This is the place to leave your positive thoughts about what's now called the Kentish Town Sports Centre, Prince of Wales Road, London. We'd like you to leave your recollections of good times on this site to let everyone know what Kentish Town baths have meant to you. It doesn't matter if it was last year or fifty years ago, just let us know!
I particularly like the fact that Kentish Town baths are housed in a Victorian building which makes it part of the history of the area. What will it be replaced with - if anything? A bland non-entity of a building with no soul. Amenities like swimming pools and playing fields are disappearing fast. Perhaps the Victorians were more enlightened than we are in supplying much needed leisure places.
Great atmosphere, handy location, inexpensive, essential community service and good for you!
I live immediately opposite the entrance to Kentish Town Baths, in Grafton Road - I go swiming there most mornings at 7am. A bunch of the same folks show up, some walking there in bathrobe and slippers - it's local. It is also usedby swimming clubs, "evicted" from Swiss Cottage - do we believe that any redevelopment would be finished ever (or in a decent time frame) ? No, frankly Swiss Cottage and the Roundhouse indicate to me that the best thing to do can only be to refurbish the baths as is.
My son (now 13) learnt to swim there, both with his school L'ile aux Enfants and later with after school classes. I shall never forget the fabulous sight of him conquering the water - what a formidable skill to give a child! The baths also saved my health numerous times - during times processing grief and stress as well as recovering from a serious leg injury after an accident. Looking up at the awesome tiled balconies has given me strength when I needed it.
I had a wonderful time in the summer taking my baby swimming in Kentish Town baths. He was only a few months old at the time but loved every minute of his time in the pool. I took both my husband and other friends with babies to the pool - all of them thought it was fantastic.I love swimming at Kentish Town baths and I've been going for about ten years. I've met some good mates there, and the exercise keeps me sane. But I love the building too. It has such character. It's a real buzz that people have been swimming there for over 100 years. The people who built it wanted it to last. And if we look after it, people could still be swimming there in another 100 years too. It can't be right to close it down.
One Saturday afternoon over forty years ago, I was walking past Kentish Town baths with my Dad and younger sister (she was six and I was nine) My Dad stopped walking and took us into the building. He asked if there was an instructor available as he wanted us to learn to swim. We then met our instructor who told us his name was Mr Scutt and if we didn't know what it meant it was the end of a rabbit's tail. He told my Dad he would teach us and our lessons would be half a crown each. We then had our first lesson with him and he shouted and we cried, we did not enjoy it at all. However,we went back again for the next lesson and by the end of it we both swam. I class swimming as being able to move from A to B moving arms and kicking legs. From there we progressed very quickly and Mr Scutt must have seen potential in us because he stopped being our instructor and became our coach.
We think Kentish Town Baths are special, and we know you do too. We have created this site so that you can let everyone know what you value about them.
Many thanks.
POOL MEMORIES
