Page 48 - Bere Regis November 2023

November 2023 November 2023

world at play. There were mums with their children playing in the pool,
grandparents presumably helping out during the holiday period but clearly
enjoying every single moment, teenagers in groups on long endless summer
holidays. They were all there at peace with the world.
On the grass terraces, the large and the slender lounged with the young and the
old. “Can I have an ice cream Dad?” “But you only had one half an hour ago.
Let’s have a swim”.
The pool built in 1869 and opened in 1870 claims to be the oldest continuously
used open air pool in the country keeping open during both world wars to serve
the soldiers at the barracks and the general public. It was built by a group of
local businessmen who conceived the idea of providing a local “swimming bath”
and approached Lord Bathurst to help find a suitable site. It was finally decided
to build the pool in the meadow to the rear of the barrack yard. Lord Bathurst
himself donated £25 and a limited company was formed offering shares at £5
each which was soon well subscribed.
Measuring 27 metres by 14 metres with a smaller children’s pool at one end, the
spring fed water is heated to a pleasant 27C (80F) throughout the summer. It is
around 2 metres in depth at the deep end shelving to around a metre at its
shallow end. The pool surrounds are tiled by the original Forest of Dean stone tiles
with slate keyways fixed between them to stop any movement.
Mike told me that the committee was currently looking at a salt based filtration
system which was potentially safer and cheaper to run than the current chlorine
based system. It would also be easier to maintain. They were also looking at ways
to expose the well which is 6 metres deep and 3 metres in diameter and could be
made into a feature of the pool.

The well certainly seems to have extraordinary capacity and 130,000 gallon can
be pulled from it with only a drop of around ½ a metre.
Mike explained that the pool was painted with a white granite plaster no more

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