Very Old Saltcoats Swimming Pool

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calleytwo
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Old Saltcoats bathing pool

Post by calleytwo »

Actually I am shocked when I look at that aerial photo.. What happened to all the old buildings that were around that area? I remember there was one built out over the road as there was a bookie's around there which my uncle Jim used to frequent and took me to on a walk a couple of times. I remember that "pool" area and I think it must have originally been for the home as it was a dangerous place on windy days and would not have been a popular choice for a public pool venue. In fact as wee boys we were feart to go through the hole in the wall if the tide was coming in. I remember it was treachorous to walk around on the slimy pavers even when the tide was out. Wee Ali
harrysteell
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old out door baths in saltcoats. for the m.c.h.

Post by harrysteell »

Hi there dreamer the photo is good enough evidence for me my relatives lived at number 8 hill street, there is some sort of offices there now the pool is just a stones throw away thanks Harry.
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The mysterious bathing pool and location

Post by tartentumshi »

I'd almost forgotten this bit of the shore. Between the Stevenston sand dunes and Saltcoats harbour, just down from the convalescent home, with the railway line behind. In the winter, my mother got the job of taking me and my visiting cousings out for a while to let her sisters have a blether with my granny. The waves used to come right up over us there at that stretch. We didn't care. We'd finish off with a hot bovril in one of the cafes. Great days.
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tartentumshi
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Saltcoats Bathing pool/and the other 'pool' mentioned

Post by tartentumshi »

The pool in your photo is the rocky beach between the sand dunes at the Stevenston end, and the harbour at the Saltcoats end. The other poster mentioned the Mission Coast Home. Well, it was just behind there. it did fill up when the tide came in, and was obviously man-made. The swimming pool at Saltcoats, the big flat roofed white building, had a similar pool. There was a wee shop inside, and we all lay on the flat roof to dry off.
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Davy Maclean
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Post by Davy Maclean »

Can anyone remember the big white rowing boat that was next ot the hole in the wall was there for yeaes and even used to feture on postcards hole in the wall stank of pish though....puntrs fae the grange no doubt
dardanelles11
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very old saltcoats swimming pool

Post by dardanelles11 »

we used to use the old swimming pool in the 1940's, but it was never really popular for swimming. there were too many loose rocks and rock ledge's. also it was not deep enough, it went from 6ins at the stevenston end to about 3ft at the harbour end. some people spoke about cleaning it out, but nothing ever came of it. also there was a sewage pipe about 50yds from the pool on the stevenston side. and the outlet was about 300yds out. there were 3 openings in the harbour wall, the one at the pond went down about 3 or 4 steps. the next one was just past the house that bridged over the road near the osborne hotel or saracen. there a flight of stairs went down to the left, probably about 10 or 12 stairs. and the last one was the hole in the wall, about 50yds short of the old customs house. there you went down about 2 steps to a double handrail with steps going left and right.
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Re: very old saltcoats swimming pool

Post by bigsafty2 »

dardanelles11 wrote:we used to use the old swimming pool in the 1940's, but it was never really popular for swimming. there were too many loose rocks and rock ledge's. also it was not deep enough, it went from 6ins at the stevenston end to about 3ft at the harbour end. some people spoke about cleaning it out, but nothing ever came of it. also there was a sewage pipe about 50yds from the pool on the stevenston side. and the outlet was about 300yds out. there were 3 openings in the harbour wall, the one at the pond went down about 3 or 4 steps. the next one was just past the house that bridged over the road near the osborne hotel or saracen. there a flight of stairs went down to the left, probably about 10 or 12 stairs. and the last one was the hole in the wall, about 50yds short of the old customs house. there you went down about 2 steps to a double handrail with steps going left and right.
hughie gourlay
8) Hi Hughie, your desription of the old swimming pool brought back so many memories, like the time a few of us tried fishing at the harbour end of the pool . Only wee minnows in there but we tried anyway.Like an eejit I slipped on some green seaweed and fell heid furst in the watter. Lucky for me a man close at hand grabbed me by the hair of my head and pulled me out.When I got home and my mother saw me with all my clothes wringing wet,Igoat ma bum skelpt ,so baith ends were sair,ah well Happy Days. Bill Greer.ps. you know me better as Wullie.
dardanelles11
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very old saltcoats swimming pool

Post by dardanelles11 »

hi wullie, i remember you and your family very well, i'll send you an email after i finish this post. another wee memory i've got regarding the pool, was of the johnstons who lived beneath you. mr johnston built a model boat powered with a wee steam engine, and used to sail it in the wee swimming pond.
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OLd Saltcoats Swimming Pool.

Post by gnyaff »

Hullo Wullie Greer from Quay Street.

I remember tho old pool, and as a kid being paddled around in it with about 10 other kids in an inflatable yellow dingy. Last year when Hughie was up in these parts we were discussing the pool over a lunch and a bevvy. I thought it was probably put there out of the way as in the 1800's it was not seen to be decent to frolic around in public even with the long johns that the old photos show us of the swimming costumes of the period.

In this weeks archives along with the B.M.D. from the Herald. There is an article which says the Bathing Pool at Saltcoats is to be set aside for one hour per day for the sole use of women. The sum of 1/- to be paid to Lord Eglinton and Lord Montgomerie. So there we have it, it was definately built as a bathing pool.

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Jim McCreadie
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Old Saltcoats Swimming Pool

Post by Jim McCreadie »

http://www.flickr.com/photos/re_teacher ... et-484216/

lists a "salt pan" as what I recall was the old pool. I doubt the photo depicts a "salt pan" as it is too low; when the tide came in, it would flood. The page also states "where the salt water was boiled"! BOILED? Surely it was "evaporative".

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gnyaff
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Post by gnyaff »

Hi Jim,

The fellow who said that picture was a salt pan must have an I.Q. somewhere around room temperature. Surely they must know it would never be hot enough in Saltcoats for it to evaporate, and as you mentioned the tide would come in. It also might rain as well. Who ever said that should look at the Saltcoats coat of arms which has a salt pan building in the top right hand corner. My mother told me the salt pans were located in what is now Bradshaw Street. Makes sense as it is near the water.

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Post by TheTeslarian »

Many Scottish salt-pans closely resemble the "pools" in Saltcoats. It is possible that they were originally built as evaporation pools for the production of salt and when the sea level rose (an unrecorded increase of only a foot is often necessary to render the industry defunct) they were reused as pools. Their utilisation as bathing pools in later years does not mean they were built as bathing pools. The evaporation is only required partially by the way and salt deposits are left every single time the tide goes out. Mineral filled water WILL leave mineral rich deposits with each and every evaporation. The amount of salt is what makes this type of coastline important for the industry.

I am looking for some similar images from Scotland's coast. At the moment I can only find some international ones but those are almost identical to those found at Saltcoats.
Last edited by TheTeslarian on Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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