Hendon UD Council opened Mill Hill swimming pool in 1935. The recent hot spell brings back memories of how it was in my boyhood. Every year, first of May marked the start of the outdoor swimming season with the reopening of the pool in Daws Lane. The swimming pool was filled with fresh water to replace the grimy green water left from the previous season. The gates were again open to visitors. It was generally the bold and the brave who fancied a dip straight away delighting in the clean fresh water although the water temperature was quite cold at the start of the season so visitors were few. The fountains which aerated the water located at each end of the pool sprang into life and the school swimming trips started up in earnest.
On the way home from school in the summer months leading up to the start of the school holidays in July, the 240 bus would stop outside the pool and one of our mates who alighted would hurriedly run to observe the water and air temperatures scribbled on the chalk board and shout them up to us on the top deck before the bus moved off, then, if possible we could dash home for our tea and go back for a late afternoon swim. There was much enthusiasm to take a dip when the temperatures were in the high seventies. As I attended St Vincent’s Catholic School we had special days off known as Catholic Holy days in May, June and July, it was amazing how many people you would mingle with amongst family and friends and people you had not seen for ages on those days, all sorts turned up at the pool throughout the season as it was the go to place to cool off and for sunny social gatherings.
As the weeks
went by and the rising temperatures of June and July approached with the onset
of the summer holidays, the number of visitors increased considerably, so when
the temperature reached the mid-seventies in Fahrenheit, the entrance queues
would get longer and wind their way around the corner into the adjoining car
park with waiting time of up to fifteen minutes before passing through the
clunky iron turnstile with your swimming togs under arm. If you were passing by
and fancied a cool off, you could hire a costume and towel at the gate. I
recall the entrance charge in the sixties for youngsters was about sixpence.
Once the
full summer temperatures peaked in the scorching heat of mid-summer, the place
was packed out and it was a job to find a spot to lay out your towels and claim
your pitch for the rest of your stay, often from early afternoon to closing
time at around 7pm. The noise emanating from the pool area when full would
drift across the park alongside and beyond. Each passing 240 bus deposited
another group of eager swimmers who couldn’t wait to get changed and take a
plunge along with their family and friends.
Once inside,
it was a real spectacle of people watching, whether it was noting the swimmers
getting air and sun to their whitened skin after the long winter months,
courting couples who liked to snuggle up once in the pool, Young lads rushing
around chasing, diving and bombing in the water and stylish expert swimmers
taking smart dives from the diving boards into the nine-foot-deep water in the
centre of the pool. The novices and learners tended to splash very carefully at
the front end in two feet six inches of water learning to swim until they had the
confidence to venture into the deeper parts of the pool. Adults like my Mum,
loved to swim steadily from right to left or up and down at a gentle pace in
the deeper less busy areas.
It was quite
exciting to rush in and out of the cold fountains and babies in nappies would
splash in the warmer and shallow children’s pool by the far end fountain. The
authorities decided to move the back fence outwards to enlarge the resting area
and maintained a grassed area here for those who preferred lying on grass to
hot paving slabs. I wonder how they managed the numbers before increasing the
area.
Once through
the gates the genders were segregated to the cold draughty changing rooms which
were very basic with high open roofs of bare iron girders, glazed roof panels
and uninsulated roof coverings. You entered the space and walked on a cold
concrete floor and got changed in a narrow wooden cubicle with a wooden bench
and partitions and enclosed with a plain wooden door painted sky blue. In the
Male areas clothes were piled into an iron basket with a hanging frame and hook
and handed over to the attendants who placed them in numbered rows in a
spacious hanging area then handed you a disc with your basket number which you
attached to your costume with a safety pin; it could be awkward if you lost it
in the pool. In the higher sticky temperatures those changing rooms stank of a
mixture of sweaty socks, B.O. and the chemicals used to keep the pool clean.
Then, after an impatient wait to deposit your basket of clothes at the counter,
it was out through the “sheep dip” as we called the foot bath and off to find
your pitch linking up with all the people joining you.
Some made a cautious and steady walk down the
steps into the fresh cold water, whilst others made a quick stylish racing dive
whilst some simply jumped in. There were two slides; a small children’s slide
with a wooden base and a steeper and longer stainless steel slide next to the
diving boards discharging into the deep water. On occasion an ambulance would
arrive to remove a casualty who got it wrong or passed out.
After spending a good while in the cold water,
you went back to the towels dripping wet, shivering and occasionally with blue
lips depending on the temperature, then lay in the sunshine to warm up if the
sun was out and could treat yourself to a cup of something from the pool café
with a bag of crisps or any other snack you might be able to afford. If your
Dad was with you there was a better chance of snacking as he could afford it as
pocket money had to stretch a long way for school kids. It was great to meet up
and banter with your school mates and exchange views on all the happenings
around you and starting to notice how the people from your school looked
slightly different in swimming costumes noticing that the girls who started to
develop curves, but a bit embarrassing if they were one of your relatives
receiving male attention. Looking at old photographs it is noticeable how much
leaner we all were back then.
At the end of the afternoon and after a long wait to collect your clothes we dressed hastily wondered off home feeling tired but relaxed with wet togs under arm. Some liked to visit the café for a cup of hot Bovril but not my particular fancy. I would prefer an ice cream from the sweet shop opposite.
As the
summer days drew to a close and days got shorter the numbers fell off, then the
pool would shut again at the end of September for maintenance and preparation
for the next summer season. Often lads would attempt a night time dip climbing
over the fence and having a great time running away from the park wardens. All
for a good laugh.
I am sure that many of the Mill Hill residents can remember those pool outings for many reasons. I particularly recall going into the pool in the hot summer of 1976 in July as I was working on a chimney in nearby Poets corner and the midday heat got to me and my assistant Dave so we simply walked down to the pool and on entering took off all except our shorts and dived in to cool off, it was magnificent!
That was my last visit before it closed. Happy days!!!
As the years went by warmer heated indoor pools became more of an attraction than Lidos and the numbers and interests in our unheated local pool decreased so Barnet Council decided to close it for good.The place stood dormant for a while in a state of dereliction in the early nineteen eighties and I took my son and his friends to see as it was easy to enter into the old place and walk on the infilled pool where animals were housed for a while before it was turned into a garden centre. The Pool is now Etz Chaim school.
Here are some more pictures of the derelict pool.
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The Derelict changing rooms and pool |
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The Fountain |
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The Toddlers Pool |
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Guest blogs are always welcome at The Barnet Eye. Chris the Mill Hillian is a member of a long standing, well known Mill Hill Family.