THE UK is home to a beautiful Victorian swimming pool that was restored after a multi-million project.
Victoria Baths first opened in 1906, with three pools as well as a Turkish bath.
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Called a “water palace” by the then mayor of Manchester, it cost around £59,000 to built at the time, which is around £6million in today’s money.
However, the pool was forced to close back in 1993, and left abandoned for years.
Thankfully a restoration project in the early 2000s saw £3.4million put back into the attraction which allowed it to reopen.
It featured on the 2003 BBC Restoration programme, winning the first series as one of 10 that were asking for funds and were in danger of being derelict.
Many of the original features were restored which included the stain glass windows and mosaic floors.
Sadly it was never restored fully as a swimming pool and is instead used as an event space.
This includes the UK’s biggest thrift event, ClothesCycle, and Pool Picnic events (albeit without the pool being filled).
The baths also have a number of free open days.
This year the open days will be every Tuesday from April 8 to September 30.
And during the summer months, it will open on Sundays on June 1, July 6, August 3, September 7.
However, it has reopened as a swimming pool a number of times in the past few years.
This includes in 2006 for the building’s grand opening, as well as in 2017 for an “acid house pool party”.
Tickets for the 2017 party sold out ‘quicker than Glastonbury‘ according to the Guardian.
Gill Wright, the project development manager of the Victoria Baths Trust said: “Swimming in a historic pool offers so much more than a modern leisure centre. It’s completely different.
“You walk into Victoria Baths and you are struck by the architecture – the beautiful tiles, the mosaics, the stained glass, the changing cubicles and the grand gala balcony – but also the history.”
Whether it will open to the public as a swimming pool again in the nearby future is yet to be confirmed.
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Until then, Brits can book one of the free open days which also includes access to the gift shop and tea room.
Or there are the Discover Victoria Baths tours which cost £9.
It isn’t the only beautiful Victorian swimming pool in the UK.
Found in Redbridge is a swimming pool in a converted hospital church.
Sadly it is part of a Virgin Active gym although you can get day passes to visit.
And here’s a little-known rooftop pool in the UK you can only visit twice a month.
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