Newcastle’s municipal Turkish baths are to reopen this month in what campaigners have dubbed “a year of hope” for historic swimming pools around the country.
The art deco City Baths were mothballed by Newcastle city council in 2013 in a “slash and burn” round of cost-cutting that also saw the closure of Sure Start centres, libraries and museums.
Now, after a tireless campaign by locals, the Grade II-listed site will reopen for sweating and pampering once more after a £7.5m restoration, taking its place as one of 11 historic Turkish baths in operation across the UK.
The revamp has been carried out by Fusion, a leisure charity that made its name with is renovation of Brockwell Lido in south London in 2007 and then Brighton’s Saltdean Lido 10 years later. As well as restoring the baths, they have revamped one of the swimming pools and installed new fitness studios.
They are determined to keep prices within the grasp of ordinary workers, reasoning that this “water palace of the people” should not be the preserve of the rich. “We want to make it affordable to all,” said Anthony Cawley, Fusion’s director of operations.
The baths have been enjoyed by generations of Geordies since they opened in 1928, as well as celebrities performing at the neighbouring City Hall. Comedian Victoria Wood was one visitor; regulars suspected that her Turkish bath sketch (“If her bum were a bungalow, she’d never get a mortgage on it”) was based on her experiences among half-naked Tynesiders.
A day of mourning marked what many feared would be the baths’ swansong in 2013. It featured a poolside recital by the Wet Poets Society and one last sweat for sauna devotees, including a group of army veterans from the Northumberland village of Cramlington, who had enjoyed a monthly session since being demobbed.
“It was so sad. It felt that Newcastle had a slash-and-burn policy to make a political point,” said Cait Read, one of a group of bathers who came together to form the Save Newcastle Turkish Baths campaign.
They never gave up hope that their steamy sanctuary would one day reopen, despite several wrong turns by the council, which at one point explored turning the complex into a VIP wine bar or a brewery.
“The VIP wine bar was a particular low point,” said Read. She believes the council failed to recognise the historic importance of the baths as an “emblem of civic pride” for bringing together people from all sections of society: “There was a whole mix of people from across the city coming together. You’d have the old soldiers from Cramlington, dinner ladies from the civic centre [home to Newcastle city council].
“It was somewhere you could go for a couple of hours where you didn’t consume anything. Somewhere not alcohol-oriented where you could go alone or in a group, this relaxing oasis.”
After getting the keys in 2016, Fusion, together with architects Napper, began salvaging and restoring all of the original features of the baths, including the tiles, the leather and mahogany relaxing beds, the curtains and more. “We’ve nearly kept everything. We’ve just cleaned and polished and chipped away, working with the local authority’s conservation officer,” said Cawley.
He thinks the baths will now become not just a much loved municipal asset, but also a tourist attraction, as has been the case with Harrogate’s Turkish baths in North Yorkshire. “People are now willing to go further to visit these places. It’s the same with lidos,” he said. “We see it as a destination venue as well as a local building.”
Gill Wright, founder of Historic Pools of Britain, believes 2020 will be a vintage year for public bathing, saying: “2020 marks a step change and year of hope for historic pools around the country. There is a sense of positivity and possibility that is truly inspiring. However, what will unfold wouldn’t be possible without the years of effort and campaigning that has preceded this, which has been very much community-led.
“Without the tireless efforts of individual volunteers, these are pools that would have disappeared for ever – pools that not only are important to the communities they serve, but stand as wonderful examples of public architecture at its very best and representations of vital social history.”
Five other pools getting a new lease of life
Glasgow
Work is due to start bringing Govanhill baths back to life, which will see the reopening of the ladies’ pool, the learners’ pool and a Turkish suite in 2021.
Ipswich
Funding is in place for the restoration of Broomhill outdoor pool, a Grade II-listed, 50-metre lido in East Anglia, which closed in 2002.
Bath
The Cleveland pools, England’s oldest lido, is set to open once again in 2021 after campaigners won a £4.7m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Built more than 200 years ago, it has been closed since 1984.
Grange-over-Sands
Funding is now in place for the first stage of restoration of Grange lido, perched above the sands of Morecambe Bay.
Manchester
An application is being made to the National Lottery Heritage Fund to reopen the Turkish baths and pool at Manchester’s Victoria Baths.
• This article was amended on 8 January 2020. An earlier version erred in including the main swimming pool among facilities refurbished.
