Walpole Bay Tidal Pool

Walpole Bay Tidal Pool is a tidal sea bathing pool built in 1937. It was designed by E A Borg, the Borough Engineer, but constructed with modifications by his successor W L Armstrong using direct labour.

The pool is made of interlocking concrete blocks, with old iron tram rails embedded at intervals of 12 feet. It has a rectangular shape on three sides, with the longer side facing landward where there is no wall. There is a break near the landward side of the western wall. The dimensions of the pool are 450 feet on the sides, 300 feet on the seaward side, and 550 feet on the landward end.

The walls are built of interlocking concrete blocks with concealed iron tram rails that extend about 5 feet deep into the chalk foundation and rise to within one foot of the top of the wall. The wall is two to three feet wide and about two to three feet deep at the landward side, increasing in depth towards the seaward end to enclose a pool that is about seven feet high at that end. There are two-foot wide overflows in the top course, positioned six inches below the top of the wall, ensuring that the water level remains six inches below the top. Additionally, there are four flights of steps with iron handrails, and three penstocks fitted in the outer walls to empty the pool, which takes about two hours.