Lidos & sea poolsBeaches & swimming

A riverside lido on the Waveney, saved by local people in 2010 and now heated and open all year.

Suffolk

A 1932 seafront lido in Brightlingsea, the last in Essex, rescued and run by volunteers since 2018.

Essex

A 50 m lido of 1933 in Stoke Park, Guildford, built partly by unemployed men in the Depression and now open all year.

Surrey

Seawater baths of 1833 on the Lymington River, one of the oldest open-air baths in Britain, looking out to the Isle of Wight.

Hampshire

A Grade II* Art Deco lido of 1938 shaped like an ocean liner, saved by a community campaign and reopened in 2017.

East Sussex

A walled sea pool of over four acres on the Cliftonville shore at Margate, built in 1937 and refilled by every tide.

Kent

A Victorian swimming bath of about 1850 in Clifton, restored in 2008 as a heated pool with a spa and restaurant.

Bristol

Part-natural tidal pool built into the rocks of Summerleaze Beach in the 1930s, free to swim in all year.

Cornwall

A river-fed pool dug by Chagford villagers in 1933 beside the Teign on the edge of Dartmoor, still run by volunteers.

Devon

A walled sea pool built in 1959 into Chapel Rock, the flag-topped stack in the middle of Perranporth's beach.

Cornwall

A Grade II-listed 1935 lido with a heated 50 m pool and fountain in gardens on the edge of Cheltenham's centre.

Gloucestershire

One of England's oldest open-air pools, opened in 1870 beside Cirencester Park, spring-fed and run by volunteers.

Gloucestershire

A walled sea-water lake of 1929 beside the beach at Clevedon, topped up by the big tides and free to swim all year.

Somerset

Art Deco seawater lido of 1935 on the rocks at Penzance, with a geothermally heated pool beside the big unheated one.

Cornwall

A big, shallow sea pool built by Mousehole villagers in the early 1970s on the shore below the village, facing St Clement's Isle.

Cornwall

A 33 m heated pool on the Portishead seafront, saved by a community campaign in 2008 and run by a local charity since.

Somerset

A 53 m seawater pool on the rocky shore at Brixham, kept going by volunteers and free to swim through the summer.

Devon

Semicircular Art Deco seawater lido of 1935 on the rocks below Plymouth Hoe, looking out over Plymouth Sound.

Devon

A walled Victorian sea pool on the rocks of the Westward Ho! seafront, refilled by every high tide and free to swim.

Devon

A Grade II-listed 1935 lido with a round, mushroom-shaped pool on the grass below Ilkley Moor.

West Yorkshire

A small heated pool in the Yorkshire Dales, dug by Ingleton volunteers in the 1930s and still run by them.

North Yorkshire

An open-air pool topped up with natural brine from under the town, salty enough to make you float noticeably higher.

Worcestershire

A heated 1936 open-air pool in the Hope Valley, with its original bandstand beside the water and open all year.

Derbyshire

Cellardyke's 1930s sea pool, the Bathie, back in use since a community restoration in 2024, with a sauna beside it.

Fife

A heated seawater pool of 1909 on the Clyde shore at Gourock, with views across the firth to the Cowal hills.

Inverclyde

An amphitheatre-shaped sea pool below the West Braes at Pittenweem, restored by the village and reopened in 2021.

Fife

A sea pool cut into the shore below St Monans Windmill on the Fife Coastal Path, cleared by villagers in 2021.

Fife

A 1934 Art Deco seawater pool on the Stonehaven seafront, 50 m long and heated to about 29°C for the summer.

Aberdeenshire

A tidal pool cut into the rocks south of Wick in 1931, cleaned and painted each year by volunteers.

Highland

The National Lido of Wales, a 1927 pool in Pontypridd's war memorial park, derelict for years and reopened in 2015.

Pontypridd