City of Swimmers

In the 1930s, the Bristol Baths Committee announced its aspiration “Every Bristolian a swimmer”, setting a target that every home should have a swimming facility within a mile.

City of Swimmers is a verrucas-and-all history of swimming in Bristol, from the eighteenth-century Rennison’s Baths in Montpelier to the beautiful historic Jacob’s Wells and Bristol South baths, and the mostly overlooked pools in more recent leisure centres. Readers may have memories of a world of award patches, metal baskets, disinfecting footbaths, poolside “Please refrain from…” posters, and even slipper baths.

Surveying 50 swimming pools and bathing places in Bristol and the surrounding towns of Portishead, Thornbury, Severn Beach, Clevedon and Keynsham, Steve Hunt argues that accessible swimming facilities should be cherished and defended, even developed, for the enjoyment of the next generation.