Swimming pools
London swimming pools we've liked
Swiss Cottage saga
If you grew up in North West London, you went swimming at Copthall or Swiss Cottage. London-RIP went to Swiss Cottage. There were two huge pools, Adelaide and Priory, sports halls and a cafe serving pasties and Bovril, which tasted nice if you'd just been swimming, but nasty if you weren't wet and cold. There was also a community centre called the Winchester nearby, places to play sports, and later, a market. Now? Guess what? Swiss Cottage is closed for redevelopment. Luckily, part of the site is going to be used for something London is desperately short of - luxury flats.
To be fair, the community centre has been given a new, rather posh
building on the site and the market has moved alongside the revamped
Hampstead Theatre. There is also going to be another swimming pool
there, apparently - two, in fact. But when you look at the site, with
the flats (£5 million penthouse, anyone?), you can't escape the feeling
that it's the leisure facilities that are going to be squeezed. This is
a controversial development and it affects more than the immediate
area. London-RIP thinks it's very much a matter of wait and see.
RIP Finchley Lido: the great outdoors
Maybe it'll all end up a mixed bag like Finchley Lido. London once had many outdoor pools and in a way it's surprising how many survive, considering the lousy weather. Yeah, we know they swam outside all the time in the 1930s, but they were made of stronger stuff then. Still, Finchley Lido was fantastic. A state-of-the-art, white and blue Art Deco wonder, with fountains and what seemed like acres of real grass to sit on. During those few very hot summers in the 70s, London-RIP spent many blissful weeks there lying on the parched grass and turning a glowing shade of red instead of going to school.
The pool closed in 1992. Apparently, it had become quite run-down and a string of bad summers can't have helped. The site, which was huge, is now a Warner Village, with cinema, bowling etc. At least it's still something people can enjoy and not flats. There are two pools there, an indoor and outdoor, but compared to the glories of the Lido? Sorry, but they're mere puddles. Puddles.
Clissold Leisure Centre: RIP so soon
Things looked as if they were on the up for swimming in north London, with the opening of Clissold Leisure Centre near Clissold Park in Stoke Newington. 
By rights, this shouldn't really be on London-RIP, as I can't believe anyone ever had the chance to have a London-RIP moment there. That's because, in what is an almsot unbelievable cock-up, this multi-million pound building closed a few months after it opened having been found to have serious defects. Still, I had the chance to go to a very pleasant kids' party there, and I can confidently say it was nice when it lasted. The building is now bristling with scaffolding, so perhaps all is not lost.
Tell London-RIP about it
Swimming pool/sports venue you loved?
