Ilkley Lido (Including Cafe And Changing Rooms)

Ilkley Lido, including café and changing rooms

This lido was built between 1934 and 1935 by A Skinner, Ilkley Urban District Borough Surveyor. It was officially opened in May 1935 as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations of King George V. The complex is constructed of concrete, brick, sandstone dressings, plywood, timber, and felt tiles.

The pool is set within a rectangular enclosure measuring 46 metres wide. The concrete pool has an unusual mushroom-shaped cross-section, with a narrower stalk forming the deep end to the north, deep enough for water polo. At the shallow southern end sits a concrete aerator consisting of five circular tiers with a spout at the top. The pool water is cleaned every 6 hours through a water filtration system housed in the former gentlemen's changing block and a modern extension to the west. Water passes through a large riveted vessel filled with sand, is sterilised with chlorine, and returns to the pool via the aerator.

The changing blocks flank the pool on the east and west sides. Both are single-storey structures built in a timber-framed vernacular style with concrete plinths. The walls feature plywood rendered with horizontal timber planking to dado height and vertical and diagonal timbers to the upper half, painted green. A brick-built section at the south end of each block originally housed lavatories. Both blocks feature continuous rows of windows just below the eaves, with some top-opening casements. The east block is hipped. The west block has a central gablet projecting through the roof on its main elevation, with a wide canopy supported on timber posts with diagonal struts. Both roof and canopy are covered with rectangular felt tiles. The west block was truncated in 1974 when an indoor pool was built; a modern w.c. block was subsequently attached to its south end. The east block retains two bays of canopy, though these now contain modern timber infill providing storage. Interiors contain common rafters and boarded ceilings, concrete floors with gullies to outer edges, and plywood partition walls with panelled doors. The east block's original lavatory has been converted into an ice-cream parlour. The west block's original lavatory contains three urinals and two w.c. cubicles. A riveted water filtration tank and iron pipework relating to the original filtration system remain in the plant room.

The café stands on the north side of the pool, built of brick with a double hipped roof covered in octagonal felt tiles. The principal south elevation and east and west returns feature six metal concertina-style windows between brick piers that fold back to leave the walls open to a raised sun terrace. The interior contains a depressed-arch opening between the public area and the kitchen and store room to the north range. A panelled and glazed double door (painted white) with glazing boarded over remains on the right side, with modern doorways to the left serving a store room and to the far right serving a lavatory with panelled door, two cubicles and w.c. The roof has metal trusses and a boarded ceiling. Parquet flooring is retained. The sun terrace is lemon-shaped, bounded by low brick retaining walls with sandstone coping, with a wide flight of curved steps to the centre and narrow flights to either side. The café was opened in August 1935, seating 100 people with catering run by Taylors of Harrogate.

The lido originally featured a 14 feet 6 inches galvanised tubular steel diving stage and small baby chute, but these were dismantled following the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974. An entrance block to the south and a set of turnstiles to the south-west have also been removed since 1974. A modern indoor pool was constructed in the lido enclosure in 1974, at which time the water filtration system was slightly modified. The gentlemen's changing room block was truncated at the same time. A modern w.c. block and indoor pool to the north-west side of the enclosure are not of special interest.

In 1957, British Railways commissioned Frank Sherwin to paint the lido for a poster with the tagline 'Ilkley - Gateway to the Yorkshire Dales'.