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Moseley Road Baths

Re: Moseley Swiming Baths Open Day

horsencart said:
I have now added 70 photos of the open day enjoy https://www.flickr.com/photos/dofartshavelumps/22043592964/in/dateposted/
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Hi Horsencart. What a fantastic record of the baths and it's various parts, thanks for posting all those photos. The place is BULGING with lovely features. Shameful if this isn't given some TLC through whatever means it takes. The quartet playing in one of the photos seems almost reminiscent of the Titanic going down. Viv.
 
Re: Moseley Swiming Baths Open Day

I learnt to swim at Moseley Rd baths and I earned my first free swimming pass in the first year at Dennis Rd School for doing one length of the bath at 11 years of age. Living in Balsall Heath as I did at that time it meant I could go swimming every day if I wished and it cost nothing. That was if I was prepared to wait in the large queue for the current session to finish and the new one begin. I also remember using the washing baths there it used to be a regular thing on Sunday morning instead of the zinc bath in front of the fire. After all at 11/12 years of age I thought myself too grown up for that.

I also remember in the 90's contracting to William Sapcotes who were doing work on renovating the small pool, it was only a few short years after that job was completed that they closed the large pool supposedly for renovation only to hear shortly after that there was doubt that it would ever open again.
 
Re: Moseley Swiming Baths Open Day

Sad to say what is the use of keeping this building.it is never going to be used for anything
Time to pull it down
I swam there in 1943 but just retain what ever memories you may have
Regards
John Hughes
 
Re: Moseley Swiming Baths Open Day

Hughes said:
Sad to say what is the use of keeping this building.it is never going to be used for anything
Time to pull it down
I swam there in 1943 but just retain what ever memories you may have
Regards
John Hughes
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Moseley Baths still runs one pool most of the time. I've seen parties of school children come up to the baths for lessons. It's not been up to capacity for a long time and it has closed for long periods when things degrade too much but there is still a part of it that works. I doubt they'll consider closing it again until the new Sparkhill baths open. Even then there's a couple of schools that may have to drop swimming rather than bus the kids up to the new baths.
 
It is sad to see buildings like these go but the cost of running them is astronomical. I have happy memories from when I first became a swimming instructor and worked part time to begin with teaching adults and life saving. There was a documentary filmed there "My twin and I" and my twins were in it. They ended up diving in and pulling a couple of children out. Good job they were lifeguards at Wyndley at the time!.
 
I have to admit that I never really enjoyed been in the Moseley Baths, Cold uninviting place, The building is magnificent, no doubt about that. Maybe they could gut the place out and make it into condos? Last year on a visit to Brum we drove past the baths and my old school Moseley School of art. Of course times have changed and that world that I lived in the 1930s to 1950s has long gone. When I and all my generation are gone, it will time to change to the new one.
 
Hi Richard Bill taught me and became my coach and later my boss. I have some photo's of when he was a swimmer himself with his medals and cups. Will see if I can find them and up load them on this thread!. Picture 013.jpgHope you like it Richard. Will try find the others.
 
thanks for the update jukebox...its so very annoying when we see the council spending millions on new buildings yet anything to benefit the community ie swimmings baths and local libraries are ear marked for demo...i wish them well

lyn
 
well done to the good people of birmingham...these baths must not be allowed to be demolished..there is no point in moaning when our historial buildings go...we must put our money where our mouth is then at least we can say we tried..:)

lyn
 
DSCN2047A.jpg Paid a visit to the baths on friday with the Friends of West Midlands History Group. Very impressive, though the larger, first class, baths could only be viewed through the glass of a door into them, as they are not now considered safe enough to allow the public access. The volunteers, who will soon be taking complete control over the running seem very keen and possess the interest, knowledge and umph necessary for such a project as this. This, together with the support being provided by such as the National Trust, historic England and the world monument fund bodes well for the project. Apparently, even the City Council are being very co-operative. Did take some photos, but not of the quality of ellbrown or the originator of the thread, Virusman, so will not post them her except for one showing something not shown in their photos, the inside of the enormous water tank on the top of the building which once supplied all the water for the pool building by gravity feed. Virusman's photos, unfortunately, were on Photobucket. However he also seems to have posted them on the 28daysafter site and therefore i have re-posted 10 from there in the appropriate place.
 
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thanks for the update mike...great to see so much support is being given to save these baths...thanks also for re posting virusmans photos

lyn
 
Catching up on quite a few of the threads on the forum and this one brought back a few memories. We used to use Moseley Road swimming baths for our swimming lessons from school and also for our annual school swimming gala. I always thought that this was a bit strange as our school was in Kings Heath and we didn't use Kings Heath Baths. To get there we used the no 50 bus and were given a red plastic 2d token for our fare. This was in the 60s and I'll always remember a character we used to see quite regularly on the Moseley Rd., nr to the baths. It was a female who appeared outrageous in her dress, make up, hair etc and we were fascinated by her, later in life I realised it was Toyah Wilcox but this was before she found fame as a singer and actress.
 
Mike

I have been pretty well all over the baths site having been a user in earlier years winning my first free swimmers pass there for completing a length a the large pool. In later life we sub contracted to the main contractor (Sapcotes, if I remember correctly) when they renovated the small pool in the 90's I think. So I got to pretty well see the whole of the site, but obviously there were places I didn't get to and your photo clearly demonstrates that.

I don't think the baths will ever be demolished because there would be a public uproar, there again I suppose it could go one of two ways it could be closed down an boarded up and we all know what happens to unwanted buildings. The long haul being the roof somehow gets vandalised, then the weather gets in for a couple of winters and the building begins to crumble. We all then wait for the news because it has become a danger to the public it will have to be demolished. The short haul would be the almost obligatory fire that seems to occur not long after boarding these buildings up.
 
Phil
Hopefully that will not happen here with all the support that is being provided. Actually while we were waiting for the last member of the party to arrive we were discussing what happened to Northfield manor house, the boarding up and the "accidental " fire. Apparently the boys that did it are known, and my comment was that I wondered how much they were paid
 
Moseley Baths present situation from the Iron Room, Birmingham Libraries...

theironroom.wordpress.com

Moseley Road Baths to the Rescue

Moseley Road Baths was opened in 1907 with 2 pools and 46 individual bathing cubicles, known as ‘slipper baths.’ Although only one pool is still open for swimming, this stunning Grade II* listed bu…
theironroom.wordpress.com theironroom.wordpress.com
 
That is good news. When I went on a visit to the baths two years ago, none of the party wetre allowed to enter these baths, and could only view them from a doorway. See below:
DSCN2029A.jpg
 
Going to MSA across the road, the baths were the place we spent most of our lunches swimming instead. Never took much notice of the building at the time. I do remember the mens side and ladies side..
Dave A
 
I used to run an adult class there many moons ago and our twins were in a documentary filmed there "My twin and I" when they were seventeen and ended up rescuing one of the other twins who didn't let the crew know they were not good swimmers!!. Good job the lads were lifeguards and acted quickly. That part of course was not aired on the show. Am so pleased they are not demolishing the building.
 
If I go on a Brumtography photo meet next month, I might be able to get photos in the restored baths. (it's a private Facebook photography group that started last month and I sometimes go on photo meets with them).

My old Primary School used to have it's own swimming pool. When they stopped using that, they took us to Moseley Road Baths from around 1992 to 1994. Had to share the changing cubicles.

By the time I moved on to Secondary School, by then was going to Fox Hollies Leisure Centre (but only in Year 7 and 8 as I recall for the boys from 1994 to 1996).
 
adap2it said:
Going to MSA across the road, the baths were the place we spent most of our lunches swimming instead. Never took much notice of the building at the time. I do remember the mens side and ladies side..
Dave A
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Never thought much about the baths myself seemed a very cold dank place not very pleasant of course this was part during the war so that could explain it. Rather play in the courtyard back of the school
 
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The visit yesterday went well. Got a lot of photos to upload. So will put the ones I've got up first. We did get into the larger pool, they had a temporary exhibition in there. And we even went up to the balcony (you can go around the safe edge near the wall).

The way in or out.



To the pools.



Main staircase - closed off - we weren't taken up here.

 
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