In at the deep end....

Reading the Tonbridge and Malling Council glossy rag, Here and Now, I noticed that the swimming pool down by the river is 100 years old this year. Well, they are stretching it a little as the lido, build in 1910, bears virtually no resemblance to the current all mod cons one. Apart from the fact that it is on the same sight and there's water in it! What struck me reading this article was the fact that that they actually had first and second class bathing meaning that the first class bathers didn't have to mix with the poorer folk even though they shared the same water, they had there own cublicles by the side of their bit of the pool and paid more for the priviledge. It tickled me to discover that a woman, who was joining in a Daily Mail backed national campaign, mounted the diving board to protest about mixed sex bathing and was promptly pushed into the pool below, fully clothed presumably, by another bather. I wonder what she'd make of modern day lycra bikinis and banana hammock speedos! Anyway, apparently Duncan Goodhew will return to the pool on July 10th to mark the centenary of the pool with a family outdoor party. (Is he a Tonbridge man or something?) So now you know....