Do you have any memories of using Charlton Lido – legitimately or otherwise? Were you one of the youngsters who used to scale the walls and have a dip when it was closed in the Nineties, or did you use it for skateboarding in the Seventies or Eighties? NORMAN LEACH would like to hear from you.

A project is under way to create a storyboard of the various uses that Charlton Lido has been put to since it’s opening in 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War II. During the war years the pool was kept full of water for emergency use in firefighting and it was returned to public use at the end of hostilities in 1946.

It was built and operated by the London County Council and the high specification of the build was a factor in it now being one of the few lidos left in London. 

Following government legislation forcing the LCC’s successor, the Greater London Council, to hand over many of its parks and lidos to the boroughs, Greenwich Council became responsible for its upkeep. As early as 1974 funding constraints were responsible for reduced opening hours. In 1978 it briefly became a skateboarding park. 

Man in empty pool surrounded by bricks and debris
The neglected lido suffered from vandalism in 2004. Image: Norman Leach

During the Eighties London’s outdoor pools started to close in great numbers. Eltham Park Lido closed in 1986 was finally condemned by the subsidence caused by the construction of the Rochester Way Relief Road nearby. The whole structure was demolished in 2005.

Charlton Lido closed after the 1989 season, but it survived to benefit from Olympic legacy money in 2012 and is now once more flourishing.

There are a number of reasons for its survival, but the principal reason has got to be the tremendous community spirit of local swimming and aquatic clubs. During the Nineties it opened sporadically during school holidays, and there were 35,000 admissions during the hot summer of 1995.

Outside the summer holidays, the lido was used by local swimming and canoeing clubs and occasional film shoots. It even became a home for nesting pigeons and ducks.

Sign explaining the closure of the Lido
What might have been: A plan to turn the lido into a diving centre collapsed in 2010. Image: Norman Leach

The Charlton Lido swimming club, under the leadership of the late Graham Jones, played a large part in keeping the lido open by maintaining it in operational condition until its final closure on August 18, 2009, when the council leased it to Open Waters Investments, which was going to redevelop it as a diving centre. 

But Open Waters collapsed and the lido briefly reopened in 2010 before being closed again for reconstruction. It reopened with a smaller but warmer pool in 2012.

If you have any memories that you could share with us, photos or anecdotes we would love to hear from you.  

We are especially keen for any photos that you may have inside or outside the lido.  We are also happy to meet anyone to record their memories.

To share your photos or memories, email norman[at]normanleach.co.uk and the lido’s assistant manager Marina Miguens on marina.miguens[at]gll.org.

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