Northcroft lido remains closed but high hopes for July opening
Council confident popular outdoor pool will be in use despite delays
THE opening of Northcroft Leisure Centre’s popular outdoor lido has been delayed again this year – but West Berkshire Council says it is confident it will be ready by July.
The historic pool, which records indicate dates back to 1870, has been popular with Newbury's swimmers for years and attracted more than 10,000 visitors in the summer of 2012 alone.
However, the age of the pool means that it has been plagued by a long history of problems.
Previously, there were fears that the pool may have had to close for good owing to subsidence damage.
In 1972, Newbury District Council spent more than £7,000 on equipment to heat the pool after a ‘disastrous’ fall in the number of people using it, and in 1988 the Newbury Weekly News reported that the pool was losing around 2,500 gallons of water a day with the council spending £5,000 on repairing it.
In 1992, Newbury District Council spent £8,750 on strengthening the pool and replacing the tiled walkways.
In 2001, doubt was cast over the long-term future of the pool when West Berkshire Council commissioned a survey to determine the real cost of running the lido – but it insisted at the time that the pool was ‘not under threat’.
In 2005, the lido underwent a £31,000 improvement to install new boilers.
Last week, Northcroft Leisure Centre posted the following message on its website and Facebook page: “Unfortunately the opening of the Outdoor Lido is going to be delayed. Due to the groundwater table still being high we are unable to complete the repairs required.
“We will keep our Facebook updated and announce a new open date soon.”
However, when asked by the Newbury Weekly News what date it was originally due to open, a spokeswoman for West Berkshire Council, Peta Stoddart-Crompton, said: “There is no set date for the pool to open – it is fully dependent upon the ground water levels falling sufficiently to allow the pool to be checked, any repairs made and the preparation works to be completed.”
She added that the council was ‘hopeful’ it would be open in July.
According to the open air swimming pools guide, edited with assistance from members of the Lidos History Society, the pool was opened in August 1870, the architect was B Sargeant and builder D Weston. It cost £450.
The guide also says that the pool used to be segregated by sex, males on one side and females on the other, and was at that time unheated. It was enlarged in 1914 and completely rebuilt in 1937.
At that time it was said to be the largest pool in the South of England at 240ft x 40ft.
