Swimming Baths. (Sale Lido), 56, Washway Road, Sale

Opened on 10 July 1935, the Lido complex included a covered swimming pool, 130 feet long; domed solarium with facilities for natural and artificial sunbathing; café/restaurant; and lock-up shops. The pool could be covered over to form a dance floor during the winter months. The front elevation was clad in cream and green faience. In the sixties The Lido was taken over by Mecca and re-named the Locarno Ballroom, later Mecca Bingo. Existent (including pool) but much altered.

Proposed covered swimming pool, facilities for natural and artificial sunbathing and a cafe/ restaurant. Plans prepared by Mr A.E Lancashire MIstE of Preston, a prominent architect. Mr Lancashire designed the recently constructed Lido at Blackpool, the Majestic Lido Hotel, now in course of erection at Onchan Head, Isle of Man, the reconstructed swimming bath, solarium and new wing at Norbreck Hydro, Blackpool. [Builder] 

SALE LIDO SWIMMING BATH, CHESHIRE - The Sale Lido, which has a swimming bath, ballroom, solarium for sunbathing, remedial baths for health, and a cafe overlooking the swimming bath, is situated in Washway Road, Sale, Cheshire. The lido was opened on July 10. · The swimming bath is oblong in shape with the shallow end curved to a half-circle, and is 113 feet by 42 feet. The shallow end is 4 feet deep, with the deep end 9 feet.

Purification Plant. - The installation for the purification of the water consists of a plant for the continuous circulation o£ the water, which is drawn off at the deepest part, and submitted to processes of filtering, warming, aerating, and finally sterilised before being returned at the shallow end. The swimming bath contains 156,000 gallons of water, and the rate of circulation through the plant is 39,000 gallons per hour, thus permitting the whole volume of water to be purified in the manner described every four hours. Two air cleansed pressure filters are provided, each 6 feet in diameter, having a filtration speed of 250 gallons per sq. ft. per hour. The plant comprises a strainer containing a perforated basket, through which the water is drawn by the electrically driven circulating pump, to remove all coarse matter. The water before passing to the pump is treated with small doses of chemical reagents, which are carefully measured and injected by apparatus specially designed for the purpose, with the result that all minute suspended matter is coagulated, and easily removed, after the downward and lateral passage of the water delivered by the pump, through the filter beds comprising a fine grade of sand. The filters are of patent design embodying a new principle of operation whereby a lateral flow of water is obtained in addition to the usual downward flow through the bed of filtering material. The water then passes to a re-heater, where the heat lost during its flow through the system is restored.

The next process is one of aeration in which the water is re-oxygenated to give a freshness and sparkle, by contact with a continuous supply of pure air drawn in by an air injector, afterwards passing into an enclosed aerator, where thorough mixing takes place, and an open vent pipe at the top permits any obnoxious gases to pass away to the outside atmosphere. Finally, before the water returns at the shallow end of the plunge a minute trace of chlorine gas is added to ensure destruction of harmful bacteria, rendering the water safe for the bathers, and fully complying with the requirements of the Ministry of Health, namely, a maximum dosage of 0·5 part of chlorine per million parts of water, and a minimum dosage of 0·2. The equipment for carrying out this latter treatment has received some careful attention in design, manufacture, and installation, so as to ensure ease of control and efficiency in operation. To protect the bathers from any possibility of over-dosage of the chemicals used, the water is examined at regular intervals by the special testing set provided as a check on the various treatments. The purification plant was supplied and erected by Royles, Ltd., of Irlam, near Manchester.

General - The diving dais is 8 feet high and at the back of this there is a diving spring board 13 feet 6 inches high with a separate approach by a chromium plated ladder. Behind this is the foot-spray. There are· two water chutes, one for children at the shallow end and the other at the deep end. The swimming bath, which is lined with pale green tiles, is floodlit by 16 high power underwater floodlights.The decorative colour scheme is designed to suggest the freedom of open air, the curved ceiling and the walls giving the effect of sea and clouds. There are two dressing rooms, one for each sex, both rooms being equipped with dressing boxes and double lockers. Before entering the water the bathers exchange the locker keys for a corresponding numbered rubber band. The capacity of the dressing rooms is 400 each. Showers and footbaths are also provided in each room. The heating is required for two purposes, the bath water, and for the central heating of the building and the toilet amenities. The two boilers are fed by fully automatic plant which regulate their own fuel and water supply. The boiler for the bath is actuated by pressure switches equipped with auto-change for day and night operation.

 The architect of the scheme was Mr. A. E. Lancashire, M.I. Struct.E., M.Inst.R.A.The general manager of the lido is Mr. Henry J. King.The general contractors were J. Maunders and Sons, Stretford, near Manchester. Among the sub-contractors were: Bath construction and floor, Tarran Industries, Ltd., Hull; artificial stonework, Christie Patent Stone Co., Ltd., Stretford; terra-cotta, Middleton Fireclay Co., Ltd., MIiddleton, Leeds; filtration plant, Royles, Ltd., Irlam, Lanes; heating, C. Seward and Co., Ltd., Preston; wireless equipment, Marconiphone Co., Ltd., London; lockers, J. B. Brooks and Co., Birmingham. [Baths and Bath Engineering Vol 2 No 19 September 1935 page 183-184].

Reference     Builder 16 March 1934 Page 482 - estimated cost £70,000
Reference     Builder 30 November 1934 Page 955
Reference     Manchester City News 24 November 1934 page 10 - Sale Lido - perspective sketch of front elevation
Reference     Manchester City News 24 November 1934 page 17- Sale Lido, Prospectus
Reference     Builder 1 February 1935 Page 255
Reference     Baths and Bath Engineering Vol 2 No 19 September 1935 page 183-184