Exploring an Abandoned Swimming Baths: Art Deco Paradise

[@christinedugmore]

I’ve got so many happy memories of this place, from swimming there, getting my first mile ‘badge’ at around 8 years old, to helping my dad & his mobile disco there in the function room, to joining the gym there in the early 2000’s. Thankyou for sharing this wonderful building!!

[@flyinghero5283]

I was born around the corner in Park Road in 1970 and learnt to swim there. In the late 70s during the summer, you had to wear a coloured wrist band. Then every hour a member of staff would shout out a colour, if that matched your wrist band your time was up and you had to leave. It was that busy there. Lovely video guys. I can imagine it will be demolishing within 12 months 😢

[@richardjohn7991]

What a shame.We need old places like that.To be restored. Everything is about money nowadays. Thanks for showing us.👍

[@Urbandoned]

No worries, it's a shame that it doesn't happen like that

[@steviehypa732]

I remember swimming there when I was younger. Me and my mates would save up to go. I would always buy a ruffle bar from the vending machine sit on the wall outside and eat it. I hope they don’t demolish it would be a shame. The video brought a smile to my face, thanks guys 🫡

[@KatsCats2619]

Happy memories😊you can still buy ruffle bars I used to get poppets from the vending machine when I was a kid😊

[@Urbandoned]

Glad we could do that for you. Best wishes

[@Sarah_270]

Great memories. You were a part of history.

[@Alden-zq1nu]

Great to know that some of the next generation appreciate the craft that went into such spaces. It gives me hope. Well done.

[@Urbandoned]

:)

[@ladytron1724]

Beautiful Art Deco 💚💚💚💚💚💚

[@deniseshephard3347]

It breaks my heart that these places are left to ruin thank you for showing us what we wouldn’t of been able to see it took guts and courage so once again thank you

[@chrisfulthorpe7006]

Beautiful! i am a lover of anything Art Deco! Please god they repurpose the building and dont demolish it! We need to keep as much of our heritage as is possibly human to do. Also the music that you guys use when documenting these lovely buildings really magnifies the profound sadness i feel when i see them abandoned like this, keep up the great work!

[@Urbandoned]

Thank you, we love Art Deco too, it's tragic that so much is forgotten

[@ToniTerrier]

Such a shame these beautiful places are replaced by modern monstrosities that have 0 longevity and end up knocked down within decades of opening.

[@callumengland198]

That's because it costs money to keep them open and a of company's can't be bothered to look afther old buildings because all they care about is money and them selves

[@patriciastanley3238]

I am surprised the original part of the building is not Listed it is is Beautiful. The elegance of art deco, astounding!

[@Urbandoned]

It absolutely should be!

[@RobertWilletts-yk1yv]

It is grade 2 listed.

[@suzycat2026]

Great film you fearless guys.😊 Yes, this place is very similar to the Bon Accord baths in Aberdeen. Really nice features; the colours, those glass doors, the shape of the building. Twould be really sad for it to be demolished. 😢 Still in really good condition. Many of our public swimming baths have been closed due to the £energy crisis, or so they say. To be building a new leisure centre, while this lies abandoned feels like a crime.

[@Urbandoned]

Lots of similarities, especially the roof! I completely agree, but people opt for efficiency rather than architecture nowadays

[@richardhaynes3925]

At this place my mother watched The Beatles and The Stones; it was here i learnt to swim; and so many memories of competitions for school and uniform groups. It is a tragic loss to the area.

[@OLIFAB]

Fantastic explore as always! Lovely architecture! Lucky escape lol

[@bobmcdermott9535]

What a magnificent building.

[@frasermathers2287]

Thanks Alistair for another fantastic explore. Really love this era for its architecture and style and it would be a real shame for this to be lost for ever. With regards to the Aberdeen Bon Accord Baths which you explored before, they are in the process of restoring the baths and hope to reopen in the near future as a community operated venture supported by Aberdeen Council

[@Urbandoned]

No problem, if it worked at Bon Accord, in a much worse state than this baths, it could happen here too!

[@eman31683]

I always enjoy your videos! Look forward to the next one! From USA to you, we appreciate your content and enjoy the architecture

[@Urbandoned]

Thanks for the support

[@Sarah_270]

Councils are so corrupt. They'd rather these places fall to ruin than spend the money on refurbishing. Thank you guys for recording these amazing structures that should be cherished.

[@Urbandoned]

No problem - glad you enjoy our content

[@RobertWilletts-yk1yv]

Dudley council is the most corrupt.

[@RobertWilletts-yk1yv]

Just look at Dudley council and what they did to the art deco Dudley hippodrome theatre if they'd had any vision they would have restored it and made some other use for it, their leader is Patrick Harley who believes in his own lies.

[@Gooner184]

Has nothing to do with corruption, don't know if you've noticed but none of them have any money. You can thank 14 years of catastrophic Tory austerity for that!

[@Sarah_270]

@@RobertWilletts-yk1yv why do these people get to the top? Presumably by lying as you said, same with our council in Winchester, so many beautiful buildings left to rot so that the people at the top can have more money to skim off for themselves. Corruption in local councils is rife.

[@stephaniemcquillan1930]

Very interesting place. I love historical buildings, especially ones such as this with so many original features intact. It’s terrible to shut them down or modernise them or turn them into something else. Who is going to look back on the modern buildings of today in the future? These old buildings were built to last. Great explore!

[@Urbandoned]

Precisely this

[@kellymctighe8323]

Beautiful building.. I spend my Wednesday’s in a swimming pool that’s over 100 years old ..love it 🤩

[@KindredPhantom]

Smethwick swimming centre for those like me who are curious to where this place is. According to a news article from March last year a community group called the people's orchestra hope to acquire the building and use it for concerts.

[@TheSakura4w]

I thought it looked familiar! I've been wracking my brain about where it was!

[@KindredPhantom]

@@TheSakura4w I was curious so did some digging. The comment about the Beatles playing there helped to narrow the search.

[@tickledcobweb8764]

Wow what a wonderful building and pool

[@Urbandoned]

She's gorgeous

[@lizziebissell2368]

first pool to have a pool rules sign and the architecture is based on an aviation room 🔥

[@jayneshorter5418]

Hi loved this pool I used to take my boy their when he was a baby he’s now 22 it’s so sad they shut down due to lack by of council funding and have built a new leisure complex few miles away 😢

[@mmatejka01]

Great job guys. So glad you are documenting these as always. No one else is. Historians love your work.

[@bettygrant9787]

So similar to the Bon Accord pool that you did previously, where I learned to swim as a kid. Maybe this place can learn from what they're doing in Aberdeen. Beautiful places going to waste.

[@RHBRoberts]

The great escape! Lovely vid guys, thank you for uploading.

[@Urbandoned]

No problem

[@susanrice3166]

Such a stunning architectural building. Thanks for the video! Fabulous ❤

[@sassysue6472]

Absolutely stunning architecture. The art deco of the 20’s and 30’s is so beautiful. And it is art. Well built and lasts for decades. It gives that community vibe-how sad it’s been abandoned. And the history that’s left behind as well. Just wrong!

[@Kainemitchellbmx]

The pool was always absolutely freezing here , an before it closed it had the net over the pool catching droppings 😂 good video lads

[@Urbandoned]

It seems that closure was on the cards for a while..

[@SullysScaleModels]

Shame you didn't manage to get down the basement and the apartment! Used to go here and live not to far away

[@catsandcrafts171]

I love this style! I also love how respectful you are, you leave no trace, and simply look and document what you see. Sad that you have to 'break in' to these places, but it would be vandalised in no time if there wasn't this level of security. Very sad. Hope the building is repurposed as something public and not apartments as usual, that break up the interior features and stops anyone seeing the whole vision ever again. Great work, lads!

[@gavinburnett5641]

Good explore gents. The escape at the end got my pulse up a bit!

[@Urbandoned]

Mine too!

[@Fran_SG]

Very very very cool!!!

[@michaelbarlow3686]

Another amazing video guys you are my fav channel and I love Art Deco We had 2 nice baths in Reading Arthur Hill which has been covered by another urbex and Kings Meadow. Thanks for all your hard work and dedicated explores

[@PunmasterSTP]

I'd like to think that sometime in the future, people can use old KZbin videos to reconstruct relics of bygone eras. I wouldn't mind one bit to one day set foot in this art deco paradise, or a simulation of it.

[@bullyinspace]

Smethwick baths. I was always there 1986-1990

[@paulguise698]

Hiya Alistair, My arse fell right out when the police and security arrived, but I'm glad you got out, before you got pinched, I enjoy the excitement of these explores you and your friends do, this is Choppy in Whitehaven, Cumbria, England

[@nataliesmith303]

Such a fab looking building inside and out 😊

[@Sharon-marie]

Love the 1930s decor

[@markwebster243]

Wow that council has no idea the damage of loosing such a beautiful building like we have in Aberdeen 😢

[@benlambley7171]

Brilliant explore and escape lads lol lovely building I love art deco

[@daffyduk77]

Great location, thanks for sharing

[@karllangeveld6449]

Nice explore again! Lovely building. I like the escape plan, ‘meet you in front of the building’ and then leaving at the back. 😂I wonder how many times you can pull off that trick. Thanks.

[@Urbandoned]

Shhh they'll start to realise!

[@lukasg5922]

Remember i used to do swimming here late last crazy to see it empty such a shame hope it has a good future

[@Fred-Alpine]

This is so similar to the top floor of the Sackville Street building in Manchester City centre!

[@johnedwards230]

This is the issue, whats the point in listing buildings if there is nothing to guarantee its maintenance or survival as a working building. Stunning place, absolute tragedy this has been closed

[@RobertWilletts-yk1yv]

Thanks to the commonwealth games in Birmingham, they actually dug a public park up to build that new Aquatic centre in Smethwick west Midlands for the games in Birmingham.

[@michelleshaw337]

Old aquatic facilities eventually will develop problems with the plumbing for circulating the pool. If the circulating pipes are not accessible underneath the pool basin, eventually they will corrode to a point where they can’t be remediated. Looking at the drains in that pool, it probably has inadequate water recirculation to meet modern day requirements.

[@KevinJones-ye3vw]

Loved the video lads . However no way would i trust those old Crittall windows you used entering the place . please stay safe . Beautiful building though

[@JP_TaVeryMuch]

3:45 Didn't feel like signing the security guard's visitors logbook then‽

[@pauloconnor2980]

Ollie has a flash jam-jar!!!!!

[@lido6457]

We have lost all this beautiful architecture 😞

[@Andy-From-England]

Cool baths

[@UQRXD]

11:13 I like the round windows on the door. I bet people had very much fun in this place.

[@JDMusic-fXsT]

R.I.P the greatest baths ever

[@metalman4141]

Let’s do what we always do and demolish it for Aldi, Lidl, car park

[@RobertWilletts-yk1yv]

Or some vanity project.

[@PRFunkSelective]

Sad that they couldn't build a floor over the pool and use it as a community hub. That would've been a better outcome.

[@Urbandoned]

Would have been a great idea.. anything in fact to keep it from this

[@user-ih6vs3eg3o]

Art deco really was the peak of design in history it was all about the ancient mixed with the new yet it was subtle and streamlined even today it’s still modern. Anything post modern is an abomination!

[@tamarahenderson5241]

Love

[@davidfinney-gm3ij]

I learned to swim when I was 7. And now I am 62 and still saving the lives of people. Who was there with you?

[@bethselkie]

Imagine if buildings like this could be used as night shelters or refuges instead of being protected by security whilst empty and rotting

[@MaikoTag]

any tips for dealing with police? i do urbex but im scared about the reprecussions. are they bad?

[@Urbandoned]

Just stay calm, know your rights and explain clearly what you are doing. It might seem tense initially, but once you address that you haven't committed a crime, they will likely let you go. It only becomes bad when a grumpy owner/security guard is involved

[@petrolhead28]

A quarter of a century of cuts and here were are in broken britain

[@hdns6678]

this looks like the mounts baths in Northampton but mounts isn't abandoned

[@martinbuckley260]

You are not wearing your seatbelt @ 17:39 🤣

[@ThatGirlAmanda2525]

Can I ask why you have started to show how you are accessing the properties noe?

[@olegphilonenco6486]

Как-будто не заброшено

[@m4xww]

Terrible that the lights and air-con is on really. Waste of energy.

[@danbarnes4069]

Shut up I'm not... Yet.. 1:15

[@pauloconnor2980]

@0:09- you can just see the 'S'!!

[@timlodge8267]

This country should be protecting and saving these art-deco buildings instead of shelling out money on some of these dreadful illegal migrants.

[@unalunar7362]

Yes but they only care about profits.

[@NathanMartin-qy9oh]

😅😊😂

[@southernpride1861]

Just so you know that is not a bath that is a swimming pool

[@pauloconnor2980]

@ 12:32- is that concrete cancer????

[@jason22spurs]

Beautiful place !!