FROM THE ARCHIVES

Making Waves

The summer sun provides the perfect opportunity for Club Archivist Clare Button to dive into the history of the Outdoor Pool

With the summer upon us, members can (hopefully) look forward to some fine weather to enjoy the Club’s open-air activities, including a dip in the Outdoor Pool. Some readers may remember Carrie Starren’s excellent article in Issue 115 of Hurlingham, ‘How the Pool was won’, which tells the story of the Pool’s construction and opening in 1932/33. With its floodlights, cocktail bar and space for sunbathing spectators, the Pool was the height of thirties glamour. During the hot summer of 1934, the Pool was used by 12,500 people, and the resulting boost in membership numbers helped write off the entire cost (over £3,000) in the first year and ameliorate the Club’s previously precarious finances. Swimming gymkhanas were held, and the floodlit Pool provided a spectacular backdrop to dinner dances and the Eton and Harrow (later the ‘Hurlingham’) Ball.

The Minutes of the Swimming Pool Sub-Committee, which survive in the archives, continue this story by charting the rapid social and cultural changes of the post-war decades. 

The Pool was damaged by bombs during the Second World War but, following repairs, was soon back in use. The Minutes for 1947 record that members could hire lilo cushions for a shilling each, although the regulations firmly stated, lest too much frivolity ensued, that ‘Gramophones and wireless sets are not allowed in the Pool’! 

By the early 1950s, the grassy areas around the Pool had been increased, chairs, tables and coloured umbrellas provided, and sanitation upgraded, in former Club historian Nigel Miskin’s words, ‘from primitive to contemporary’. That said, there were ongoing complaints over the years about the lack of heating in the Pool. Heating was finally installed in September 1968 at a cost of £4,100, which was soon offset by an increase in income as less hardy members were now tempted to try the waters.

Synchronised Swimming, c.1987; donated by a member in 1977

Crucially, the Minutes also record the names of the staff who kept the Pool up and running. These details are largely absent from the Pool’s early history, with the exception of an extraordinary collection of photographs compiled by the indomitable Phyllis Brooke-Johnson, wife of the then Club Secretary. One of these photographs, which Brooke-Johnson’s granddaughters kindly allowed the Club to copy, shows a man called ‘Heseltine’ and an unnamed swimming pool attendant. We can safely assume that these were the first members of Pool staff. Records from the 1950s reveal that later attendants were usually married couples: a Mr and Mrs Ridgewell during the 1950s, followed by Mr and Mrs A.E. Jones (with their two sons helping out during busy periods) and Mr Kimpton (already employed as the Club’s carpenter) and his wifein the 1970s. In 1976 there was a drive to recruit more attendants, although it was noted that ‘It was considered doubtful whether a girl … would be as useful as a man’ due to the ‘heavy work to be done carrying cushions’! 

Poolside catering proved to be a tricky issue over the years. Trials of vending machines and fresh sandwiches were not successful, and in 1960 members were restricted to ‘a supply of chocolate and cigarettes’ for their refreshment. By 1975, however, they could enjoy ‘Hot Frankfurters, Cheese and Biscuits, Potato Crisps and Fresh Fruit’, while the Pool’s bar provided ‘gin, whisky, rosee [sic], white wine, and half bottles of champagne’.

The Minutes for 1947 record that members could hire lilo cushions for a shilling each, although the regulations firmly stated, lest too much frivolity ensued, that ‘Gramophones and wireless sets are not allowed in the Pool’!

The 1970s saw several instances of thefts and vandalism, with reports of tubs of flowers thrown into the Pool, a store set on fire and seats hurled into the river. However, there were also improvements, including the building of a separate children’s pool in 1971, which helped address persistent complaints about ‘romping children’ disturbing adult swimmers and sunbathers in the main pool. Swimming galas continued to be held both for children and adults, although the Minutes for 1970 record that the surely unmissable ‘Diving for Spoons’ event was sadly dropped! On 9 June 1977 the Club opened to the public as part of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, where part of the day’s activities included an appearance by the Seymour Synchronised Swimming School. In that same year, a member donated a mangle which sat by the Pool’s edge and was used to wring water from wet swimming gear, but which had started life on a Thames sailing barge drying the crew’s washing! This historic piece of equipment survives to this day in the Grounds Yard.

Recent decades have witnessed many improved amenities for swimmers, from the opening of the Indoor Pool in 1992 to the rebuilding of the Outdoor Pool in 2011 and further developments since. However, while today’s modernised facilities are a far cry from the Pool’s early days, the simple pleasure of swimming al fresco in the Club’s grounds remains unchanged. In the words of a regular bather: ‘It is heaven to start the day swimming in the open air, with the willow, the birds and the open sky – and above all the camaraderie of happy, healthy members!’

CLARE BUTTON, CLUB ARCHIVIST