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Tinside Lido
Art Deco on Plymouth Hoe
Bathing and paddling along the seafront of Plymouth Hoe has probably been going on since we realised that man could swim, but in 1913 a scheme was put forward to build a pool and improve the bathing facilities along Tinside beach. Costing £800 to construct the pool, and a further £2,000 for other improvements, the new bathing facilities of Tinside beach were opened by Plymouth's Lord Mayor Mr. J. W. S. Godding on
August 16th, 1913. Although the bathers welcomed the new facilities, the Ratepayers Association were not so keen on the new development.
In 1928, the second stage of Tinside was completed, forming the terraces on the west end of the bay and the limestone fronted bathing houses. The building of the higher terraces, the bridge and new dressing rooms completed the third stage, which opened on June 27th, 1930. The fourth and completing phase included a variety of additions as listed: -
- Cliff paths and the promenade
- Sun bathing terraces
- Steps from Madeira Road
- Concrete foreshore to allow youngsters to paddle
- A diving shute
- Swimming rafts
- More modern conveniences
- Electrical lighting after successful trials of floodlit bathing in 1932
- A protection groyne on the western end of the bay
Alderman R. R. Oke; the Mayor of Plymouth at the time, opened these new facilities on Wednesday 14th June, 1933, using the new public address system installed by Mr W. D. Stribley; of the Radio Stores, Crownhill.
Although the Tinside Seafront Area was considered complete, it did not meet with people's general approval so the council's engineer;
Mr. S. Wibberley, was set the task of designing a new lido, the completed results were three fountains or cascades, floodlit at night, cycling through a three colour sequence and a one hundred and eighty foot semi circle bathing pool. The Lord Mayor, Lieutenant-Commander E. W. Rogers, officially opened the Tinside Lido on October 2nd, 1935.
In the 1980's the lido became disused, although it was declared a Grade II listed building in 1998. Following a study, Messrs John Allen & Avanti were awarded a contract of some £3.4m to re-develop it.
On Friday August 15th 2003, the new Tinside Lido was Re-opened, by Councillor Claude Miller, whose father was involved with the opening of the original lido in 1935, the son of the Council's Architectural Technician,
Cody Luxton, aged 5 was there to assist him. The public were admitted the following day.
