What another great season this has been!
It seems like only yesterday since the season began and here we are in September writing the round up of the season.
Although there were a few days of warm sunshine during May and July, overall, the weather has not been kind this Summer. It has been reported as one of the worst on resent record. However, this did not stop people swimming at the lido. From opening day on April 1st and throughout the whole season, the early morning swim proved consistently popular. The early opening time provided a great pre-work start to the day for the city’s workers.
Peterborough Lido hit the National newspapers several times this year, and featured once again in Britain’s Best Lidos list.
On a lighter note, it has certainly been a season for different headgear in the pool this year. A colourful range and style of swimming hats, including those fondly called “chatty hats” by some of the ladies wearing them. And some lovely pompom hats worn by those who swim with their head above water, all added to the fun social atmosphere shared by our lido loving community, encouraging happy times and new friendships daily.
Vivacity Marketing team created a giant size postcard banner, placed on the outside wall, facing Bishops Road. The banner provides passersby with a wonderful view of the inside from the outside. What better way to encourage people to come in and enjoy a swim. The banner also provides a spectacular backdrop for visitors to take selfies to share with friends. To compliment the banner, souvenir postcards of the same scene, were on sale for our many visitors at the reception kiosk.
We have continued to take a variety of photographs and video clips of events and visitors to the pool (with their permission, of course), including some of the magnificent sunrise and sunset that can be seen from the lido, to share on our FoPL Facebook page. The page has proved very popular again this year and the number of followers from all over the country and even overseas, continues to grow.
Those wishing to swim regularly through the peak season were pleased to be able to purchase the summer pass again this year.
Lido events this season included our FoPL members only bonus swims at beginning and end of season. This year the swims took place on 24th April and on 9th September.
The incredibly popular Midsummer Solstice sunrise and sunset swim took place on 20th June and both were very well attended.
There was a British Naturist swim on 15th June to raise money for the British Heart Foundation
At the end of June, the lido was treated to a very special visit from Finny the shark! Finny and all his underwater friends were part of the “Monsters of the Sea” exhibition at Peterborough Cathedral, and it was good to see the friendly shark took time to visit the Lido.
In July, Peterborough’s Mask Theatre returned to the lido for their annual Summer open-air performance. This year they performed Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, over 5 nights, with a magical midnight swim following the performance on July 12th. This late-night swim proved very popular, not just to the theatre goers, but to the wider community across all generations too. What better way to spend a Friday night in July, than a moonlit swim with friends and family.
Vivacity arranged a number open air exercise sessions including, Poolside Yoga. Aqua Zumba, Aqua fit, Boot camp and Tai Chi. Sessions were held either on the sun terrace, in the pool or the lido grounds. There was a special “flow yoga” sunrise session on the morning of the Solstice to welcome in the Summer.
Sophie Etheridge, swimming coach and amazing adaptive channel swimmer was a regular Saturday swimmer in the lido, also giving s series of private coaching sessions there.
In September we had a visit from some of the City Councillors, including the new Council leader, Dennis Jones, Councillor, Heather Skibsted and Councillor Angus Ellis for an informal tour to gain understanding first hand of all that the Lido provides for the residents of and visitors to Peterborough.
The year concluded at the end of September with two days of the very popular dog swims sessions.
There were a lot of champions, during this season, who trained for marathon swimming, took on swim challenges and fund-raising swims including:
Jeanne Butler, who smashed the May swim challenge for MND (Motor Neuron Disease)
Sophie Etheridge training for her attempt at the Bristol Channel swim in September.
Alan Peirce training for an English Channel swim in 2025 in aid of Cancer Research and the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Louise Turner and Karin Mcleod signed up for the Davina McCall Sports Relief challenge of 15km and 30km in September.
Mike Henchy completed his half marathon fundraising challenge for WaterAid.
Emily Neimc and Steph Reid completed the Serpentine Super 6 Marathon Swim in the Serpentine in Hyde Park.
In June, Katherine Arnott, a final year MSc Occupational Therapy student at St John University in York, conducting a research project into the Value and Meaning of Lido Swimming to Adults, made contact through the FoPL website asking for volunteer lido swimmers take part in her research. Several of our members took part in Katherine’s interviews.
The Café remains popular as ever and at the end of season vending machines were installed ready for next year, so that swimmers can purchase drinks and snacks outside the café opening times.
Since 2019, after the book, the ‘Lido Guide’ by Emma Pusill and Janet Wilkinson was published, the general public’s fascination for visiting lidos and open-air swimming venues continues to gain momentum. Peterborough Lido continues to attract visitors from all over the country, which is reflected in our visitor’s book and the posts on social media. This year, swimmers have, not only come from local towns and villages, but also from further afield, from the Counties of Staffordshire, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, London, Wiltshire, West and East coasts of Scotland and even as far as New Zealand.
Our Friends of Peterborough Lido membership continues to grow. This season FoPL members helped with the pre-season opening maintenance, with planting and maintaining the flower beds and planters. This was overseen by our youngest member and keen horticulturalist Ellis, who sourced some of the plants through Tesco Community Champion project. FoPL members provided stewards for the Peterborough’s Mask Theatre’s Twelfth Night production and assist setting up the lido each morning, throughout the whole season with their “Locker docker” official volunteer team, Clare, Howard, and Paul.
At the beginning of September, the disappointing news came from Vivacity that there would be no extension into autumn and winter for the lido this year and that the heating would be turned off on 9th September. This news galvanised many lido users to write personal letters with their own personal testimonies to the City’s two MPs, Councillors and Vivacity Management, pressing for the season to be extended, drawing attention specifically to there being no other accessible or affordable public swimming facility in the city.
Councillor Heather Skibsted, a regular lido swimmer herself, has been a strong voice for emphasising the importance of keeping the lido open. One of our FoPL members Dr Ian Tennant an ARU lecturer in Bio Medical Science was among the many Lido swimmers who wrote about all the health and wellbeing benefits of open-air swimming. The decision to turn off the heating for the last four weeks was reversed, but sadly extending the season was not possible this year.
So, it was with sadness all round, that the 2024 lido season ended on September 30th, but with lots of fabulous memories of another great season and much hope for the future with everyone looking forward eagerly to 2025 season.
Our sincere thanks go to all the swimmers for their continued support, to Vivacity management and staff, especially the lifeguards. We appreciate and acknowledge it has been a difficult season for them and we very much look forward to the 2025 season.
