Lost Pools of Hobart

With the Glenorchy swimming pool closure we explore the history of other lost swimming pools in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
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[@angusthornett]

If you'd like to support the channel please consider a Patreon membership. Thanks. www.patreon.com/user?u=5186695

[@SteveMack]

[@angusthornett]

Thanks everyone for commenting and being involved in the channel. Sharing the videos on places like facebook is a big help too. Enjoy.

[@petersoakell6950]

Brilliant)

[@pippacarron1861]

I still swim daily in the pool I learned to swim in 65 years ago. Your story about the lost pools of Hobart makes me much more grateful for this priceless continuity in my life. Thanks for making Tasmanian history so watchable and interesting.

[@angusthornett]

Thanks for watching, Pippa.

[@Meg0860]

Thanks Angus, such fond memories of the Glenorchy pool, people my age would remember climbing on the rocket ship and I think back now how dangerous that thing was. My sister almost drowned at that pool so we weren't allowed to go as often but I made up for it as a teenager lol.

[@lanceduke3522]

The steel rocket ship? I have fond memories of sticking to hot steel slide

[@roadrocket1100]

Hi Angus. The Top of the World is still in operation! Albeit in a very different form… A friend of mine bought the property after the pool had closed and build a pretty grand home there over the top of the pool. The pool itself was left in place but divided in half lengthways to become a lap pool at the front of the home. The other half was bricked up, kept separate and drained so it now holds plant and equipment for the house. The pool as accessed via steps directly into it from the ‘front doors’. The home frontage is all glass and gets the sun all day so the reflected sunshine from the water makes this one of warmest naturally heated homes in Hobart. It gets pretty hot in summer! Glad to see the pool itself isn’t necessarily ‘lost’!

[@angusthornett]

Interesting. The legend continues.

[@anthonysmith434]

Thanks again Angus. Keep your stories of Hobart coming

[@angusthornett]

Thanks, Anthony.

[@jessicahalliday22]

I so love the little nuggets of wisdom you sprinkle into your videos. Nice work!

[@angusthornett]

Thanks again, Jessica.

[@Chroniccolourist]

It was such treat to go to the Burnie pool…. Oh my dear and learn to swim was horrific ….

[@christianstoermer]

thanks fo this piece of urban history. iwthout this it would most likely be lost forever.

[@angusthornett]

Thanks for watching, mate.

[@kinarrakid5036]

I remember the tepid baths and Glenorchy pool well. The Glenorchy pool had the old steel rocket. Good times. Thank you.

[@angusthornett]

Rocket was cool.

[@tassieman9293]

SAVE THE GLENORCHY POOL love all your content @angus

[@angusthornett]

Thanks, mate.

[@steve-v5t4y]

Angus. Could please do a series about historic homes around Tasmania and the stories behind them .. love your videos

[@angusthornett]

Thanks, Stephen. I think that more people should make videos about Tasmania. I'd welcome someone making videos on specific houses if they were interested in the topic.

[@TravellingSuze]

My family has great memories of swimming at the house in Kingston with our family friends who used to own it. I have sent them a link to have a look. Thank you for a great history video.

[@Rex_Stuph]

The coin has dropped for me for why your presentations have so much clout. The very intentional silences with only the environmental noises between speaking to camera is perfect. In most instances, elevator music to fill in the spaces would detract massively. The current presentation format is perfect.

[@angusthornett]

Enjoy the silence.

[@andrewjessop8816]

I never took the jump from the top tower at the olympic but the kids that did were so cool. Thanks Angus

[@angusthornett]

10 meters is bloody high.

[@andrewglasson3916]

I took a jump from the top tower, I do pity the kid who thought it was a good idea to just be swimming around in the landing area

[@Newbegginings]

I'm a cool kid

[@TheBasementChannel]

Never thought a bunch of old pools would give me the feels.

[@angusthornett]

Ou Est le Swimming Pool

[@benji5976]

Great video thanks Angus (and dog). I love watching these videos, keep them coming please!

[@angusthornett]

Thank you, Benji

[@glennevans871]

Brings back memories Angus......got up to come serious mischief under that grandstand at the Glenorchy Pool.....those memories are best left to lie dormant

[@angusthornett]

Ha

[@Kascaide]

Loved the mini boats !

[@angusthornett]

Would have been fun.

[@NigeOfCydonia]

I thought from the thumbnail that it was that place in Kingston. Great vid Angus.

[@angusthornett]

You knew

[@NigeOfCydonia]

@@angusthornett heheh yeah ;) I knew.

[@MrWilliam.Stewart]

The grand Angus! The bloke is a living legend. The world is a better place with Geezas like you Angus.

[@angusthornett]

Cheers, mate.

[@brat6969]

F*cking beautiful video mate. Melancholy AF.

[@angusthornett]

Cheers, mate.

[@wyldcat34]

I remember swimming in that pool at kingston on a few New Years Eves as a kid. Sad to see really considering I know how well they kept the property.

[@maxwelldavenport2589]

Is it still there?

[@wyldcat34]

@@maxwelldavenport2589 Unsure, but there isnt any construction going on there as far as I am aware

[@michaellangdon8347]

Another great video. Where is the abandoned house that will soon make way for a supermarket?

[@angusthornett]

Kingston. If you watch the video closely you can work it out.

[@adriaanstander6823]

Gosh. Great videos! Love Hobart and its history

[@angusthornett]

Thanks, mate. Good to hear you enjoy them.

[@shaun5552]

Another is the pool at Kingston Primary School. Built about ~1986 from memory but from Google images looks to have gone sometime prior to 2005 as by that point a building extension occupies roughly half the former pool area and the rest is clearly no longer a pool at that point. Only thing that remains of it from what's visible are the two sheds used as changerooms. They were just sheds, garden sheds basically, not even a light inside.

[@ellenwitte4679]

Another awesome short docu! I love your work

[@angusthornett]

Thank you, Ellen.

[@LaureenHaakma]

I learned to swim at the Tepid Baths, as a teen went to the Domain pool. Saw Dawn Frazer swim there as well. Clarence High my school swam in the beach area down the road. These days in NZ I do Aqua-aerobics 4 mornings a week. Love watching your videos Angus reminding me of my home town.

[@JimmyCall]

You should do a video on Hobart's nightlife. Like the night club (Regis?) that used to be at the base of the (Wrestpoint/Sandy Bay) Casino.

[@MegaDRjohn]

regines... a name taken from an overseas venue

[@bigm383]

Thanks, Angus, pools are a pain in the bum to maintain. I’m struggling to keep a 1000 litre spa going! Our local council is discussing selling off the main fresh water pool as it’s expensive to maintain. Your drone pics are a distinct contrast to Googles images of Glenorchy pool!

[@angusthornett]

You want a friend with a pool.

[@bigm383]

@@angusthornett 😀😂

[@stripeyhorse]

RIP glenorchy pool... great video like usual mate...

[@angusthornett]

Z in the house.

[@holidaymail]

Loving the videos Angus! Here in Victoria we lost our old pool in the floods last year, I think council are doing everything possible to avoid replacing it 😢

[@angusthornett]

They're expensive.

[@TassieExplorer]

Kids these days don't know the horror of having to do lean to swim at the Plaister pool during winter

[@Tazza81]

33 years later I still have flash backs....

[@diannerowley9358]

I still get the anxiety just thinking about him and the pole. Such a dreadful place.

[@helenmundy2120]

Doug was a hard task master , actually put his foot on my head and said stay in the pool lol

[@marynichols1398]

Oh that slide when it was windy. With the stairs packed with people once you were in the line the only way down was up. But I have always liked the New Norfolk pool better, less people and more family atmosphere.

[@angusthornett]

Wet windy steps. But that's the adventure.

[@1240enzo]

As a kid, I learnt to swim at the Wrest Point saltwater pool, Nunky Aires ?? was the swimming teacher. Later on I have memories of swimming not only at the Tepid Baths, also did my diving course there, and of course also going to the Hobart Olympic Pool and a few times to the Glenorchy Pool. There are a few other indoor pools in Hobart including the Friends School one which is open to the public, the Collegiate School pool and the little one off NewTown Rd across the road/close to the Jackman and McRoss cafe.

[@AnthonyRochester]

I remember school swimming lessons at the Glenorchy pool. It was so cold I had to defy the teacher and just get out, It was horrible.

[@angusthornett]

Sounds grim. But you're here now so you haven't drowned.

[@PhillipGiosio]

Just remember summer in Hobart can be hot... a nearby pool was such a blessing now you have to catch a bus or drive through heaps of traffic to find a carpark nearby. How important is learning to swim , a pool is a must

[@bartwilliams8279]

I love your videos! I eagerly await the next submission. This one showed me of a few pools I didn't know existed. I know of one pool on the corner of Molle and Collins that wasn't mentioned.

[@angusthornett]

Thank you, Bart. I believe the pool on the corner of Molle and Collins was the Tepid Baths discussed in the video.

[@Seiskid]

Nice shot of the liner Oriana visiting town at 3:52. The ships corn (yellow) hull colour dates the photo between 1960 and 1966.

[@radiogeekau3356]

I saw the Glenorchy Pool and pointed out the waterslide to my wife as we were going to the adjacent transport museum. Didn’t realise it had been shut permanently. Also saw a grass roots Aussie Rules match being played at KGV Oval. Something we don’t see too often on the Mid North Coast of NSW where I’m from where it’s NRL all the way.

[@moibenson4616]

Yet another fascinating video! Your presentations are so very dear to me and bring back many memories, but I suspect my plans to return there are growing more and more distant. Even though I grew up in Hobart, a lot of those pools, some now just swamps or gone were new to me. As a matter of interest; how did you accomplish the aerial vision?

[@angusthornett]

Drone

[@denisesavage2382]

I never really understood pools in Tassie. Coming from Qld and then WA it just didn't make any sense. I was taken aback a couple of days ago, when up in Poatina, I came across an outdoor pool . . . .now that really messed with my head.

[@kyledawson8336]

another amazing video! thank you Angus!

[@angusthornett]

Thanks, Kyle.

[@kyledawson8336]

@@angusthornett You are most welcome! I've learned so much about Hobart and Tasmanian in general because of you, it's very much appreciated.

[@nigelinnes5540]

The cayzer pool on Bellerive bluff was omitted ! I spent many many days there recuperating after a motorcycle accident in 1972

[@biancaclifford1179]

Great video Angus! I don’t know why but that abandoned house in kingo makes me so sad. I wonder why it was abandoned

[@angusthornett]

I believe it was just sold like a normal house is. The new owners bought the property (it's on quite a bit of land) have held it to use for something larger. In the meantime what you see has happened.

[@insulaarachnid]

I do hope that Glenorchy gets indoor swimming facilities.

[@aus80srockradio94]

Hi Angus, very interesting & sad about the Glenorchy pool. My daughter is so disappoimted about the closure, as she loved going to the waterslide. Where is the "Kings Head" pub & pool location, I had never heard of it?!

[@angusthornett]

It's a house in Kingston.

[@oronk60]

What! Since when? I remember this place it was awesome used to go there for school swimming competitions.

[@angusthornett]

Hi guys, 2024 Calendar is now available. www.etsy.com/au/listing/1572885611/hobart-pubs-then-now-calendar-2024?click_key=3338b16a5335386ddc231768dacaa14b82995143%3A1572885611&click_sum=37c38d56&ref=shop_home_active_1&frs=1&crt=1

[@Razticz]

had all my school swimming carnivals at the glenorchy pool. a pieces of time that will be lost to history.

[@michaellangdon8347]

A possibility for a future video could be the former ice skating rink on the mountain, or the stories behind the abandoned hotel near the top of west hobart

[@angusthornett]

I think they’ve already been covered in earlier videos.

[@crammo477]

True story re: Hobart's old Olympic Pool. Quite a lot of the rubble from when it was destroyed ended up being trucked up to the TCA Ground where it was used to create the outer banking where the electronic scoreboard is situated now.

[@angusthornett]

I didn't know that. Makes sense though.

[@timcannon8003]

I had forgotten the bubble!

[@angusthornett]

Yet it remembered you.

[@PhillipGiosio]

Pool with a retractable roof, best of both worlds

[@xavierdireen687]

Hey Angus, not sure if you'll see this or not but I'm very new to your channel, my friend has watched a fair bit of you, I'm just wondering how you know so much of this stuff, did you study in uni or are you constantly just reading and researching? Would love to know. Cheers.

[@angusthornett]

Hi Xavier, I have never formally studies history at uni or even at school. I read a bit. A lot of stuff in available on the Internet. You find out a lot of stuff too just by visiting places on your own.

[@xavierdireen687]

It's very impressive how you're able to just read stuff and then piece it together to say the least. I look forward to more.

[@albertoftasmania]

I'll have to check that spot out near Huntingfield before it gets turned into the fourth bloody shopping centre in the general vicinity.

[@angusthornett]

Kingston is a missed opportunity.

[@albertoftasmania]

Truly. It has a rich history, too. I'd like to make a video on the Kingston Beach jetty. @@angusthornett

[@craigf7188]

Is the outdoor pool still at new Norfolk, remember having school swimming carnivals up there in the 80’s

[@Josh-kd7uo]

Any idea where the lost Hobart Mikva eg; Ritual bath used to be? I believe it’s recorded in the records of the Hobart Synagogue.

[@Dico6]

Love your videos and I don't even live in Tassy.

[@angusthornett]

Thanks, mate. Good to here.

[@chaosstate4491]

Many a family Christmas was had in the pool yard of that family home. Sad to see the state it is in today.

[@angusthornett]

All things must pass.

[@tom-vx1lp]

Look at that grand stand

[@pmacgowan]

I learned to swim at wrest point

[@angusthornett]

Ha

[@PenelopeFogarty]

With Nunky Ayers? Dreaded those lessons.

[@jansilk83]

I swam at the old Tepid Baths on many occasions

[@angusthornett]

Same

[@memermaster1285]

Where do you get these old photos? My brothers are two of the boys at the glenorchy pool. And two cousins.

[@thomasspence-king3339]

In the case of Hobart, if given a choice I'd definitely take function over form when it comes to pool that can be used all year long. What's the expected life span of a community pool? DKHAC has good bones in my uninformed opinion, and likely needs updates to support views of public pool as community hub (akin to Libraries) and some more family activation with updated family change rooms etc.

[@cloudstreet8214]

Cool 🏊

[@angusthornett]

Ice cold

[@therighttoremain]

Is this gonna cover the Glenorchy pool shut down? Where is the pool the thumbnail?

[@damianmarriott8727]

Doug had a big pole, it was swim or drowning by big pole

[@AngusMcLean-m1j]

Where is this?

[@timp1390]

Bring back the bumper boats!!!

[@angusthornett]

Would have been fun. Probably wouldn't pass health and safety standards now.

[@MicahLambert]

I love the shirt but can I get it in black, artwork on the back, and a mini version of the art on the left chest? 😅😅😅

[@MicahLambert]

Oh and a crew neck jumper version!

[@Lady_Caster]

I thought this might have gone into more detail; like mentioning that the Clarence bubble was suppose to be a temporary structure, taken down in the warmer months, but was left up for years. Or little endeavours, like the one off chapel street in Glenorchy, on the Humphreys Rivulet (At least I guess it was a swimming pool )

[@angusthornett]

Details get left on the floor.

[@diannerowley9358]

I had an outdoor pool no more though souch work to keep them clean. Hobart to cold for them, thought of swimming with other people in that water not for me.

[@RadJosh-cc6ph]

Hello Angus where is the pool in around 5:00 to 7:00 minutes it would be much appreciated

[@angusthornett]

Across from Bunnings

[@RadJosh-cc6ph]

@@angusthornett thank you very much

[@bigears4014]

They left it under staffed and wouldn't let many people in , my grand kids were turned away twice

[@carlbarron3087]

Yeah, pretty rough to cite daily use statistics when people are being turned away. Probably far more than 100 a day if staffed appropriately

[@angusthornett]

That's hopeless.

[@angusthornett]

By hook or by crook the place has been losing a lot of money. Definitely could have been managed better.@@carlbarron3087

[@bmw_m140i_aus7]

Inflated the pool pony in preparation for this! 😅😅😅

[@bmw_m140i_aus7]

The pool pony deflated in disappointment at the state of these pools. He's relegated his aquatic pursuits to the bathtub moving forward.

[@angusthornett]

@@bmw_m140i_aus7 ha

[@Darius_The_CIairvoyant]

Your joking i was swimming in there last year 😭 bro wtf i didn’t know it closed bro i had a school event there literally last year thats crazy

[@Kendanskylife]

Where is there a new Supermarket going to go??

[@clasdauskas]

Opposite Bunnings in Kingston

[@angusthornett]

yep@@clasdauskas

[@leeannerose8393]

We all need to band together and fight for this War Memorial facility that was built by the people of Glenorchy 30th November 1963. 60 year birthday today. Families, RSL, Country Womens Assoc, Schools and swimming clubs as well as 70 organisations come together as civic minded citizens to raise funds, provided labour to build our pool. Please attend Glenorchy Council Annual General meeting Monday night 4th Dec 23 to vote on public motions to Save Glenorchy War Memorial Pool.

[@tagtasgifted2741]

Are you aware of the Bellerive Baths? Not sure when they closed but they were operating at the start of World War 1.

[@George-pl7eu]

Bring em back I say

[@angusthornett]

Things don't come back.

[@MAYKOSHARKO]

hobart mentioned????

[@iaincaveney7162]

You forget that Sorell has a new covered pool

[@angusthornett]

Not all pools were included. It was also more about lost pools.

[@waratah5422]

As you say Build it and they shall come Wrong!!

[@angusthornett]

Things have their time. Correctly or not.

[@waratah5422]

Agree, but Glenorchy pool 100 people or less a day there fees would not cover running costs let alone wages Times are changing

[@JamesMcivor-z6e]

and they call that progress

[@angusthornett]

Ha

[@AWF1000]

Wth? When did the glenorchy pool close. 😂😂

[@Darius_The_CIairvoyant]

New norfolk pool is next ong its so gross there Also theres a closed pool in the asylum area in new norfolk i was gonna sneak in there but i havent cuz it has asbestos in

[@invinciblevettel5]

Who would have thought the glenorchy pool would have ended up like that. Politicians have no respect for social history to allow such decline. Is nothing sacred anymore?

[@angusthornett]

Glenorchy could be in a much better position than what it is.

[@invinciblevettel5]

What can we do to save the pool?@@angusthornett

[@mitchelldavis5721]

Doesnt even talk about who designed or built the glenorchy pool

[@kartoffelwaffel]

entropy

[@melnickharris1177]

I've been at that place with the pool a few times on my mountain bike I'm guessing ur at Kingston and it was liveable maybe 5 months ago it's sad to see something like that go to waste people have got all the copper out of it now and destroyed everything and same as the other house I'm guessing they are government owned we went there one day to find a box of chocolates left to the old owner wtf grr makes me wild

[@angusthornett]

People have really gone to work on it.

[@mattrich7998]

The new housing estates and apartments built in Hobart and the surrounding suburbs look cheap and somewhat tasteless. It's a shame to see what's happened to some of these baths and I have fond memories as a kid in the 90's of the 'Bubble'.

[@angusthornett]

New houses could look better but people chose for them to look the way that they do.

[@vickiandrobthompson9148]

Council should be ashamed

[@hustleandflow]

Too many community spaces are built with taxpayers money, demolished and then sold to developers.

[@IEATTREES975]

Oh no really it's closed for good? NOOOOOOOOO, I remember being there during school and with my dad and step mum, and the last time I went there was at highschool in grade 8, such good memories, but I didn't know that it's gone now, I thought it was still up and running.