The pools in Askham, Greystoke, Lazonby and Shap have opened for the summer: they are open from May to September each year. They have always been run by volunteers and led by their local communities, providing low-cost swimming, fitness and social opportunities for rural communities who may miss out otherwise.
Susan Downie is a regular at Greystoke pool, even on days when it is raining. “It's fabulous. I come down about 5 mornings a week and do 35, 40 lengths. Must be good for me!”
All the pools are closed for seven months of the year, but it is a year-round effort with fundraising. Moira Dudson from Greystoke Pool said: “between September and May this year we've raised £10,000 towards the pool. That's putting on events in the village, which the village really appreciates, and obviously they reciprocate by coming down and supporting us.”
The running costs of all the pools have risen sharply in recent years, even at Lazonby which uses a heat pump to extract heat from the River Eden to heat the pool water, which is four or five times more efficient than using an element to heat the water.
Investment this last winter at Lazonby has seen the crumbling 1960s concrete surfaces in the pool covered with a plastic liner, which has ended the annual task of repainting the entire pool.
This along with a new skimmer system has been largely funded by a £50,000 grant from the Cumbria Waste Management Environment Trust to mark the pool’s 60th birthday.
Other investment this winter has seen new pool filters and new windows installed at Shap Pool, which was made possible thanks to a generous grant from Shap Community Enterprise, as well as grants from Cumbria Community Foundation, the Frieda Scott Foundation and Eamont & Shap Place Action Group.
Askham Pool has been completely stripped back, replastered and repainted while Greystoke has been repainted and has received grants from ENWL and North West Hub Community Energy Fund to investigate a pool refurbishment and green energy sources.
Even with this investment and the arrival of warmer weather, each pool also relies on dozens of people to volunteer, undertaking tasks from cleaning the changing rooms to testing the water and staffing the ticket desk.
Stuart St John from Lazonby Pool admits it is “a pain” having to do all the volunteer hours, but says it is worth it. “I’ve been in there every day since we’ve opened, and it’s absolutely beautiful, it’s just lovely.”
Westmorland and Furness Council supports these pools with an annual grant of £10,000. Cllr Virginia Taylor, the Cabinet Member for Planning, Culture and Community Wellbeing said:
"Eden’s rural pools are a really home-grown institution and are examples of ‘Community Power’ in action - originating long before the idea of ‘Community Power’ was thought of! They are a valuable resource for local people (and visitors too), the achievement of local movers and shakers who found ways to deliver what would make life better for their place. They are still kept open and run by volunteers, and do important work for the people in their local area supporting young people to learn to swim and employing young adults as lifeguards every summer.
"The new 105 bus route – one of a number funded by the council - links Penrith to Greystoke where there is a lovely pool, so more people will be able to access the joys of swimming in an outdoor pool in the sunshine we hope continues through the summer (though rainfall would be welcome for our farmers and gardeners … maybe at night!).”