Hoylake Amateur Swimming Club has uncovered archive
film of the town’s outdoor Lido as part of it’s 75th anniversary celebrations.
A picture of life in 1930’s
Hoylake has emerged in archive film footage of the coastal town’s outdoor lido.
The old home movies uncovered as part of Hoylake Amateur Swimming Club’s 75th anniversary celebrations show images of activities at the Hoylake lido in the 1930’s and 1960’s. The lido
closed in 1981 and the club now make use of West Kirkby Concourse Leisure Centre.
Kay Morgan who was Women’s Captain in 1931 can still recall
the lido’s time at the centre of the early years of the club’s life “We used to wear woollen swimsuits but
that was just all there was. There was no lycra.”
The footage, which forms part of a new exhibition, shows the crowds
that would flock to the Lido in the summer months to swim and use the diving boards and slides that used to sit around the
edge of the pool.
Kay Morgan remembers starting early for training, “We went
about 7 o’clock in the morning before we went to school. The temperature was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 centigrade).
There was usually quite a crowd of us and we were pretty tough.”
Pinky Stabback competed in synchronised
swimming at the club in the 1960’s, “In the summer they used to have what they called Aqua ballets in all the
outdoor pools that were still going strong in the 1960’s.
“But then gradually it became more serious. To be a good synchronised
swimmer these days you need the stamina of a middle distance runner, the agility of a gymnast, the grace of a ballet dancer
and a decent ear for music because you’ve got to have a good sense of rythym. And the heart of a lion because it is
very very hard work.”
