Grange Lido is an open-air 50 m sea-water swimming pool, or

lido Lido may refer to: Geography Africa * Lido, a district in the city of Fez, Morocco Asia * Lido, an area in Chaoyang District, Beijing * Lido, a cinema theater in Siam Square shopping area in Bangkok * Lido City, a resort in West Java owned by MN ...

, in

Grange-over-Sands Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish located on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District National Park. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,042, increasing at the 2011 ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, England. It opened in 1932 and closed in 1993, but campaigners are working to see it re-opened as a swimming pool. The lido is in

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style, and is grade II

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

History and architecture

The lido opened in 1932. The buildings were designed by Grange-over-Sands

Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...

's surveyor, named Bernard Smith or Thomas Huddlestone. The lido sits on Grange promenade on the shore of

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is a large estuary in northwest England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second larges ...

, although the changing course of the

River Kent The River Kent is a short river in the county of Cumbria in England. It originates in hills surrounding Kentmere, and flows for around 20 miles (32 km) into the north of Morecambe Bay. The upper reaches and the western bank of the estuary ...

means that the sea is at some distance from the promenade, separated by

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

. The pool was filled with filtered sea-water at high tide, and was unheated. The buildings are in

style. Historic Pools of Britain describes the lido as "A very fine intact Art Deco mushroom shaped lido in a stunning setting on the edge of Morecambe Bay".

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

state the reasons for the lido's grade II listing in 2011 as:

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

's ''

The Buildings of England ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (revised ed. 2010), within its description of Grange promenade, simply says "Lido, 1933, closed 1992, and now very forlorn". The lido suffered damage from floods in 1977, when the outer wall was breached, but celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1982 with a special gala.

Closure and future

The lido closed in 1993, after a report suggested that necessary repairs would be too expensive to be justified. In 2011 the Save Grange Lido campaign was established, aiming to "transform it into a vibrant community owned leisure facility with a restored 50m pool at its heart." The group has produced a detailed business plan setting out how it believes this could be achieved. It is a

community benefit society An industrial and provident society (IPS) is a body corporate registered for carrying on any industries, businesses, or trades specified in or authorised by its rules. The members of a society benefit from the protection of limited liability ...

. In 2015 South Lakeland District Council began to consider future uses for the site which would not include a swimming facility: the pool area was to become a "landscaped open space". In February 2019 the council allocated £2million for "light touch refurbishment" of the lido, to include making it structurally sound, bringing it back into public use, and providing refurbished units for community groups or entrepreneurs.

References

External links

* * ''Contains several archive photos and video clip of 1932 opening''
Save Grange Lido
{{coords, 54.187489, -2.912146, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Lidos Swimming venues in England Sports venues in Cumbria Grade II listed buildings in Cumbria Grade II listed sports and recreation buildings Sports venues completed in 1932 Grange-over-Sands Listed sports venues in England