Another Gem of the British Seaside - The Jubilee Pool, Penzance

During late August 2012 we went to Cornwall for my Birthday, and stayed in Penzance, travelling to Bedruthan Steps on the wettest day imaginable, and visiting the delightful Mousehole.

The highlight however, was walking along the "Prom" and seeing in the distance a blue & white vision, The Jubilee Pool.

Lovers of Art Deco, we were thrilled to see it on a bright sunny day, gleaming a brilliant white.
Details below from the Jubilee Pool website http://www.jubileepool.co.uk/.

Described as one of the most unusual and pleasingly designed lidos of the era, the Jubilee Pool was designed in the early 1930s by Captain F Latham, the Borough Engineer. The pool was opened with great celebration in May 1935, the year of King George V’s Silver Jubilee.

The Pool was built upon a traditional bathing spot at the Battery Rocks near the harbour at Penzance. Cleverly designed to cope with the full ferocity of the Cornish seas, The pool is triangular in shape yet with gentle curves, making it a most pleasant environment. A contemporary guide book tells us that:

“In many respects the design is unique architecturally, partly from a point of view of necessity in conforming with existing conditions of wave elements and rocks which controlled the outline. Streamlines have been used to the greatest advantage in meeting the direction of the storm waves, while a Cubist style has been adopted in the interior in providing diving platforms and steps… The whole pool is surrounded by high streamlined sea walls terraced up within the interior so as to give aspect and effect. They also serve to strengthen the structure.” These walls also protect swimmers from strong, offshore winds and form terraces for spectators.

The pool was a popular amenity for over 50 years. However, by 1992 the pool had become dilapidated to the extent that its future operation was in doubt. But luckily a retired local architect, John Clarke, came to the rescue. He was alarmed when a proposal to build a copper coloured pyramid structure over the pool was proposed.  The Jubilee Pool Association was formed and thanks to his direct input the pool was listed. In the following two years, John and members of the JPA worked voluntarily with Penwith District Council to secure essential grant funding to contribute to the pool’s restoration over two phases. In 1994, after essential restructural works, the pool reopened to much acclaim, and the jubilant scenes witnessed when the pool first opened in 1935 were repeated some 60 years later.

Like many places on the coast it was badly damaged last year, and there are fundraising efforts to finance the restoration work, with some Government money pledged (which is after all ours).

I read of this and thought I would get some shots edited from that trip, and will hopefully return there one day.