Guildford Lido was opened in June 1933 by the Mayor of Guildford, Alderman William Harvey. It has been in continuous use for over eight decades.
Guildford Lido | |
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![]() Summer 2003 | |
51.247208°N 0.569784°W / 51.247208; -0.569784 | |
Address | Stoke Road, Guildford, Surrey |
Postcode | GU1 1HB |
Opened | 1933 |
Length | 50 metres (164 ft) |
Width | 27.4 metres (90 ft) |
Website | www.guildfordlido.co.uk |
The lido is a 50x27.4m pool in approximately 3 acres (12,000 m2) of landscaped gardens. Open from late April to early September every year, and is drained while not in use over the winter. It attracts approx. 60,000 visitors each season.[1]
The pool is owned by Guildford Borough Council and operated by Freedom Leisure, a not-for-profit charitable trust.
The lido was opened on 21 June 1933. The architect was J.W. Hipwood and cost £13,000 to build with funding raised locally rather than central government. This was an initiative of the Mayor of Guildford (Alderman William Alfred Harvey) who launched a campaign in 1932 to use local unemployed men to build the pool.[2]
Every shilling means an hour's work.
— Campaign Slogan, Mayor of Guildford, 1932[2]