A 50-metre 1930s lido in Guildford's Stoke Park, built partly by unemployed local men and now heated and open all year
Open to visitorsopen all year, with longer hours April to September; book sessions online
During the Depression, Guildford’s Mayor’s Work Fund paid unemployed townspeople to help build a new open-air pool, and Guildford Lido opened in June 1933. The main pool is a big one, 50 metres by 27.4, set in 1.8 hectares (4.5 acres) of landscaped grounds in Stoke Park. Guildford Borough Council owns the lido, and Freedom Leisure has run it since 2011. For most of its life the lido was a summer pool, but it now opens all year with heated water, and the hours are longer from April to September. Book sessions online. London Road station is under a kilometre south-east, Dapdune Wharf, the National Trust’s base on the River Wey Navigation, is a short walk south-west, and Guildford Castle is about 1.5km south in the town centre.
