FINCHLEY LIDO
6th August 2016
When is a lido not a lido? It’s an interesting question, and one that has much to do with how an outdoor pool self-identifies. Janet Smith, in her excellent and pioneering historical treatise on outdoor pools, Liquid Assets, identifies that although the Serpentine was the first in the UK to idenitfy itself as a lido ‘if we take lido to mean an open air pool with a terrace, lawn or beach area for sunbathing, plus a cafe and some form of spectator viewing area, then the Serpentine was by no means the first of its kind.’ She also reports that the London County Council (LCC) of the 1930s, a prolific builder of outdoor pools as a means to combat recession by spending on amenities that would improve public health, deliberated ling and hard over the terminology and the Parks & Open Spaces Committee of 1937 urged the LCC to use the word lido to ‘lend its influence in enriching the English language. And the LCC did just that, despite one official expressing some regret that no better English word could be found.
We no longer strictly define ‘lido’, and some pools that would celarly meet the definition out forward in Liquid Assets identify as ‘open air pool’ or ‘outdoor pool’ whereas some that lack the catering and sunbathing amenities do identify as a lido. And why not. The Parks & Open Spaces Committee of the LCC did indeed get their way and as a nation we have embraced the word ‘lido’ and embued it with the flexibility that it has today.
But Finchley lido is, possibly, the only pool in the UK that continues to pose the question ‘when is a lido not a lido’. The original Finchley Lido was a thing of utmost splendour, a vast and elegant heated main pool with twin wedding cake fountains so characteristic of 1930s outdoor pools. The elliptical children’s pool was flanked by a colonnaded crescent, offering some respite from the sun, and a cascade of water that capitalised on the children’s pool being built slightly downhill of the main pool. Those pools operated until the early 1990s, when they fell victim to the vicious circle that is falling attendance and poor management of the facility.
The Finchley Lido leisure complex stands in place of the lost magnificence that was the original lido, and the surrounding multiplex cinema and big chain food outlets certainly come nowhere close to the aspirational elegance that the 1930s structure had. The current building is a utilitarian grey box, but it does at least retain an outdoor pool. That pool is 25m long, 0.9m deep and just two lanes wide. It is prefectly adequate to have a decent swim in, I did the better part of a kilometre before children got in and started having exuberant ball games, although the surface of the water is quite a long way below deck level which makes turns interesting. The leisure centre operator, however, only opens the pool when the air temperature is above 22c. I had phoned in advance. ‘Yes’ they said ‘the outdoor pool will be open today — if you’re brave. It’s FREEZING!’
It was a very pleasant 22c or so, being unheated. There is also a circular extension to the pool that is ideal for chilren to splash in. I have no idea whether that elliptical extension to the rectangular pool is a knowing nod to the design of the original lido or not, but I hope so. There are also plenty of grassy areas for sunbathing around the pool, so despite it’s dimunutive size I think the current corner of Finchley Lido leisure centre that is the outdoor pool would meet the definition of ‘lido’ set out by Janet Smith, although she does not think so herself and lists this lido as completely defunct.
This is not a pool that will be anybody’s ‘regular’ lido, although the duty manager told me that there are plans to ‘heat it a little bit’ and open it year round.There is a perfectly serviceable indoor 25m pool on the same site, and maybe that explains the outdoor pool being treated as an afterthought. But this pool is worth a visit, just for the experience of swimming where once London’s first heated lido stood. It is a salutary lesson in progress not always being positive.
There aren’t any photos of the pool. As is common with commercial operators it is prohibited due to ‘child protection’. The duty manager did his best to help me get that permission, and I made it clear that I would be very happy for him to walk round with me and review any pictures I did take, but he was not empowered to make that decision and written permission in advance is needed. I find it a great shame that commercial operators have such a misguided view of the risks that photography represents to children, which is to say none at all, and it is plain that parents don’t value their efforts as at every pool I have swum at where there is this prohibition I have seen parents taking pictures of their children enjoying a good day out. And why not?
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