Charlton Lido (branded as Charlton Lido and Lifestyle Club) is a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

and

leisure centre A leisure centre in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia (also called aquatic centres), Singapore and Canada is a purpose-built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people ...

in Hornfair Park,

Charlton Charlton may refer to: People * Charlton (surname) * Charlton (given name) Places Australia * Charlton, Queensland * Charlton, Victoria * Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South Wale ...

, southeast London.

Facilities

As well as the outdoor Olympic-size swimming pool heated to 25C all year, the centre has a children's pool, outdoor sunbathing space, a gym, spin studio, and a cafe and rooftop terrace, plus tennis courts nearby. It is managed by Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL, trading as 'Better') on behalf of Greenwich London Borough Council.

History

The last municipal lido to be built in London, Charlton Lido first opened in May 1939. Similar to other London County Council lidos designed by Harry Rowbotham and T. L. Smithson in the Moderne style, it has a 165-foot main pool, a smaller children's pool, cascaded aerator fountains and Moderne-style shelters and changing blocks. It closed four months after opening due to the outbreak of World War II, eventually reopening in 1946. Declining revenue and increasing costs meant the lido closed to the public in 1989, though it continued to be used sporadically by local clubs. It became derelict in the 2000s, but was refurbished ahead of the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, with the first phase completed in July 2012, attracting 5,000 visitors in its first month of operation. At the time of the £5m refurbishment, a GLL proposal to rename it "Royal Greenwich Lido" was rejected. The refurbishment was completed in 2013,Charlton Lido History
, ''Southwark News''. creating what was described by '' The Guardian'' as "London’s newest (refurbished) lido, a sparkling facility in an otherwise unremarkable part of London". In 2019, an event was held to mark the 80th anniversary of the lido's opening, attended by Olympic gold medallist swimmer

Duncan Goodhew Duncan Alexander Goodhew, (born 27 May 1957) is an English former competitive swimmer. After swimming competitively in America as a collegian at North Carolina State University, he was an Olympic swimmer for Great Britain and won Olympic gold a ...

and Channel swimmer Tom Gregory. Forced to close during the first lockdown of the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...

, Charlton Lido was the first lido to reopen, on 11 July 2020, when restrictions were relaxed. Lamenting the COVID-19 lockdown closure of swimming pools, the London '' Evening Standards Vicky Frost earlier described it as: :"... defiantly not built for

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. It has neither the cool of Brockwell or

London Fields London Fields is a park in Hackney, London, although the name also refers to the immediate area in Hackney surrounding it and London Fields station. It is common land adjoining the Hackney Central area of the London Borough of Hackney. The p ...

, nor, thankfully, the freezing waters of Tooting or Parliament Hill lidos. ... Instead its 50m lengths are the perfect temperature, and its chilly terraces the perfect space for a post-swim cup of tea."

References

{{reflist Lidos Charlton, London Swimming venues in London 1939 establishments in England 1939 in London Sport in the Royal Borough of Greenwich