Building a Swimming Pool (continued)
The achievement
The plan of the pool here reproduced gives a general impression of its lay-out, and it may be of interest to add some measurements and statistics. It is believed to be the largest "do-it-yourself" pool in the country. The area of the whole precinct is 11,220 sq. ft., of which approximately one third is taken up by the pool itself, one third by the concrete surround, and one third by the spectators' stand and the buildings (including the changing rooms which are to be added later). Since international standard specifications are always expressed in metres, it is proper to give the dimensions of the pool as 25 m. x 11 m., with an extra 7 m. x 4 m. of diving bay (or in terms more familiar to many, 82 ft. x 36 ft., and a further 23 ft. x 14 ft. for diving.) It was built with about 250 tons of concrete and over six miles of steel rods weighing some thirty tons. It holds 160,000 gallons of water. The building of the whole precinct 3 ft. above normal ground level solved the problem of what to do with the thousand or so cubic yards of earth from the hole originally excavated. The learner section slopes gently from a depth of 3 ft. at the shallow end, and the deepest part of the pool, opposite the diving bay, is 12 ft. 6 in.
From beginning to end of the project, work on the site was genuinely voluntary. The total number of the labour force over the three years of the pool's construction was in the neighbourhood of 450, the age range being five to seventy-two.
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Jackman's Estate rubble on the surrounds, Spring 1965.
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Easter 1965 Work Camp, surrounds and spectators' stand.
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A cold start to the season's swimming, 1st June 1965.
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