The lido was opened in 1909 in a spectacular spot on the Clyde. It started life as a tidal pool with a sandy bottom.
The pool was closed at the end of the 2010 summer season for a major improvement project, which was completed before the end of 2011. The existing changing accommodation was replaced with a more modern leisure centre, incorporating an enlarged gymnasium and lift access from the street level down to the new changing accommodation and the upgraded pool.
Some of the older maps and aerial images show the pool as much larger. The image above from 1929 shows the pool as being the full width of the frontage so I am guessing that the tank was made smaller during the 1960’s work as historic images from 2009 show the pool as its current size prior to the 2012 refurbishment. There is very little information about this pool so difficult to confirm. If anyone has knowledge of the tank size changes, please post a comment.
| Name | Gourock Outdoor Pool Albert Rd, Gourock PA19 1NQ, Scotland |
| Built / opened | 1909 |
| Cost | |
| Dimensions | 109′ x 49′ |
| Capacity | |
| Water type | Sea water |
| Depth(s) | Max 11′ |
| Diving boards | |
| Changing facilities | |
| Second pool | Very small childrens pool, approx 2′ deep |
| Spectator seating | |
| Designer | |
| Date closed | |
| Status | Open |
| On site now | The pool |
| Notes | 1. £1.8m refurbishment to provide new gym and updated outer buildings in 2012 2. In 1950, plans are made to improve the Gourock outdoor pool to improve safety and cleanliness by measures including installation of a purification plant, to an estimated renovation cost of £18,000. 12 years later, Gillespie, Kidd and Coia are contracted by civil engineers F. A. MacDonalds & Partners to act as consulting architects on the task. The updated price is £26,000, for purification and plumbing, and the project is completed around 1963/4. |
| Links |
October 2021
This visit was made after the pool had closed for the 2021 season. I have not been able to find out if the pool is always left in the closed season to turn green then it is cleaned for the next year or whether this was unusual. If anyone knows, please leave a comment.
It made a nice change to visit a pool that is still open, particularly one situated overlooking the River Clyde. Gourock is a short train ride from Glasgow Central and from here you can take a ferry across to Dunoon where, just south of the town was a 1936-built sea pool but unfortunately I didn’t know that it had existed when I visited and little remains.
