Stonehaven Open Air Swimming Pool, Queen Elizabeth Park,

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( , ) is a town in Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 11,602 at the 2011 Census. After the demise of the town of Kincardine, which was gradually abandoned after the destruction of its royal cast ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

, is an Olympic sized heated open air public pool opened in 1934. It is the

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 the UK.

Description

This 55 yard (50.3 meters) x 20 yard open air pool is the UK's only

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 ...

Olympic sized sea water

. The water is heated (29C/84F) and the pool is open from late May to early September. There is a Leisure Centre with indoor swimming pool next door. Other facilities include a paddling pool and a

cafe A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

. At the deep end, there is a small

water slide A water slide (also referred to as a flume, or water chute) is a type of slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at water parks. Water slides differ in their riding method and therefore size. Some slides require riders to si ...

, themed as a shark. An inflatable is also available on weekend afternoons in early & late season and daily in high season (local school holidays). Midnight swims are also offered weekly in high season. There was also previously a high diving board, but this was removed many years ago.

History

The pool was opened 2 June 1934 by MP

Malcolm Barclay-Harvey Sir Charles Malcolm Barclay-Harvey, KCMG (2 March 1890 – 17 November 1969) was a British politician and Governor of South Australia from 12 August 1939 until 26 April 1944. The only child of James Charles Barclay-Harvey, of Dinnet House, Aberd ...

with a ceremony that included speed swimming and diving. Initially unheated, a combined heating and filtration system was installed for 1935 following complaints that the pool was too cold. The pool remained open during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Usage of the pool declined in the 1970s, reportedly due to changing holiday patterns. The Friends of the Pool organisation was created in 1995 following a threat of closure from the council. On 5 March 1996, councillors decided to mothball the pool in an attempt to save around £80,000 in yearly subsidies. Following a local campaign led by the Friends of the Pool, the council announced that it would not withdraw the funds, allowing the pool to continue to operate. While the Council owns and operates the pool, the Friends maintain, enhance and promote the pool. In 2019, the slide was closed due to concerns about the state of its supporting structure. It was replaced for the opening of the pool in 2021. The pool did not operate in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. It is set to reopen in May 2021.

Footnotes

References

External links

* - a partnership between Aberdeenshire Council and the Friends of the Pool
Lidos in the UK
Lidos Swimming venues in Scotland Sports venues completed in 1934 Art Deco architecture in Scotland Stonehaven 1934 establishments in Scotland {{swimming-stub