We went to Victoria Baths yesterday as part of the national Heritage Weekend event where all sorts of places are opened to the public. The original plan was to go up Peel Tower, but getting a 3 year old to walk up Holcombe Hill in a typhoon would have proved tricky.

Anyway… back to Victoria Baths. If you like buildings, architecture and even a bit of social history (1st class men had a separate and far more opulent entrance to 2nd class men, assorted dirty poor people and grubby women) you should take the opportunity to visit. The place was dubbed “Manchester’s Water Palace” when it opened in 1906 and you can see why.

Did anyone else go to a Heritage Weekend event?

That’s amazing. Shame we don’t get that sort of attention to detail anymore.

If you stay at the Gellert Hotel in Budapest you can actually swim and sauna in baths very similar to that, right behind the hotel.

No, I thought I’d put myself on the email list or set myself a reminder after missing it last year, but obviously not.
A bit like NGS open days, I always seem to see the sign after it’s happened.

That pool looks spectacular.

Looks amazing and a top spot for a pint too….

Home

…which I’ll unfortunately miss this year as we’re expecting our first child that weekend 🙂

Looks like the baths I went too when in infant school in Swinton. ( – the stained glass) had to shut the pool during winter due to the glass roof keep falling into the pool after bad storms 😯

My Dad used to swim there as a kid

http://www.bullenconservation.co.uk/Projects/Images/HarpurheyBaths_1.jpg
Also now closed ,slightly less grand but built around the same time.Me,my sister and brother all learned to swim here in the late 60s early 70s.A generation before , my war widowed gran used to walk up from her Collyhurst slum(no bath) once a week with her three kids(one disabled) to use the bath house for bathing rather than swimming.They were only allowed three inches of hot water in the tub for the whole family!

Nick, I learned to swim at Harpurhey Baths too – lived about 5 minutes walk away on Lewis Ave.

Very happy memories of that place – as kids we were in there all the time during the holidays.
Was taught to swim by a Mr Evert, a lovely bloke.
Always preferred the green pool with the big stone steps, off to the right as you walked in – it was warmer in the winter and I liked the slightly delapidated air of the place, with plants growing out of the roof 😀

My mum (Collyhurst too!) used the wash house at the back for years until we got a proper washing machine.

I’d love to have a look round again.

Very jealous Harry, working all weekend sadly so missed out this year.

Awesome, reminds of Cambridge road baths in Huddersfield. I used to go for a sauna/swim there back in the early 90’s as a wee 13yr/teen.

I still vivdly remember the place- very similar to the top pic (and the huge Victorian Baths that were still in use then to bathe in).

It was all knocked down though due to ‘costs and maintanence’. I’m sure it was a bloody listed building and the council decided to keep the decrepit 60’s concrete sports centre instead.

****.

Have a wee look here Abandoned Places

Some amazing buildings

Mr Evert taught us to swim too!

😀

Where did you live Nick?
I still get back a bit as I have relatives just off Moston Lane.

Nice to see the area looking better these days, but that bloody awful TV programme didn’t help.

badlama – did you got to St. Mary’s primary? I did and we used the old Swinton baths for our swimming lessons. It was next door to a pub know locally as Halligan’s.

I remember the glass falling into the pool!

the council decided to keep the decrepit 60’s concrete sports centre instead

Oh no, thats going to be a Tesco’s now 😉

Made me think of Cambridge road too….

Seriously? Right next door to a humungous Sainsburys?!

Harry- inside Jigsaw the retail shop in the corn exchange you can still see a section of what the place used to look like.

Yeah, they are building a new sports centre on the cark park behind the fire station, Tescos are having the building the sports centre is now in (might be/probably demolishing it, not sure), moving out of the hideous building they are in now. not sure who’s having that.

Ah, that used to be Hillards years ago.

Jeesus, dont Huddersfield counsellors think?

That land behind the fire station already has a sports centre there….. (public/in the Sikh community centre).

Forum for exploring disused sites etc.

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/

There’s a few back in Bradders I’ll be hitting up.

When I saw the pictures of the main swimming pool at Victoria baths, I thought I recognised it from going swimming there as a kid (5 years old), then the pictures of Harpurhey made me think maybe it was there. So I looked at the map to work out which was closest to Failsworth and realised it was Broadway baths. Which aren’t as old or grand, but look close enough inside to confuse my childhood memories.

Reminds me of the old Glossop Road baths in Sheffield, now long closed.

If you stay at the Gellert Hotel in Budapest you can actually swim and sauna in baths very similar to that, right behind the hotel.

Ace aren’t they! Although we stayed in the Wombat and just wen’t there to soak away our hangovers, the sauna is biblicly hot (and the plunge pool had ice floating in it).

Victoria baths is a stunning building, i had a look round last year whilst supping some quality beer at the indyman beer convention and will be doing the same again this year. Some of the money from the beer con goes towards the restoration fund so its worth going to for the ale and the buildings future.

Are those Manchester baths the same ones that where on that Restoration TV programme with Grif Rhys Jones a few years ago, where the public voted for the winner?
They should do another series of that, or an update on what happened to the places featured

They have an antique fair thing at Victoria Baths once a month (I think)) which is good if you like that sort of thing

Are those Manchester baths the same ones that where on that Restoration TV programme with Grif Rhys Jones a few years ago, where the public voted for the winner?

They are. It was 10 years ago!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Baths

http://victoriabaths.org.uk/

Jesus H Christ! That was 10 years ago, that’s got to be the quickest decade in recorded history 😯

Magic. Meanwhile, the council are cutting funding to the awesome public lavvies in Rothesay

That’s gorgeous! Clydebank had some lovely public baths too:

More: http://catchingphotons.co.uk/blog/miscellaneous/clydebank-public-baths/

Derek_starship no Broadoak (just round cornrr from my old local The White Horse ) l think all the schools went there back in the day 🙂

Those loos are incredible.

10 years, jesus I thought it was 4 or 5 max!

Did I see those Victoria Baths in an episode of Sherlock?

Bramley baths in Leeds is very similar and still in use , they have a jacuzzi at one end and a Russian steam room in the building too.

pool porn

Did I see those Victoria Baths in an episode of Sherlock?

Dunno. They did shoot the morgue scenes from Life On Mars in the Turkish Room though.

It was also used in Cracker and Prime Suspect

I have a vague recollection of Blyth public pool being similar to those.