Guest post by local historian Philip Grant
Lining up for a schools swimming race in the 1960s.
If you haven’t lived in the Wembley area for more than 35 years, you may not be aware that there was once a public swimming pool in Kingsbury’s Roe Green Park. The full story of this popular local “lido” from the 1930s, which even hosted some international competitions, will be shared in an illustrated talk at a free Kingsbury Library “coffee morning”, from 11am to 12noon on Monday 31 March (tea, coffee and biscuits available from 10.45am).
As can be seen from the photograph above, Kingsbury’s pool was an outdoor one. It was built by Wembley Borough Council. After that became part of the London Borough of Brent in 1965 there were plans (several times!) to build an indoor pool alongside it. This extract from a Council document shows one of the proposals.
Extract from a Brent Council report in 1966.
Despite the ‘modern thinking’, Kingsbury not only failed to get an indoor pool, it eventually lost the swimming pool it already had! You can find out how this came about, and what replaced the pool, in my talk. As well as some nostalgia (and there will be time at the end for those who wish to share their memories of the pool), the talk reflects some of the 20th century’s social history. You will be very welcome if you wish to come along (see poster below), and you can reserve your free place here.
Poster for the talk, showing a few more of the many illustrations.
Another example of local social history is the Ace Café, by the North Circular Road at Stonebridge. Its story will be celebrated at Wembley History Society on Friday 21 March, from 7.30 to 9pm, when Mark Wilsmore, who resurrected and runs this iconic venue, will be giving a talk on “Ace Times Then & Now – A Cafe and a Culture”. The meeting is at St Andrew’s Church Hall, Church Lane, Kingsbury, NW9 8RZ, and visitors are welcome (a donation of £3 towards costs is requested).
I look forward to seeing you at one, or both, of these local history talks!
Philip Grant.
3 comments:
I remember going to Kingsbury Swimming Pool in the late 1940’s. It was a bus ride from my home, a special treat!
Dear Anonymous at 10:55,
Thank you for your comment. I hope you can come to the talk, to see the full story and share your memories at the end, if you wish to.
Shame you are not giving the Ace Cafe talk at the actual Ace Cafe!?!?
It's a great venue and they need all the support they can get from customers.
It's close to Stonebridge Park Station and is on the 79 and 224 bus routes.
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