Blue Wave Swimming Pool, Diss

The Blue Wave Swimming Pool was privately built by Bellpools Ltd from Wattisfield, a building company run by a Mr BW Belcher. Construction began at the end of January 1953, with a view to it being opened before the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. It was a concrete lined pool filled with filtered freshwater and had diving boards, a water slide that ran from a sunbathing terrace atop the adjacent building and aerator fountain.

The opening ceremony was performed by Rear-Admiral AH Taylor on 23rd May 1953, after which there were swimming and diving demonstrations by Stowmarket Swimming Club. The first season lasted four months, with the pool closing on 20th September 1953. The entrance fee was sixpence and a season ticket that allowed entry for the whole day was ten shillings.

The second season commenced on 8th May 1954. After the pool closed at the end of September, discussions began between Mr Belcher and Diss UDC, with a view to the pool being purchased by the town. Negotiations didn’t go too well and they had not been concluded by the start of the third season in mid-May 1955. Talks lasted throughout the third season, but by October 1955, negotiations had broken down entirely, and Mr Belcher threatened to close the pool and sell the land for industrial use.

Belcher finally agreed to rent the pool to Diss UDC, and it opened a month late on 18th June 1956. The pool was run by volunteers throughout the season, and it only survived because the running costs were a lot lower than they would have been, had it been run by paid staff. In April 1957, that Mr Belcher and Diss UDC reached agreement on the purchase of the pool.

The pool was used extensively by local schools for swimming lessons from its first opening with locals reporting the freezing temperatures and sharing the pool with frogs and slime!

By 1989, the pool was enclosed. More recently, the pool benefitted from an extensive £4m refurbishment that included the tank being squared off, made shallower and tiled, improved changing rooms and better seating for spectators. The pool also had solar panels installed.

We would like to thank the members of the Diss and District Memories Facebook Group for providing most of the information and photographs for ths page.