London Fields Lido

Opened in 1932, the pool was one of the first by the design team of London County Council (LCC) architects, Harry Rowbotham and T L Smithson.

The site was designated for the lido in July 1930 and would be funded partly by the LCC. The pool temporarily closed during WWII and re-opened 1951.

The aerator fountain was removed in 1978 to enlarge the sunbathing area but also possibly it was something to do with the new paddling pool.

The pool did not open in 1988, due to “staff shortages” but this was shortly after the abolition of the Greater London Council (GLC) and the additional budget pressures on local authorities that this produced. The plan was to demolish the pool and buildings, justified by the council by the issue of a negative report citing high running costs and dilapidation. The London Fields User group put forward an alternative view demonstrating that the running costs were comparable with the borough indoor pools.

The council halted demolition plans pending a new report, but nobody told the demolition contractors who turned up early one morning to start work. Fortunately, members of the lido user group managed to block their path whilst waiting for the arrival of a local council representative to confirm the reprieve.

A consultant was appointed to carry out a study, but this did not happen until 1992 and resulted in an unattractive fence being erected around the pool and not much else.

Over the next few years, meetings and campaigns continued in earnest. A huge clean-up operation was organised by the user group and over a few weekends years of overgrowth were cleared away. The ugly fence was removed and the windows properly boarded and painted making the site less of an eyesore.

Unfortunately, the clear up allowed squatters to move in and further damage was caused by them.

The winning bid for the Olympics to be held in London caused an assessment of training facilities and a lack of 50m training pools was highlighted. Yet another study was commissioned by LB Hackney, and this produced a number of £395,000 to refurbish the lido.

A potential developer, Environment Trust came forward with plans to hand over management of the pool to a third party, Market Sport, but again these proposals were rejected.

After 16 years of campaigning, in 2004, LB Hackney decided to spend £2m on refurbishment of the lido thus providing another 50m Olympic training pool, adding to the 17 in existence in the UK at the time. Work started in December 2005, with a further delay caused by finding asbestos. The pool eventually re-opened on 26th October 2006 through to December for a trial period and then closed again for some additional work such as security improvements, cafe, bike racks and access works. The pool was ready for re-opening at Easter 2007.

The pool is slightly smaller now. 165′ is 50.3m so it was changed to make it competition suitable.

Twinned with Kennington Park Lido (opened 1931, closed 1988).

1945

1999

2008