Uxbridge Lido aka Hillingdon Lido

Uxbridge Lido opened in August 1935, and the ceremony featured a fanfare of trumpets of the Royal Air Force. The programme of events included an exhibition of modern speed swimming, springboard diving, the oddly named figure-floating and a relay race between the Penguin Swimming Club and the Royal Air Force. It concluded with a polo match between the same teams.

The pool remained a popular venue and open until 1983 when it was closed for the year to save money. The following year it was leased to the Uxbridge Pool and Leisure Club. Who ran the venue for five years. They implemented solar panels that successfully heated the water during the summer months and added a water slide. The group had to give up the pool in 1989 when the costs of repairs required became overwhelming.

The site was taken over by the Yiewsley Pool Development Trust until 1998 when it was closed for what seemed like the final time.

The pool was one of the featured examples in Janet Smith’s book ‘Liquid Assets’ where she reports that the pool is subject of an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for redevelopment. It was also on Oliver Merrington’s ‘Potentially Re-openable Lidos’ list of 2005.

Someone saw the potential using the lido as part of a wider scheme of sports and recreation including a new indoor pool. It was part of a £31 million redevelopment of the Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex, and it re-opened in March 2010. The new complex was designed by Faulkner Brown.

Part of the scheme included the reduction of the length of the pool from its original 220’ to 166’ thus providing a competition pool of 50m. The remainder of the pool was sectioned off to form a 60’ x 50’ children’s pool.

The pool was first used as an Olympic training venue in 1948 and then again, in 2012 by the South Korean Olympic Team.

The lido and original buildings are listed Grade II and is now run by Better Leisure. The pool is open between April and October and heated water was introduced in 2022.