Tooting Bec Lido is one of Britain's oldest lidos: it was built in just 4 months in the spring of 1906. It did not become a 'lido' until the Thirties - when the term became widely used - it was originally known as Tooting Bathing-Lake.

The pool, at the eastern end of Tooting Common in south-west London, opened to the public on Saturday 28 July 1906.

The pool measures 100 x 33 yards - a staggering 30,000 square feet of water. It was intended partly as a communal bath as very few homes in 1906 had their own bathrooms. It is now the biggest open-air pool in the country.

Back in 1906, the Rev. Anderson, the man behind the pool being built, said he hoped it would be 'a benefit to the public for a long time to come.'

He can hardly have imagined that a hundred years later, people from south London and beyond, would still be swimming in his bathing-lake and delighting in it.

Within weeks of the pool opening in 1906, a group of swimmers got together and formed the South London Swimming Club. The Club made the pool its headquarters and ever since has played a major role in the life of the Lido.

A more detailed history is available as a book. Tooting Bec Lido by Janet Smith can be ordered directly from the author @ £5.95.
E-mail: janet@tootinglido.fsnet.co.uk