Hello again.
Well, what can i say about Smethwick Swimming centre? As lovely as this building is i hereby vow to never set foot in here ever again. Never. Ever.
The history......
Smethwick swimming centre was built between 1928 and 1933. The Grade 2 listed art deco structure was designed by Chester Button and borough engineer Roland Fletcher. The design inspired other swimming baths across the country including Seymour Place in Marylebone , Northampton and Lancaster baths.
When originally opened it served two purposes , with swimming in the spring/ summer months , hosting galas and swimming competitions , some of which were televised by the bbc.. As well as swimming pools there were also slipper baths which remained popular until the 1960s.
During the winter months music gigs were held. Each year in the first week of October, the large pool was drained and covered with a maple dance floor. (this process took around two weeks) and it was then ready to host concerts, dances abd boxing matches. Big names to play here included The Beatles, The Who and the KInks. . During these winter months the upstairs cafe would become a vip suite and the slipper baths the dressing rooms and bars.
During ww2 the reinforced concrete structure was ideal for use as a civil defense base and the tunnels underneath became a community air raid shelter.
After more than 90 years serving the local community the doors were closed for the last time in July 2023.
The explore (and reason im done with the place)
When i first set eyes on this one i thought wow, finally a decent looking , not burned out swimming baths . It soon turned in a saga.
There was 5 visits here by us spanning over 4 months , and im still convinced i missed a lot. I think i can say with some confidence that i hav now met every police officer that works the Smethwick area, most of which are decent and a credit to the force, a couple of them tho.......
Visit number one ended after we spotted the police out the front and decided to make ourselves known so they knew we were not going to cause them a problem . Two nice officers kind of knew what we were about (think the cannon stuck on a tripod gave that away) and we were asked if we had enough footage and if so to leave . Visit two however, this wasnt as easy. We arrived at night with the intention to pop in, get a few shots then go. When we got there we noticed the new boards over our previous access so headed to the roof. It was while i was waiting for a long exposure to finish i noticed the police car pull up at the front of the building. I raised the alarm ( only after my photo had finished of course) and it was during a brief discussion about two of us escaping over one side of the building and the rest going the front way and "taking one for the team"that the drone shot up in front of us and all hell broke lose. Now if youve never encountered the big police drone, esp in the dark, its bloody scary lol That horriblr whiring sound it makes and the fact you cannt reall see it too well but you know its there. As we hopped off the roof we encountered pc shoutyface "get your arses on them steps right now or im setting the dog on you " . Urm ok . No fewer than 12 of Smethwicks finest, two dog units and two drones > And we didnt even get in < Visits 3 and 4 were similar to the first one but we needed 1 more to finish the job. Visit 5, wed made it , that was untill we headed up to the roof to get out. Another bloody drone , only the small one this time , so we made our way to the gate where there were 8 of them waiting . Out come the cuffs this time, one of us in the back of the car, one dragged off up the road and me standing there with "wpc iv got a dog" and she was a right nasty urm.... yeah. Within a few minutes there were 2 more cars and i was in cuffs too. The 2 times we got landed on heavily the security turned up 5 mins later with a grin on his face. The first time we were told that hed called them claiming we were running around the place with crow bars.
Its an occupational hazard i suppose.
The building is lovely externally and retains a lot of original bits and bobs inside, i particlarly enjoyed the ww2 graffiti and signage in the tunnels underneath. Its in pretty good nick inside too , there is a little bit of damage and a few windows missing now but 100% the best example of an abandoned swimming baths iv ever seen.
On with some pictures, i fell iv bored you enough now lol ......
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Visit 1 ...
12.
13. ww2 graffiti ....
14.
15.
16.
The pic avove is the one from visit 2 .
So thats that, Smethwick baths i will never darken your doors again. Thanx for the memories. Out to the Smethwick arm of West Midlands Police, it was nice to meet you (most of you )
Thanx for looking and if you read all that.. respect lol .
Well, what can i say about Smethwick Swimming centre? As lovely as this building is i hereby vow to never set foot in here ever again. Never. Ever.
The history......
Smethwick swimming centre was built between 1928 and 1933. The Grade 2 listed art deco structure was designed by Chester Button and borough engineer Roland Fletcher. The design inspired other swimming baths across the country including Seymour Place in Marylebone , Northampton and Lancaster baths.
When originally opened it served two purposes , with swimming in the spring/ summer months , hosting galas and swimming competitions , some of which were televised by the bbc.. As well as swimming pools there were also slipper baths which remained popular until the 1960s.
During the winter months music gigs were held. Each year in the first week of October, the large pool was drained and covered with a maple dance floor. (this process took around two weeks) and it was then ready to host concerts, dances abd boxing matches. Big names to play here included The Beatles, The Who and the KInks. . During these winter months the upstairs cafe would become a vip suite and the slipper baths the dressing rooms and bars.
During ww2 the reinforced concrete structure was ideal for use as a civil defense base and the tunnels underneath became a community air raid shelter.
After more than 90 years serving the local community the doors were closed for the last time in July 2023.
The explore (and reason im done with the place)
When i first set eyes on this one i thought wow, finally a decent looking , not burned out swimming baths . It soon turned in a saga.
There was 5 visits here by us spanning over 4 months , and im still convinced i missed a lot. I think i can say with some confidence that i hav now met every police officer that works the Smethwick area, most of which are decent and a credit to the force, a couple of them tho.......
Visit number one ended after we spotted the police out the front and decided to make ourselves known so they knew we were not going to cause them a problem . Two nice officers kind of knew what we were about (think the cannon stuck on a tripod gave that away) and we were asked if we had enough footage and if so to leave . Visit two however, this wasnt as easy. We arrived at night with the intention to pop in, get a few shots then go. When we got there we noticed the new boards over our previous access so headed to the roof. It was while i was waiting for a long exposure to finish i noticed the police car pull up at the front of the building. I raised the alarm ( only after my photo had finished of course) and it was during a brief discussion about two of us escaping over one side of the building and the rest going the front way and "taking one for the team"that the drone shot up in front of us and all hell broke lose. Now if youve never encountered the big police drone, esp in the dark, its bloody scary lol That horriblr whiring sound it makes and the fact you cannt reall see it too well but you know its there. As we hopped off the roof we encountered pc shoutyface "get your arses on them steps right now or im setting the dog on you " . Urm ok . No fewer than 12 of Smethwicks finest, two dog units and two drones > And we didnt even get in < Visits 3 and 4 were similar to the first one but we needed 1 more to finish the job. Visit 5, wed made it , that was untill we headed up to the roof to get out. Another bloody drone , only the small one this time , so we made our way to the gate where there were 8 of them waiting . Out come the cuffs this time, one of us in the back of the car, one dragged off up the road and me standing there with "wpc iv got a dog" and she was a right nasty urm.... yeah. Within a few minutes there were 2 more cars and i was in cuffs too. The 2 times we got landed on heavily the security turned up 5 mins later with a grin on his face. The first time we were told that hed called them claiming we were running around the place with crow bars.
Its an occupational hazard i suppose.
The building is lovely externally and retains a lot of original bits and bobs inside, i particlarly enjoyed the ww2 graffiti and signage in the tunnels underneath. Its in pretty good nick inside too , there is a little bit of damage and a few windows missing now but 100% the best example of an abandoned swimming baths iv ever seen.
On with some pictures, i fell iv bored you enough now lol ......
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Visit 1 ...
12.
13. ww2 graffiti ....
14.
15.
16.
The pic avove is the one from visit 2 .
So thats that, Smethwick baths i will never darken your doors again. Thanx for the memories. Out to the Smethwick arm of West Midlands Police, it was nice to meet you (most of you )
Thanx for looking and if you read all that.. respect lol .
