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| Ancestor Gateway Forum - STAMFORD MEMORIES GATEWAY (Lincolnshire England) used as PRIDE and PREJUDICE FILM SET | New Topic | Search |
| IAN HAGGERTY |
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I REMEMBER LONG HOT SUMMERS IN THE 1970's WHEN ME AND LOADS OF FRIENDS WOULD RUSH DOWN TO THE POOL AFTER SCHOOL, I FIRST LEARNED TO DIVE THERE. MR WADE WAS ALWAYS THEREABOUTS WAITING TO BLOW HIS WHISTLE AT ANY TROUBLE MAKERS!! AFTER A COUPLE OF HOURS SWIMMING, IT WOULD BE A HOT CHOCOLATE ( 2 pence) OUT OF THE DRINKS MACHINE. Ed: Thanks for that Ian. Yes we all remember those wonderful summers '76 took the prize! Oh how we miss that outdoor pool! Someone reminded me that it was hot tomato soup on cold days! Send in your memories of time spent at the pool. |
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| Linda Hudson |
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Mr Wade was my uncle he is still alive and well and still lives in Stamford. When Parrish & Sons were in the High street all the girls used to go down to the swimming pool with their lunch that was the days of long hot summers. Ed: Its a small world! Everyone remembers Mr. Wade. Our very best wishes to him Linda. |
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| Anthony Derrett |
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My early childhood summers were spent at the pool which commenced with purchasing a season ticket. I almost lived there in the summer whatever the weather. The three pools, Big Little and paddling with the fountain. The wooden changing rooms painted in assorted colours. The shop to buy your penny(old) sweets. The mangle to press your wet costume. And the wonderful Mr Wade who I stuck to like a limpet. He would let me assist in checking the Chlorine content of the pool and enter the plant room. He also fished me out of the pool when I was "pushed" in. These were happy times which came to an end when I went to Stamford School in 1974 and then used that pool for my summers. Ed: Thanks for that Anthony. Yes, that brought my memories back and reminded me that I once featured in the Mercury's "first day" photo (1st May) when we all got to stand on the said fountain as the brave youth of Stamford! Hope Linda reads this and conveys the content to Mr. Wade. Also, Linda, would welcome some of your memories on Parrishes which is another topic on the Forum. Thanks. |
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| Brian Dodson |
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I have photos of the old pool Ian. Ed: Photos. I am investigating putting photos on the site. Have made some enquiries but may take awhile to get the answers. They would be interesting as may be many that have not been seen before. |
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| Martin Smith |
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Hi, Hmm, remember it well. My mother was a councillor at the time, (Councillor W.E .Lloyd). She had a hand in updating the pool. Sad to see that this has now long gone. Kate: Hi Martin Wonder if I saw you at the pool? I practically lived there in the summer. |
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| Kate |
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Stamford School Swimming Gala around 1953 To get full screen size photo -Double click on photo. Click on + sign top right. Click on "view all sizes" |
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| Christine Pattinson |
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HI KATE DIANE FRISBY CHRISTINE PAINTER AND DIANA BROWN.IN THE SUMMER WE SPENT ALL OUR SPARE TIME AT THE POOL,ENJOYING THE CUPS OF TEA AND CAKES BOUGHT FROM THE SMALL POOLSIDE CAFE. I REMEMBER THAT PETER BROWN'S MUM WAS THE LADY ON THE TURNSTILE WHERE YOU PAID TO GO IN.  |
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| Peter |
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Ah, those far off days in the early 60's. Queuing on the first day to buy a season ticket, if memory serves me about 7/6d (371/2p) and checking the board to see what the water temperature was, usually low! I'm sure summers lasted longer back then. |
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| Peter Bowman |
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Presumably the pool is no longer there? Is there a public pool anymore in Stamford? |
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| Joan Stafford |
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Yes, the outdoor swimming pool is now a car park. There is a Leisure Pool in Drift Road, still not the same. We enjoyed waiting for the door to open, and looking at the temp. didn't we. I can remember walking from the Fane School for swimming lessons in a top coat.Walking back with wet hair and feezing cold. |
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| Pete Leatherbarrow |
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My God that water was always freezing! I fell in the river one year whilst canoeing, I swear the river was warmer than that pool! |
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| Gillian Hendy |
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Such a shame that the whole thing was demolished. The pool in Drift Road is no where near as much fun. I remember queueing on hot afternoons over the bridge to the Meadows. You left your belongings in a wire basket in the wooden hut type building. I loved the fact there were 3 pools, they had terraced areas, there was a shower to use, a shop so if you were there with a parent they could have a drink while they watched you. I learnt to swim there - I can still see my Mother watching me :) I must have been 9 or 10. From the age of 11 I used to go to the Boys' Pool (Stamford School) and many halcyon days there were to follow. There really was nothing better than an outdoor pool on a hot day and of course back then you could run, jump, dive, do whatever. Kate: Thanks for those postings Gillian. Yes, I loved that outdoor pool. The nice warm floor under your bare feet - on the warm days. That shower cubicle was a shock to the system if you could pluck up courage to go in there and switch on! |
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| Gillian Hendy |
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Kate, yes the shower was pretty cold wasn't it! Looking at the picture posted above I can't help notice how smart everyone looked. I wasn't born when it was taken but the terraced area in the shot is where my Mother would sit and watch me have swimming lessons in the early mornings - before it would get too busy. I loved the seating too, with its umbrellas (very good for when it rained!). I don't know what year it closed but have a feeling it lay dormant and unused for some years prior to it being demolished. Why couldn't it just have been left alone :( |
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| Tim Smith |
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Hi Kate Just found my brother Martin's comment earlier. I think my Mother - Liz Smith (as she was known then) was part of what was termed 'The Swimming Pool Project' - the updating was to include heating the pool. We used to help running the kiosk & we stored boxes of sweets at home.. very tempting for a small boy...no Mum not me - we must have mice... I have a photo of Mr Wade with my Mother in her 'official' councillor guise somewhere. It was published in the Mercury back in the late 60s. (One day I will have to make an appointment & look back in the Mercury archives. Mum was always making headlines for 'slamming' other councillors over local issues! She was also actively involved in implementing the town preservation order). I do hope Mr Wade is well & still with us. He was very well thought of. Hi Tim. Hope you locate that photo - always like to add photos as forum visitors love to see those images. K |
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| Val |
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Season ticket to get in first thing May 1st, how cold was that ? All the time that could be spent there, was. Anyone remember Mr Betts ? Such a shame that it is no longer there-who wanted it to have a roof , anyway !! |
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| Terry S |
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Sad day when the pool closed although I remember a party on the last day where everyone took a bottle of bubble bath. Remember standing patiently in the long queue to get in every weekend or holiday morning. The turnstile, the single cubicles or the long, shared changing room if they were all occupied, Mr Wade (Neville was it, or did I just make that up?). I'd never seen anyone with skin like leather before! And the cold, oh hell the water was soooo cold but on those few days when the sun shone, the pools were full and the terraces packed with lily white (or very occasionally pink) bodies, it was just the best place on earth. Visited Stamford a while back and was so sad to see it all gone. |
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| Ray Tyers |
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| Peter Roberts |
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Kate, a great picture - I visited your pool once ..... on a Saturday one summers day in 1957. My visit I'd finished work [my first job] in a Leeds insurance office in Yorkshire on Friday and began a weeks holiday. To make the most of it I planned to set off that evening, so home for tea, change, strap my Carradice saddlebag on my bike and away, leaving about 700pm. Making my way South on the fairly flat A1, I'd intended overnighting at a Youth Hostel before striking out across country en route to my Lands End destination. Well I got into a rhythm and before I realised, it was way after hostel clocking-in time, so no option but to keep going. Luckily a Lucas King of the Road Dynamo gave plenty of light, and reaching Grantham in the small hours of Saturday, a slow moving pantechnicon lorry, signed, 'Taking Eggs to London', was slow getting away from a roundabout, so I closed and 'tailgated' it! In the small hours there wasn't much traffic around on the single carriageway A1, but it was scary watching the centre whiteline passing beneath my tyres as we overtook the occasional vehicle. A hair raising 30 minutes and 20 miles later, a sign for the next roundabout read STAMFORD, London 60 miles. I pondered sticking it out to London, but bottled it and turned off, I did get a strange look from the overnight coach that hadn't been able to overtake 'my' lorry. The old A1 then ran through the town, but the only place open was the Police Station, yes a cell was available .... provided I submitted to a strip search... hmm! The town slept on, and it was a long wait outside the door of the first cafe to open. After breakfast I made my out of town and discovered your open air pool, another wait for it to open, and there I relaxed all day, caught up on sleep. and some 'rays'. Does anyone remembers that flaked out cycle-tourist? PS The following Friday night, B and B at Sennen Cove [7/6d]. Next morning 'round the corner' to the Lands End sign, and off to Leeds for Sunday night, work on Monday. Hi Peter What a great account! You must be a human Dynamo yourself! Sounds like a great trip - I have been to Sennen Cove - but in a motor so couldn't compare with your journey. I used to holiday down The Lizard at Loe Bar - wonder if you found it? Its a lake between the sea and the land next to Porthleven. Had some wonderful times walking round that lake with the gorse bushes "popping". |
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| Clem |
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Clem Walden, Johnny Lee and John (Ya) Hill Stamford Swimming Pool 1958 |
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| Janet Gibbons (nee Farman) |
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I recognise those faces!! I spent all my summer holidays down at the pool, from the time it opened up until it closed, day in, day out. We all checked the temperature list in the little window out front - 65 was positively hot!!! The coldest I ever swam in was 42F.The trick was to wade in up to your waist, then just plunge forward and keep going. Lovely feeling swimming through the early morning mist! When I started work I'd go down for a swim at 7.30 and take my breakfast with me. I've spent many a half hour shivering in the office with my cold toast and hard boiled egg, eaten with a cup of hot coffee provided by the Dennis, the then Bath Manager. Well, I also worked for the SBC so was classed as staff. Happy days! |
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