Nearly 20 years after Nottingham's last lido closed down, swimmers say an outdoor pool would help to regenerate the city centre as well as providing cheap entertainment for hard-up families. There used to be lidos across the county, including Highfields Park, Carrington, Calverton and Bulwell, which was the last to close down in 2003.
Derbyshire has a lido at Hathersage, there's one at Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, and Lincolnshire has several outdoor pools at Skegness, Bourne, Woodhall Spa and Billinghay near Sleaford. There's nothing similar in Nottinghamshire but some people think that should change.
Wendy Patrick, a retired school teacher from West Bridgford, believes the demand would be there, since open air swimming has come back into fashion. "I think the place to have one is the Broad Marsh - somewhere people can easily get to by bus, ordinary people. Most of the lidos in this country are by the seaside which seems a bit of a waste of time and in London and they are rather middle class things for well-heeled people to go to.
"Lidos used to be for all - there was one in north Notts dug by the miners for their own community use. I like swimming outdoors and I like wild swimming. The lidos knocking about in the 1930 to 50s were cold water ones but you can have heated ones as well.
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"Things do come in waves and I think people are very interested in gyms and health and fitness. There's that Wim Hof on the telly on about cold water and there are advantages to outdoor swimming over indoor swimming - it's just really good for people."
Some cities have the remains of former lidos but the ones in Notts have been built over, with either housing or other developments such as the Pirate Park at Carrington, but Mrs Patrick thinks the space left by the demolition of Broad Marsh shopping centre would be ideal.
"That would work in Broad Marsh, which is such an eyesore. I think it would be good and help to regenerate the city, it certainly needs something. If you made it a destination again it would breath a bit of life back into it. People flock to these places.
"I go swimming at Roko and David Lloyd - there are open air pools. A lido is different because it's for the general public and usually a bit bigger as well. Accessibility to all is the thing I'd want to promote not just the people who pay fees to gyms."
Mrs Patrick said she had seen pop-up pools in other cities, which would be a way of "testing the water" in Nottingham. "If you could erect one in Nottingham in the summer holidays how much would the kids love that? What a great thing that would be."
Jane Scott, of West Bridgford, enjoys swimming outside in Colwick Lake. She said: "I think a Nottingham Lido on the site of the Broad Marsh with some green space around it would be a great idea.
"Over lockdown the popularity of outdoor swimming has exploded and this would likely be a popular move that would both encourage more people to get active and make an attractive entry to the city for those visiting by train. Hathersage outdoor pool is a destination pool for a lot of swimmers and they make a day out of it so it could attract a lot of people into the city who would then use shops and cafes."
Mark Osborne, of Toton, said: "Having a local outside pool in any area has its advantages. More importantly not everyone can access a pool, especially city centre. It’s a life skill so city centre kids would benefit from it. If there were another lockdown, heaven forbid, it would be good too."
Commenting on the idea of a lido on the former Broad Marsh site, a Nottingham City Council spokesman said: "Proposals for the Broad Marsh site are at a very early stage – with detailed master planning of the over-arching vision yet to start – so we are not in a position to say what specific features will be included.”
