Protected: Settle Pool at Fifty

The carnival is a Fund-raiser

In 1886, a 13 year old choir boy drowned in the River Ribble.  It was not the first or last tragedy in the fast flowing unpredictable river. In the 1930s striking miners built an outdoor pool next to the river in Ingleton.  They showed what could be done by a community working together.

Serious fund raising began in the Settle area in the 1960s. Carnivals were held. Some of them lasted a week and involved fancy dress parades and sporting contests. Waste paper was also collected for recycling by the local papermill.  £30,000 was raised over six years.  Margaret Roberts, one of organisers who ran a florists shop at the time, says the whole community came together in their efforts to raise funds for a pool.

The Build

Nineteen possible sites for a pool were considered before the current one, farmland that was once the town showground, was chosen. Some financial support came from local government, the Sports Council and individuals but money was tight and ambitions had to be scaled back. There would be no diving board and length limited to 20 metres instead of 25 metres.

Construction work eventually began in 1974 and was completed in a year.

More swimmers

Thousands of local children have learned to swim at the pool, through school lessons. It is said that the majority of local residents who went to school before 1975 are non-swimmers and the majority afterwards can swim.  From the early days the pool was open for public swims. There were also sessions for disabled swimmers and for a swimming club. The first manager Keith Maltby describes it as the best job he ever had. But lack of money meant that for many years up to 1990 pool had to close in the winter and with limited financial support from government  sources, local fund-raising had to continue, largely through a new ‘friends’ organisation and waste paper collection.

The Redevelopment

By the 2010s the building was showing its age. After a lot of discussion and consulting local people it was decided to undertake a major redevelopment project. Funding was found from the Friends, from Sport England and through loans. Work started in 2022. Despite a lot of setbacks it was completed in 2023 with a big re-opening event

What a Difference a Shop Makes

But still the fund raising efforts were needed. The first fund-raising shop was opened in 2017. Thanks to generous donations and a dedicated team of volunteers it has been a big success raising more than £100,000 in 2024 alone. Without the shop the rebuild  would not have been possible and the pool would have had to close. 

The Pool at 50!

Now with a gym and the fitSpace area, the pool offers a wider range of facilities alongside water based activities. The addition of solar panels is helping keep costs down and making the pool more environmentally friendly, ready for the next fifty years.