Aldershot Lido

The unusual and organic shape of Aldershot Lido gives a pool of significant proportions but was still designed for diving, swimming lengths and water polo.

It was opened on 24^th May 1930 by the Mayor and Mayoress. The opening ceremony had demonstrations of swimming, fancy diving, relay races and polo. A new club, the Aldershot Town Swimming Club was formed. Prior to the displays, the Mayoress tipped a crystal bowl of goldfish into the water. Who knows what became of them!

The pool had been formed from the lake in Aldershot Park that had been part of the estate purchased by the council in 1920. The lake, fed by a natural spring, was drained, excavated and provided with filtration, changing facilities and surrounded by lawns and terraces. It originally held 1,500,000 gallons of water but this has been reduced to 725,000 gallons.  This would have put the pool as the fourth largest in the UK at the time of opening, exceeded only by Cleethorpes, South Bay in Scarborough and South Shore in Blackpool, all situated in popular seaside towns.

The pool was the venue for three events from the modern pentathlon in the 1948 Olympic Games.

The pool was in danger of closure in 2015 when Rushmoor Council proposed to replace it with a splash pad, but it was saved by public action. A petition produced thousands of signatures. It resulted in the formation of the Friends of Aldershot Lido (FOAL) that continues to exist.