. I had learned to swim in the river at The Waterfall down the meadows but my parents weren't keen on my going to the river to swim as they knew of a boy who had drowned there caught up in weeds on the riverbed. When you arrived at the entrance to the swimming pool there was a little window with a piece of cardboard on which was written the daily temperature of the water. Often it was very cold. There was a green turnstile you had to go through and pay to get in. Later on I had a season ticket and this allowed me to enter by just showing the ticket. There were cubicles in which to change (they had a small wooden seat in them and a hook on which to hang your clothes whilst you changed). Once changed you took your garments to the main hut in a basket provided by the pool attendant. This was then left at the hut for safekeeping and collected when you finished your swim. |
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| nigel Cross |
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I also remember the outdoor swimming pool. When i revisted Stamford a while ago i was sad to see that it had gone and replaced by a carpark or houses. I also remember that the water was never warm or even tepid, but it was ok when you had been in for while. Originally there were diving boards, but these were taken down after someone hit their head on the bottom, if i remember correctly. Happy days. Kate: Hello Nigel. Thanks for your memory on this one. Yes now you say I think I can remember that someone did have an accident diving into the pool. Can't remember the exact circumstances. I remember once diving in off the "springboard". I had watched lots of other people jump up and down on it to make it springy and had a go. Frightened myself to death! |
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| margaret |
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i remember the swimming pool, (Very open aired) i remember going to swimming lessons with the school and being divided into groups, and the cubicles with the little wooden seat, i think the lifeguard was mr wade, when it was hot i remember sunbathing. When i go back now its hard to think the car park was a outdoor swimming pool, cattle market and small car park. Kate: Yes Margaret, it was very good there. We looked forward to the summer season so much and spent hours and hours just walking around, sitting around and yes Swimming! Now no one would know it had been there except we, the "regulars" know how much we enjoyed it. |
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| Kate |
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There is another entry for Stamford Swimming Pool further down the list 30 November 2005. By Ian Haggerty. Well worth a read. |
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| margaret |
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thinking about the swimming pool, did there use to be a tuck shop then later on there was a mobile where you could get changed in the warm, i was watching a old video footage my dad shot while watching my sister at the stamford high school gala, anyway there were two diving boards, there use to be a big brick slab that people use to sun bath on , Its a shame they knocked it down in a way i know it was old but it was fun especilly in the hot weather. Kate: Yes, there were two diving boards and also in the corner "the shute". You walked up the steps and there was a fenced platform at the top. You then could sit on the slide and slide down into the water (6ft 6inches) below. Must have been refreshing - never dared to do it myself. |
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| margaret |
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i don'nt remember any slide but just the coldness as we got changed in the swimming cubicles, it was freezing. Those summer days are missing. |
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| gina peskett |
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hi elaine, my brother, two sisters and i were all born in stamford, we spent many summer days at the pool, my brother actually went there during a thunder storm and was swimming in the rain. he used to jump off the big diving board and dog paddle to the side. i remember trapping my hand in the old mangle they had. when i was 2 I nearly drowned in the river. |
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| phil |
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hi' just found your site,i remember the lovely pool at stamford spent most of my early years down there.the slide was fantastic at about 5 years old my father who was 6foot 3 tall would stand at the bottom and catch me when i slid down .it wasnt long before he had kids right down the steps to have a go.why did they get rid of the pool,great memories,even went down there when the temp of the water was in the 50s,and your bike was safe in the rack outside without being locked up.phil Kate : welcome to the forum Phil. What years were you down there? Interesting for others who were treading water there too. |
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| phil |
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hi Kate, suppose i spent the years between 1949 and 1960 down there,on sundays a lot of familys used to take a picnic and spend the day swimming in the river when the weather was nice.i also belonged to the stamford boat club and won the nichols canoe cup in 1958 with a boy called peter west,mind you he was a fantastic canoest .i dont think the boat club lasted that long. |
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| john freear |
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I noticed among the entries a lot of comment about the coldness of the water in the pool and this was true for most of the time. It took a while to get accustomed to it especially immediately under the armpits!!! However I do remember one summer and I am not sure which it was 1947 comes to mind when getting into the water by whatever means was no better than being out, they were one and the same. My goodness that was a hot summer, I dont "brown" but I did that year and some of my mates even started to go black in odd patches mainly near the shoulder blades. |
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| Peter |
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Why was that fantastic swimming pool closed down? There were two pools, the one on the river side was a shallow one kor young kids and the one on the cattle market side was the deeper one for adults. Yes, it was always freezing that water, even though the cardboard notice said 68 degrees it never felt like it! Kate: Yes it was a fantastic meeting place and all that fresh air and exercise! |
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| jill |
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My aunt, Jessie Brown was one of the door staff for quite a few years. We used to have a great time. Remember the cascade, the wire baskets, the shop and red skin from the cold or the sun! We three had cotton elastic ruched swimming costumes which you had to peel off - uggh - no wonder we stayed in so long, and the dye often ran out of them onto your skin - happy days, happy memories. |
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| Mike Laughton |
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Generations of Stamfordians learned to swim in that pool. Normally you would actually learn to swim while still at junior (primary) school. In my case the old Bluecoat. And you got a certificate for swimming 25 yards (just short of a length). Secondary schools would also use the Stamford outdoor pool for their swimming galas. I remember one exciting event when I was at Stamford Boys Secondary Modern (formerly St Michael's) in the mid-fifties. Andy Farrell (who later married Joan Nottingham - another fine swimmer) was the school's star swimmer. Andy was to swim the last leg of the relay where each swimmer swam two lengths of the pool. By the time Andy dived into the water his team were already more than a length behind the other team. But he was such a fast swimmer he propelled himself through the water at such a speed that he caught the other swimmer with a seconds to spare to the cheers of the spectators who by now were frantic with excitement. A remarkable achievement in schoolboy sport. Mike's 25 yards swimming certificate  |
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| phil |
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Mike,On my last visit to Stamford I was talking to Mike Jackson in the market when I saw Andy Farrell,I mentioned about his fantastic swimming when we were kids.He said he only swims on holiday now.But I couldn't believe how he had hardly changed in apperance since then.The Ninny stories are great.(What characters there used to be in the town in those days.!)Still laughing about the stories ,the football one fabulous!!Regards Phil. |
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| syd |
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Mike, I was swimming that day but not in that race, a friend of mine Tony Bullimore, was swimming the final leg, and how he suffered in that race, plus the fact, we never let him forget it for a while. |
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| phil |
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Talking to my sister the other day,she reminded me that when arriving at the pool early,think it may have been 8.00am.if the water wasn't 50deg.they would not let us in,so had to wait outside until the temperature improved.Early health and saftey!!! Kate:Hi Phil. Yes. We were hardy little children back then. I can remember going in that icy water (54°) with Miss Sharp telling us to jump up and down we would soon get warm! Never got her cossy on and joined us though. |
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| betty |
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Hello Kate I had to reply to you as I too remember Miss Sharp and the swimming classes when the water was freezing. I dreaded it, I thought it was half an hour of torture. I think we were all afraid of her . I can still see her riding down Casterton Road on her sit up and beg bike Kate: Thanks for that Betty. I have a photo somewhere taken on 1st May - opening day at the pool - I think about 8 a.m. I was determined to be there - only managed it once. |
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| John Tyers |
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St.Martin's School swimming lesson under Mr L.G.Mitchell, the Headmaster who went in the water first on a freezing cold day; water temp 58 degrees, the rest of us sat on the side shivering. When he got out he said "When I was young, I thought nothing of swimming in the sea on Christmas Day!" We all thought, we did'nt think much of it either lol! Kate: Have we all got too wimpy now? I like a nice 80° now John! |
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| Joanna Steele |
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I am 28 now, and I remember the pool being fenced off and used as a Skate Park for some time, before being filled in and turned into the Car Park, I never got to go when it was a pool which is a shame, because Stamford should have kept it, I would've loved to take my son there. |
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| Mark Steele |
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Yes, I remember the pool well when our family lived on St. Mary's St. above Fancourt's pork butcher shop in the mid fifties. It was so cold for a 5 year old ( me! ) that I almost drowned from the shock of jumping in! I woke up being given respiration by the lifeguard. Fear of water ever since! |
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