The outdoor pool with a muddy bottom

The Whitehall Public Swimming Bath was along Whitehall Road, Canterbury. It was opened in 1876 and measured 375ft by 75ft. It was about 10ft deep at the Westgate end, easing to about 6ft at the halfway point. There were partially open- sided changing pavilions and a large mangle to dry your costume. The pool was filled from a channel that let water directly in from the River Stour. Consequently, the water was always cold and there was always at least a foot of mud at the bottom.

The first photo, from around 1937, shows an interschool swimming competition involving Simon Langton Boys and, probably, Harvey Grammar.

It was taken from the earth bank that ran around the perimeter of this outdoor pool and looks towards the distant shallow end.

Sometimes, more water was let in than desired, for when the river was in flood, the pool was likewise inundated. In fact, the second of our views, seen above, shows the pool in 1909 clearly unusable owing to seasonal flooding – not that one would want a cold dip at that time of year!

Swimming at Whitehall continued throughout the Second World War, but the pool had closed for good by the beginning of the 1950s. And then, while the city council formulated plans for a new indoor pool on the Dane John, the old bath was converted into a paddling pool and quickly became known as Toddler’s Cove.

The new baths finally opened at Kingsmead in 1970.