Females Pool, Victoria Baths

Image: © David Dixon Taken: 30 Apr 2014

Segregation in swimming and bathing both by gender and by class was normal procedure at the beginning of the twentieth century. Where an establishment had only one or two pools, segregation would take place by giving each class of user a different day of the week. At Victoria Baths, there were three separate entrances, separate swimming pools and separate wash baths for Males 1st Class, Males 2nd Class and Females. Each of the three pools at Victoria Baths was Olympic length (25 yards) but they differed in width; the Females pool, at 30 feet, being the narrowest. The water for Victoria Baths came from a well which was specially sunk for the establishment. It has been said that the water was first used to fill the Males 1st Class pool, then it was returned to the water tanks, filtered, aerated, re-heated and used again in the Males 2nd Class pool before being recycled again and used in the Females pool! Certainly there was equipment which enabled water to be pumped between the three pools and the water tanks situated on top of the boiler house and filter room Whether or not this story is true, having the smallest pool, and 3rd-hand water did not prevent swimming from becoming a popular activity for women and girls in the early part of the 20th century. Mixed bathing was introduced with great caution in 1914 and by the 1920s mixed bathing sessions were held every Sunday morning enabling families to swim together for the first time. (Adapted from an information board at the Baths)

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