Part 2

I shall now pass on to a description of the tepid swimming baths of London, but, before doing so, I will first make a few remarks on tepid swimming baths in general. If the water be but moderately heated, say not above 70°, and frequently renewed, and if the ventilation of the bath be good, swimming in it would be refreshing and salubrious, and if not possessing all the charm or all the hygienic power of open-air bathing, it may still be a health-giving exercise not altogether despicable. But if, as often happens, the water is too warm, say about 80°, seldom renewed, and the ventilation bad, in all or either of such conditions swimming, in place of being a healthy exercise, becomes just the reverse. On coming out of such a bath we feel no refreshment, but, on the contrary, we feel limp and exhausted from the heat of the sodden water which has lost all its vivifying air, and from the confined atmosphere of the bathing room, tainted with the exhalations from the bodies of the bathers. The temperature in these baths, even of the same bath at different times, is very unequal. Sometimes they are fresh and cool and apparently unmixed with warm water. I found this to be the case in one of the best of these baths one Sunday morning. I asked the attendant how it happened that the bath was so pleasantly cool, and he informed me that it was often so on a Sunday morning, as so many people came there for warm baths that there was no warm water to spare for the swimming bath. However, he added a piece of information not altogether so agreeable, to the effect that when it was deemed necessary to heat the swimming bath under these circumstances, this was often done by letting into it the water that had already been used in the warm baths. If this little manœuvre, so naïvely revealed to me by this bath attendant, often takes place, it will fully account for the flat “wersh” feel of the water of so many of the swimming baths. But, without supposing anything so nasty, the water will readily acquire this unrefreshing character, with a number of persons bathing in it, if it be not frequently renewed. In some of the swimming baths the water is allowed to flow off every night and fresh water admitted in the morning, and in them a certain amount of freshness is always perceptible. But in many baths this excellent plan is not adopted, and the water is either very seldom allowed to flow off entirely, or the dribbling inflow from a meagre jet and a corresponding outflow are considered sufficient. Swimming in baths of this character is neither refreshing nor wholesome. Imperfect ventilation is not such a common occurrence in the metropolitan swimming baths, for they have mostly lofty roofs and plenty of open windows. However, some of them are defective on this point, and all swimming in such a tainted atmosphere must be more prejudicial than beneficial. On the whole, however, a careful examination of the London swimming baths has convinced me that, as a rule, they are highly creditable to the parochial authorities by whom they have mostly been erected. If not equal in hygienic influence to open-air swimming baths, they are, at all events, excellent swimming schools, and, as they are to be found in every quarter of the town, and their price is extremely moderate, it is the fault of the Londoners themselves if they do not learn to swim. The art acquired even in a tepid swimming bath will be serviceable under all other circumstances; and though one accustomed to these artificially warmed shallow pools may at first feel not altogether at his ease in cold deep water, yet the power of swimming will not forsake him under these novel conditions, and familiarity will soon enable him thoroughly to enjoy a swim in river, lake or sea, and lead him to despise the languid joys of the tepid tank.

In the absence of any better classification I shall describe the swimming baths of London in alphabetical order.

_Albany Swimming Bath_, York Road, Lambeth.—Length of bath 17 yards; breadth 12; depth from 3 to 5 feet. 50 boxes with half doors along 3 sides of the bath. A footway all round the bath; a rude spring-board at the deeper end. The ceiling is traversed by great beams; is dark coloured and pierced by few windows. The water is of a yellowish colour, and so opaque that no part of a body immersed in it is visible. This peculiar appearance, I was told, was owing to the quantity of iron it contains. “Highly recommended by the faculty for its strengthening effects,” I was informed. It would need to have some great medicinal virtues, for its appearance is not very inviting.

_Alexandra Swimming Bath_, Bennett Park, Blackheath.—This bath is 18 yards long by 8 wide. Sides and bottom faced with white porcelain tiles. Depth from 3 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. 6 in. Ceiling low, whitewashed. The lighting is effected by 4 dimmed windows in a recess at the shallow end, and 6 windows at one side, 5 of which open on to large square bathing boxes under a glazed roof capable of accommodating each three or four bathers. A gallery runs along the windows projecting over the bath, and opposite this is another elevated gallery or platform, on which stand 13 other bathing boxes of unequal sizes, with curtains in place of doors. Few of the boxes are provided with mirrors. There is a spring-board at the deep end, and “headers” may be taken from the platform on which stand the bathing boxes. The water is clear, but the ventilation seemed to me not very perfect, and the illumination very indifferent, for though the bath has, apparently, plenty of windows, 5 of these windows do not admit the direct light of heaven, but only the light reflected from the walls of the bathing boxes, and the other windows are dimmed and unfavorably placed for illuminating purposes. Bathing drawers are required to be worn and are supplied by the establishment.

_Bermondsey Swimming Baths_, Spa Road, Bermondsey.—This bath is 13 yards long by 9 wide. The sides are of white porcelain tiles, the top row having an ornamental blue pattern. Bottom of white glazed bricks. Depth from 3 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. 6 in. The ceiling, of tasteful iron work, nicely painted, forms a double slope, in which there is plenty of glass to illuminate the bath well. The bathing boxes, 34 in number, are at both ends of the bath, 18 at the deep end, in two tiers, 14 at the shallow end similarly arranged. They are roomy, neatly painted, and are provided with mirrors and curtains in place of doors. There is a broad footway in front of the boxes, and a gangway across the water at one side, leading from one end to the other, and which, being about 5 feet above the water, may be used as a spring-board. Walls painted in oil colour rise from the water on both sides. The water is quite clear. There is a second class bath precisely the same in dimensions, the only difference being that the boxes are not painted nor furnished with mirrors or curtains, and that there is no ornamental border round the top of the bath.

_City of London Swimming Baths_, Golden Lane, Barbican.—These baths are situated in a squalid district, the teeming population of which seem not to avail themselves to any great extent of the facilities for ablution the establishment affords. The first class swimming bath is underground, dimly lighted by grimy windows at both ends and one side, which derive their light at second hand from other windows rising from the level of the pavement. It is about 30 yards long by 11 wide; is deepest (5 ft. 6 in.) in the centre, and shallow (3 ft. 6 in.) at either end. The sides and a few feet of the bottom at one end are paved with white porcelain tiles, the rest of the bottom with reddish tiles. The water is clear. There is no visible out-and-in flow. The bathing boxes, 20 in number, are sufficiently roomy. They seem originally to have had half doors, but only two or three of these remain. These boxes stand upon a sort of platform overhanging the bath on one side. On the opposite side is a spring-board, and another at one end. At the other end a sort of Chinese bridge without a parapet crosses the water. The ceiling is of moderate height, and consists of boards, through which project clusters of iron pipes, evidently connected with the bath and laundry arrangements above. The sides of the walls are painted over with pious texts, with which the language of the bathers at my visit did not correspond. There was a close smell about the place, which must be much intensified when the bath is full. Although the size of the bath is great, and the water clear, and at my visit not too warm, this bath is not very inviting, it being dark, ugly, and ill-ventilated. There is a second class bath here of somewhat smaller dimensions.

_Greenwich Swimming Baths_.—The first class bath is 17 yards long by 6 wide. Depth from 3 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. 6 in. Sides and bottom covered with a sort of asphalte painted white. Fourteen open bathing boxes painted light blue, with curtains and mirrors, along one side of the bath. Footway in front of the boxes of slate. A narrow stone ledge at deep end, and in front of it a plank across the bath for a spring-board. Walls of brick, whitewashed, rise directly from the bath at the shallow end and the side opposite the boxes. Ceiling, of iron work, double slope, with glass let in at the top. Ventilation and lighting good. The second class bath is almost precisely the same, differing only in the colour of the boxes, and there being no curtains to them.

_Hammersmith Swimming Bath_, Bridge street, Hammersmith.—This bath is 20 yards long by 7 wide. The sides are of white porcelain tiles with round black spots at the angles, the top row having a blue flower pattern. The bottom of white and black glazed bricks forming a pattern. Depth from 3 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. 6 in.; 22 bathing boxes, painted drab and blue, with small mirrors and half doors, run along one side and the shallow end. The footway in front of the boxes and at the deep end is of wood, and projects over the water. A narrow stone ledge runs along the opposite side. The walls are sized stone colour. The ceiling is moderately lofty, arched, and whitewashed. Gaseliers depend from it. Daylight is admitted by two large windows in the side wall, and three semicircular windows at each end. Panes of thick unpolished glass are let into the roof all down the side where the boxes are. The illumination is good. There is a spring board at the deep end. The warm water is admitted at the surface of the water at one corner of the bath, whereby the heat is very unequally distributed. At my visit the top of the water in many parts was quite warm, while the depths of the bath were very cold. The water is clear. This bath is first class on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and second class on the other days of the week. It is an excellent bath, of good size, well lighted and ventilated, and very clean—perhaps because it is new, and the only fault to be found with it is in regard to the heating of the water, which would be better if the warm water were admitted at the bottom of the bath about its middle, in place of at the surface of the water at one end.

_Kensington Swimming Bath_, High Street, Kensington.—This little bath is about 10 yards long by 7 wide. It is lined, sides and bottom, with cement painted white. Depth from 3 to 5 feet. The walls, which rise straight up from the bath on three sides, are painted in imitation of stone, and are festooned all round with chains for the bathers to lay hold of. The ceiling, not very lofty, is of wood, whitewashed, pierced by six windows, which admit a good quantity of light. Four chains hang from the ceiling to near the surface of the water. The water is very clear and fresh. There are 8 boxes for bathers, entered at the back by doors, and with half doors facing the water. Stone steps lead down to the bottom of the water from these boxes, which occupy the whole of the shallow end of the bath, are rather narrow, but clean and neat, with mirrors. At one side of the bath is a short footway projecting about 10 feet over the water. A spring-board in the middle of the deep end, and at the corners ladders for diving from. This bath, though small, is clean, well ventilated, and select.

_Lambeth Swimming Baths_, Westminster Bridge Road.—The first class bath is 41 yards by 15. Depth from 3 to 5 feet. The sides of the bath have a row of white porcelain tiles above, the rest of the sides and the bottom are lined with dusky tiles. The water tolerably clear. An elegant fountain in the centre admits the warm water. An aquarium at the shallow end. A lofty spring-board at the deep end, a lower one at one side. Eighty roomy boxes for bathers with half doors, running along each side of the bath. Above these, on each side, is a gallery supported on light iron pillars, with 16 superior rooms for bathers. Ceiling lofty, double slope, pierced with numerous windows, which light the bath well. A broad paved space between the boxes and the water. This is the largest first class bath in London, and is much used for swimming matches. It is well lighted and ventilated. There is a second class bath nearly as large, 38 yards by 17.

_Marylebone Swimming Baths_, Marylebone Road.—The first class bath is 15 yards by 8. Depth from 3 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. 6 in. It is paved with blue and white porcelain tiles arranged in a pattern. The sides are of slate slabs, with an elegant border at the top, of blue and white pattern, in porcelain tiles. The boxes, 10 in number, and provided with a complete door that closes with a spring lock, which can be opened on the inside by a handle, but on the outside only by a key, are roomy, clean, and provided with mirrors. They run along one side of the bath only, and in front of them is a footway of slate. The walls rise from the water on the other sides, and are painted imitation stone. A spring-board passes across the deep end of the bath. At the shallow end is a shell fountain of white marble, whence fresh water is always flowing into the bath with a pleasant sound. The ceiling is lofty, ridge and furrow, with many lights. This is a little gem of a bath, the water is generally fresh and clear, the lighting and ventilation excellent. It is open on Wednesdays till 2 o’clock for ladies. There are also a second and a third class bath below the level of the street, each 23 yards long, lined with blue and white porcelain tiles, well lighted by glass roofs, clean and tasteful. Accommodating respectively 30 and 40 bathers in neat, open, varnished wooden boxes.

_Metropolitan Swimming Baths_, Ashley Crescent, City Road.—The principal bath is 33 yards long by 11 wide. Depth from 3 ft. 10 in. to 5 ft. There is also a smaller bath 16 yards long by 9 wide, of a uniform depth of 5 feet. The large bath is lined with reddish bricks, and a row of white porcelain tiles runs round the top. The boxes, 47 in number, run down both sides and along the shallow end. They are placed two and two between pillars supporting arches. They are roomy, and are entered by a door leading from a corridor at the back. A half door opens on to the water, down to which there are wooden steps in front of each box. The boxes have no mirrors. The corridor extends all round the boxes, which are between it and the bath, so that the bath can only be entered through the boxes or at the deep end of the bath, where there is a platform and spring-board, beneath which the water is admitted, when required, in a large cascade. Ornamental colouring is applied to the pillars and arches supporting the ceiling, which is moderately lofty, flat, and whitewashed, with two circular skylights. The bath is further lighted by 22 windows looking into the corridor, placed just below the ceiling. The lighting is not so good as might be expected from the number of windows, as they are unfortunately placed. The water is clear, and the ventilation good.

The smaller bath is lined with cement painted. It is surrounded by 48 boxes with half doors placed against the wall, and there is a broad footway betwixt the boxes and the bath. Some of the boxes are in a recess at the head of the bath. There is a spring-board at one end. The water is clear, and apparently kept somewhat cooler than that in the large bath.

_The Wenlock Swimming Bath_, Wenlock Road, is the second class bath to the Metropolitan. It is 60 yards long and 10 wide. It can accommodate a vast number of bathers in boxes with half doors on either side and at the top, and an unlimited number of spectators in galleries above the boxes. This bath being the longest in London is much used for swimming matches. The water is very far from clear, and the arrangements are altogether very second class.

_North London Swimming Baths_, Pentonville Road.—The first class bath is 18 yards by 7. Depth from 3 to 4 feet; deepest in the middle. The sides are lined with white porcelain tiles with ornamented top row, the bottom paved with red tiles. There are 24 roomy bathing boxes, with mirrors, running along one side and one end. Above these is a gallery which will accommodate bathers or spectators. A flagged footway runs in front of the boxes. At the end and side not occupied by the boxes, a spring-board runs along the whole length, and there is another spring-board near the middle of the opposite side. Three trapezes hang from the ceiling for the daring flights of amphibious Leotards. The ceiling is lofty, of dark stained wood, and glass in sufficient quantity to light the bath well. The side walls are of bare yellow brick. The water is clear, the lighting and ventilation good, but the depth of the bath is quite insufficient, and in plunging from the spring-board one must take care of one’s head against the bottom. There is a second class bath somewhat smaller.

_Poplar Swimming Baths_, East India Dock Road.—There are two baths, first and second class, of similar dimensions, 15 yards by 9. I was unable to inspect them, as the baths close at the end of September, and my visit was made during the first days of October, when the baths were locked up, and the man who had the key was absent. They were described to me by an intelligent policeman as very nice baths—I presume of the usual character of parochial baths, of which I have examined and described so many.

_Royal York Swimming Baths_, York Terrace, Regent’s Park.—There are two swimming baths, one for gentlemen, the other for ladies.

The gentlemen’s bath is of an irregular shape, about 22 yards long by 7 wide. Depth from 3 to 5 feet. A spring-board at each end. The bath is floored with tiles of a dusky reddish-brown colour, the sides of white bricks. The bathing boxes, 20 in number, very narrow, with half doors, run along the top and down a part of one side. The walls, whitewashed, support a low ridge and furrow ceiling, with dimmed panes of glass let into it. A narrow ledge runs along one side of the bath. Small jets of water run in at one end. At my visit the plaster was peeling off the walls in patches, and green mould was creeping up the walls. This, with the low ceiling, the dim illumination, and the dismal colour of the material of which the bath is constructed, gave a gloomy and uninviting aspect to the place. Still, I am bound to say, the water was clear and pleasant.

The ladies’ bath is smaller, 10 yards by 7. Depth 4 ft. 6 in. Lined with white porcelain tiles. Platform and 6 boxes with curtains at one end. The walls, whitewashed, rise up from the bath at the other three sides, and support a not very lofty ridge and furrow ceiling pierced with a few windows. This bath, which is the only one I know of in London exclusively devoted to ladies, deserves attention on that account. It is far from being everything that is desirable, but the water is clear, and there is just room enough to learn swimming.

_St. George’s Swimming Bath_, Davies Street, Berkeley Square.—This bath is 14 yards by 8. Depth 3 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. 6 in. Sides paved with white porcelain tiles with black spots at angles; a top row with Greek pattern in blue, bottom of white glazed bricks. Open boxes with mirrors and half curtains, 42 in number, all round the bath. A sloppy, slippery wooden footway in front of boxes. Spring-board at deep end. Wooden steps down to the bath at the middle of one side and at one corner. Ceiling, supported on iron pillars, of painted iron work. The light comes from a large skylight at the top of a high narrow funnel with painted iron sides, and from 7 small windows over the top of the boxes on one side. The water is clear, but the lighting is very indifferent, and the ventilation decidedly defective. The wringing machine belonging to the laundry keeps up an almost incessant and very lugubrious noise. This bath is first class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and second class on the other days of the week. It is under the same management as the

_St. George’s Swimming Bath_, Buckingham Palace Road.—This bath is 20 yards by 8. Depth from 3 ft. 4 in. to 5 ft. 4 in. Sides of white porcelain tiles with black spots at angles, and a Greek pattern in blue along the top row. Bottom of white glazed bricks. Forty-six open boxes, with half curtains and mirrors, on three sides of the bath. Wooden footway all round. Ceiling, of iron work, lofty, supported on painted iron pillars all round the bath. Lighted by a large glass roof. Spring-board at deep end. This bath is much superior in size, lighting, and ventilation, to the establishment in Davies Street. Like the latter, it is first class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and second class on other days. It closes the end of October, but the bath in Davies Street is open all the year.