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Photograph of Portobello indoor swimming pool
1967,
Photograph of Portobello indoor swimming pool
Photograph of Portobello indoor swimming pool
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Item no
52273
Title
Photograph of Portobello indoor swimming pool
Description
Black and white photograph of Portobello swimming baths showing several swimmers and a man in trunks standing on the end of the diving board with his back to the camera. Spectators at window above pool.
Date
1967
Accession number
HH5307/9/90
Copyright
The City of Edinburgh Council Museums & Galleries
Until 1979, Portobello had two swimming baths. One was a state of the art Art Deco outdoor pool complex with swooping diving boards and heated by the neighbouring power station. The other, shown here, was a Victorian building which at one time boasted not only a seawater pool, but a Turkish bath, reading room, smoking room and gym.
Edinburgh has a six Victorian swimming pools. They were built for health and relaxation, but also as somewhere to get cleaned. Not every house had running water, and so a public bath was an important part of family hygiene.
Portobello's indoor baths were built in the 1890s in a typical Victorian style with balconies, tiling and elegant columns. Many of these features were covered up during a refurbishment in the 1960s which gave the baths a more 'modern' look. Fashions, however, change, and the baths were recently renovated and the original Victorian aspect restored.
Exhibitions with this item
Auld Reekie Retold ; New Stories of an Old City
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