As part of the History Project, we’ve been interviewing people who have memories of Moseley Road Baths. It’s been a fascinating 12 months – all sorts of people who swim or have used the Baths have come forward to talk about their experiences. We’ve completed nearly 20 interviews so far.
We’ve found out among other things that water polo was a massively popular sport at one time. Who plays this now? There were leagues in Birmingham and it was played at all the Baths. And then there was swimming training at the Baths for the Olympics in the 70’s.
We’ve unearthed interesting old photos : the diving boards that used to stand at the far end of the pool for example,and cup presentations.
Some instructors’ names just keep cropping up – Bill Eggison and Mrs Yates are the top two! It seems swimming teachers were rather more disciplinarian in those days.
One of my favourite interviews was with Lily, who remembers when the Baths was a First Aid Station in the second World War. The Fire exit at the back of Pool 2 which is currently undergoing work (it’s why the baths is temporarily closed) was made specially wide to enable ambulances to get through.
Then there is Denis who told us all about his memories of playing in dance bands in the 40’s and 50’s and going to dances at Moseley Road Baths.
Noreen remembers going to the washing baths as they had no bath at home and telling friends she was “going swimming, not for a wash”, as she felt ashamed to have no bath at home.
There are more recent memories too. One interviewee talked about swimming in the 1990’s, when she was pregnant, and the lovely relaxed feeling it gave her.
Did you know about the Baths’ literary connections?: there are 2 well known local writers who swim or have swum in the Pool: David Edgar and Jim Crace.
And did you know an episode of the TV adaptation of DH Lawrence’s “The Rainbow” was filmed there in 1988?
We’ve recently been researching a fascinating period when full immersion baptisms were carried out at the Baths – I’m still gathering information on this.
All these stories, and others like them will eventually form an archive and will be available to the public in different forms.
Don’t forget, if you have any memories of this or any other topic concerned with the Baths please share it with us.
The contact details are on the website and we’d love to hear from you.
Tags: Heritage, Heritage Lottery Fund, interviews, Moseley Road, Moseley Road Baths, Oral History, Pool of Memories
