HAMPTON POOL

THE STORY OF THE POOL

Hampton Urban District Council began thinking about the need for a public swimming pool in about 1890 but it was 24th June 1922 before the original pool was ready for use and Hampton people celebrated its Grand Opening Day. It was provided for summer use only and the water was not heated. It was 100 feet long and 30 feet wide, was quite shallow and had diving boards. There were wooden cubicles in which to change. In 1938 a diving pit was added and the length became 120 feet. In 1961 Twickenham Council did a major overhaul. It widened the main pool from 30 feet to 48 feet, provided up-to-date filter tanks and erected the long building with changing rooms, café and flat sunroof.

By 1980 open-air pools were being closed down all over the country because there was a preference for all-year-round, heated indoor pools and Hampton Pool, being an unheated open air summer pool, very nearly suffered the same fate. In April 1983 Richmond Council decided that Hampton Pool should be permanently closed and that the Royal Parks licence for the land on which it stood should be terminated. Hence there was a very real threat that bulldozers would turn up and demolish the buildings and swimming tank and return the whole site to parkland.

A local community action group was quickly formed, began a campaign to “Save Hampton Pool” and adopted the slogan “Sink or Swim”. It negotiated an agreement with Richmond Council to take over responsibility for re-opening and running Hampton Pool as a HEATED summer pool and began essential fund-raising to do this. The public response and support from Hampton and Hampton Hill was astonishing. £25,000 was raised by myriad events and house-to-house collections and Richmond Council matched it up to £20,000. A grant of £20,000 was obtained from the GLC just in time during its final days.

So Hampton Pool was reopened in May 1985 and has grown substantially over the years. Crucially an extra half acre of land was obtained in 1991 and part of it was used to house the learner pool, an excellent one-metre deep pool. Annual attendances climbed from 12,000 in summer 1979 to well over 100,000. The “season” was extended to 365 days a year.

A campaign to raise the funds to refurbish the main swimming “tank” and indoor facilities was begun in 1993 but the going proved very hard. While Richmond Council and Hampton Fuel Allotment Charity were sympathetic, repeated approaches to the National Lottery bore no fruit and the pool visibly deteriorated. By 2000 there were serious worries again that Hampton Pool might have to be closed down permanently in consequence. However eventually enough money was raised to pay for “Phase 1” (the new tank, pipe-work and flat roof repairs etc for £370,000) and so the magnificent brand new main tank was built and opened in June 2003 (check date.). It has a surface of more than one million ceramic tiles and an estimated life of 50 years. “Phase 2” refurbishments and improvements to the ground floor indoor facilities followed and, after huge difficulties had been overcome , the work was completed in 2006 at a cost of nearly £500,000. So the cost of phases 1 and 2 was close on £900,000. The main contributors were Richmond Council (£270,000), Hampton Fuel Allotment Charity (£250,000, including a loan) and the great local public.

HAMPTON POOL TODAY

Hampton open-air swimming pool is a public swimming pool and is situated on a two-acre piece of Crown land in Royal Bushy Park, adjacent to the Queen’s farm land Its entrance is in the High Street opposite the entrance to Manor Gardens. It is about half-a-mile from the River Thames and is open for swimming all the year round (all 365 days of the year!).

The “warm tropical waters “of the main pool are heated to about 28 degrees centigrade throughout the year. It is a long pool (36 metres) and normally two or three lanes are dedicated to fast or steady swimmers. The rest of the pool is for the enjoyment of recreational swimmers and families. The learner pool, which is shallow and open in the summer months, is even warmer than 28 degrees and is very popular with young children, babies and older pupils.

In addition to the two swimming pools, there is a tree-lined grassy area for sunbathing, picnics and barbecues. In the large building there are separate changing rooms and showers etc for males, females and a room for families or disabled persons. There is also an excellent gym, a studio room for Pilates and yoga etc, a sauna, swim shop, café and sunbathing terrace. There is parking for about 60 cars.

The gym was extensively refurbished in 2007 and re- opened in January 2008. It now has large windows which give stunning views of the pools, lawn and trees. It contains an excellent range of Techno Gym hardware. This light and airy gym is a perfect place for work-outs, with full guidance and support from excellent instructors.

Hampton pool caters for people of all ages, fitness levels and interests. There is a wide range of instructors for swimming, gym use, Pilates and yoga etc. and in addition a Social and Swimming Club and a water polo club.

People come from many miles around to enjoy themselves at Hampton Pool because they appreciate what a fine and pleasant place it is and because sadly it is now rare to find such a flourishing open-air public pool in England. We are tremendously fortunate to have such a facility in Hampton.

Various special occasions occur at the Pool. On Christmas day morning the pool is open as usual and usually more than a thousand people turn up for a dip. In the summer very popular open-air concerts take place with performers such as Elkie Brooks, Georgie Fame and the British Ukelele orchestra. About five times a year a major triathlon takes place early on Monday mornings and up to 400 tri-athletes take part. Thames Turbo Triathlon Club has been based at Hampton Pool since its very early days and has “produced” at least three world champions.

Hampton Pool is run by the Hampton Pool Trust, a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee which is also a registered educational charity. It has a voluntary Board of directors/trustees. From 1985 until April 2007 the Board of Hampton Pool Ltd took full directorial and senior management responsibility for the entire Hampton Pool enterprise, with the aid of the professional leisure industry managers and staff it employed.

However, most trustees have full-time day jobs and the burden of their voluntary work at Hampton Pool grew and grew. It was eventually decided that the time had come to transfer day-to-day management responsibility, and the employment of staff, to another organisation with suitable leisure industry management expertise. Accordingly, Hampton Pool Ltd entered into a long term Management Agreement with YMCA Kingston and Wimbledon, a long-established local charity organisation, with effect from 1 April 2007. Strategic management responsibility remains with Hampton Pool Ltd, which was renamed Hampton Pool Trust in January 2008. The new Agreement requires close ongoing collaboration between leaders of both organisations on all aspects of general and financial policy.

For more information, please visit the website www.hamptonpool.co.uk or phone the main reception on 0208 255 1116.