26/08/2026
(Video footage: Northgate Grammar School outdoor pool in 1962)
Former pool attendant Guy Booth writes:
"I now live in SW London currently but still visit Suffolk from time to time.
Your article on ‘lost pools’ brought back all the memories, which are very happy ones that I enjoyed sharing.
I was struck by how many of these places were part of the fabric of my childhood and youth in Ipswich.
"I went to primary school at Clifford Road in East Ipswich in the ’60s / early ’70s.
The school built its small 10m (as I recall) indoor pool while I was there, with some financial contribution from parents I believe.
The school had a stated objective that every child should leave at 11 years old able to swim at least 10m. What a great initiative, thinking back. We had swimming lessons on a Friday, which I looked forward to all week.
"I swam my first mile in that pool in 1972. 161 lengths! It took me about an hour and a half, coached by my patient and encouraging class teacher Mr Jackson, but what a sense of achievement. I still have the beautiful certificate, featuring an ink drawing of the school building, to this day.
I also swam in Pipers Vale, the adults having forgotten to pack my rubber ring! But this omission was fortuitous as I found I could swim without it, probably because of the Friday sessions at Clifford Road pool.
"I then went to Northgate Grammar School. It also had a pool that I believe may have been lost in the redevelopment of the school buildings in the ’80s.)
The outdoor pool was always chilly. One of our neighbours was a teacher there and occasionally he used to invite us for a swim with his children on a summer Sunday during the school holidays.
Even on a hot day, it was still cold! I thought the pool didn’t survive the modernisation, though I think the ‘old gym’ (or the girls’ gym) in front of it did…at least for a while.
"The point of my post is to note that both these pools are gone, as well as many others in Ipswich.
What a sad situation for current generations of youngsters, who are missing out through the lack of ready access to pool facilities and losing all the advantages that swimming bestows in terms of health, fitness, personal fulfilment and safety.
Some things really have gone backwards (school playing fields being another loss).
"Finally, I was a pool attendant at Broomhill during the summer of 1981 and have many happy memories of that time as well as all the visits to this special pool during my youth. I would cycle across town to get there.
Dave Read was the Pool Manager in 1981! A good guy. We came in in early May that year to repaint and prepare the pool for the summer season. I painted all the silver handrails, a very satisfying job I found. Dave (and others, probably) painted the pool bottom and sides with rollers.
I recall he very nearly painted himself into a small square in the middle of the diving pit! We were a happy crew.
"Keep up the good work. Nostalgia aside, I believe Saving Broomhill Pool is an investment for the future not just a heritage project, important though that is.
In this age of increasing mental health disorders, rising obesity levels, and screen fixation, it has never been more important to support fitness, health, wellbeing and enjoying the outdoors.
What an asset Broomhill is, and could be. Save Broomhill Pool!
Guy Booth
