Where people once went swimming
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Where people once went swimming by Marathon as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Image: © Marathon Taken: 12 Apr 2011
Cotton Lane, to the south of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, was once a hive of activity. On the west side was Fantaseas swimming pools whilst to the east of Cotton Lane were Stone Lodge Farm, the North Downs Railway and a viewing place with parking to look across the Thames. Every one of these features has gone. Fantaseas opened in the late 1980s with six American-style water slides, a lazy river, wave pool, and an outdoor heated lagoon but within five years it was found to be sinking into the hillside and was closed in 1992 and demolished ten years later. In 2013 all this has changed and housing is being built on the site of Fantaseas.